Job Openings Senior Program Associate - Solution Development

About the job Senior Program Associate - Solution Development

About CEGIS

Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS – pronounced See-Jis) aims to improve lives by helping Indian state governments deliver better development outcomes. We believe that the most impactful lever for accelerating national development is to improve governance and state capacity to better deliver core public services at scale.

Informed by cutting-edge research and evidence as well as a practical orientation toward implementable ideas, CEGIS works with state governments in India to enable a transformative improvement in their functioning. CEGISs vision and Theory of Change (ToC) are an outcome of extensive research done by Prof. Karthik Muralidharan (CEGIS Co-Founder and Scientific Director) and outlined in his multiple award-winning, national bestselling book Accelerating India's Development, and enabled by strategic philanthropic support provided by Ashish Dhawan (CEGIS Co-Founder).

CEGIS Approach and Model of Functioning:

CEGISs solutions to enhance governance are co-created with state governments in a state-led way, where we focus on deep partnerships with states using an iterative cycle of think-demonstrate-document-transfer. We work closely with the top bureaucratic leadership, front-line workers and public officials in Finance, Planning, Human Resources and a few other priority line departments. Many of our solutions reflect ideas outlined in the book Accelerating India's Development, and these solutions are constantly refined based on real-time feedback and are designed to both be customized to the contexts we are working in, and to create templates that can provide the starting point for replication across contexts.

Our focus areas reflect evidence that key characteristics of high-performing organisations include (a) measuring outcomes through reliable, high quality data that enables goal setting and progress monitoring; (b) strategic use of personnel – competency based hiring and training, skilling, and performance appraisals to determine job assignments, pay, and promotions – to achieve the goals above; (c) strategic budgeting where resource allocation and revenue collection are based on evidence and cost-effectiveness; (d) and creating efficient systems to leverage external actors (including for-profit and nonprofit organisations). CEGIS partners with states to improve capacity by focusing on these pillars of State effectiveness, and aims to also integrate these horizontal governance improvements into integrated sectoral roadmaps to accelerate the achievement of state and national development outcomes.

Internally, CEGIS is organized into solutions teams that lead the design and technical quality control of our research and evidence-backed approaches to improving governance and state capacity; delivery" teams that lead state-facing work to contextualize the solutions, and support governments in implementing them; and enablement teams that enable the organization to function smoothly.

CEGIS@6 to CEGIS@10: Building on momentum to catalyse national development

Since its incorporation in 2019, CEGIS has gained significant momentum in building strong collaborations with state government(s) as a trusted partner who can provide both thought leadership and implementation support on key governance reforms. CEGIS position as a non-profit that does not take any funding from the government (other than in-kind contributions of office space/staff) has been a key enabler in earning this trust.

Beginning with 1 state government engagement in 2019, today CEGIS is working across 9 Indian states (Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh). We also partner with union agencies/ministries such as Capacity Building Commission, Ministry of Women & Child Development (MoWCD), and Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to share insights from our state-level work to inform national-level guidelines and dissemination to other states. Finally, we also take on selected work at the district level to design and test implementation templates.

From a small group of founding members, we have grown to become a team of 150+ members located across the country, and expect to grow to over 200 in the coming year. Led by a former senior civil-servant with deep governance experience; state and solution team leads with decades of domain expertise; and enabling functions led by professionals with considerable corporate experience, the team at CEGIS brings together knowledge and experience that spans various sectors – from development economics, research, governance, management consulting, and social entrepreneurship.

Over the last 6 years, CEGIS has also garnered support for our vision and theory of change from several foundations and philanthropists whose partnership has enabled us to build our organisational capacity as well as continue to experiment and improve our solution design to augment state capacity and governance. With the rapidly growing demand for CEGISs offerings, CEGIS is well-positioned to play a key role in accelerating Indias development.

To explore what the mission of CEGIS is and the impact we hope to have, please take a look at this video of our CEO, Dr Vijay Pingale.


About Personnel Management (PM) Vertical

We believe that empowered, equipped and future-ready public officials are crucial to achieving citizen-centric service delivery.

We work with central, state, and local governments to actualise their human capital by improving human resource management (HRM) practices and organisational effectiveness using a competency-driven approach. We believe that supporting governments in undertaking these reforms will result in improved execution capacity and a fulfilling career journey for public officials.

The competency-driven approach focuses on the knowledge, skills, and attitude required for specific government roles. By undertaking this approach, CEGIS aims to bring clarity to the work done by officials and empower them to achieve better results. This translates to a shift in accountability from simply following processes to delivering tangible outcomes.

The Personnel Management team achieves this through three key workstreams.

  1. Competency-Based Recruitment: Ensuring the right people are selected for the job and bringing the necessary competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitude) on board from the outset.
  2. Competency-Based Learning & Development: Equipping public officials with the ongoing training and development they need to excel in their roles.
  3. Performance Management Systems: Evaluating and improving individual and team performance based on achieving defined goals, not just by adherence to procedures.

Through these efforts, the Personnel Management team strives to bring enhanced clarity and effectiveness to government work in India. By empowering officials with the right skills and holding them accountable for achieving desired outcomes, CEGIS is paving the way for a more efficient and impactful government service.

Project and Position Summary

We are seeking a Senior Program Associate, Solution Development, to join our team in designing initiatives towards strengthening competency-based human resource practices for public officials. The role involves providing analytical and operational support in solution design, contextualisation, implementation and codification, by building frameworks, tools, and knowledge products that enable systemic reform in public sector recruitment, L&D and performance management systems.

The ideal candidate brings a strong ability to synthesise research and analyse datasets by reviewing policies and global best practices to translate evidence and insights into actionable models that can be piloted, refined, and institutionalised with MDOs.

This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of policy and design thinking, collaborating closely with domain experts, public officials and partner institutions, to convert concepts into usable, scalable, and contextually relevant solutions that drive systemic improvement in public service delivery and strengthen institutional capacity over time. It is ideal for individuals who thrive on intellectual rigour, creative problem-solving, and the pursuit of long-term institutional reform.

Roles and Responsibilities

Research and Solutioning (Competency-based HRM)

    • Conducts literature reviews, policy analysis, benchmarking exercises, and diagnostic studies, drawing on national frameworks (such as Mission Karmayogi), policies and global standards to formulate problem statements in the existing human resource practices (recruitment, learning and development and PMS)
    • Synthesises findings from research, data, and field insights to create evidence-based recommendations and concept notes.
    • Assists in the development of recruitment-related tools, competency framework, training needs assessments, and the design of targeted learning and development interventions, and their implications on MDOs performance
    • Supports the conceptualisation and prototyping of frameworks, workflows, tools, and models to facilitate the pilots, iterations and large-scale implementation of HR practices within an MDO
    • Monitors policy updates, regulatory changes, and trends in HR, to ensure solutions are scalable, contextually appropriate, and aligned with evolving government priorities

Data Management and Analysis

    • Tracks and validates datasets from multiple sources for accuracy and reliability
    • Analyses complex qualitative and quantitative data to generate actionable insights
    • Prepares reports, dashboards, policy briefs, and presentations to support decision-making
    • Maintains and updates the database of competencies, assessments, and courses, and assists with the onboarding of partners as needed

Project and Knowledge Management

    • Develops work plans, ensuring accountability for timelines with minimal supervision and tracks completion of project milestones
    • Develops knowledge tools, templates, training materials, and process guides to facilitate effective dissemination and implementation of the solution
    • Supports the state delivery teams in the planning, implementation and monitoring of competency-based solutions across projects and state engagements
    • Documents and codifies learnings from pilot initiatives and internal reviews, contributing to solution testing, refinement and institutional knowledge creation

Collaboration and Team Engagement

    • Supports the team in coordinating with internal verticals, delivery teams and partner organisations to align solution design objectives with implementation needs
    • Facilitates communication and knowledge exchange by organising meetings, workshops, and presentations to share progress, feedback, and insights on solution development and maturity
    • Builds and maintains productive working relationships with internal and external subject matter experts, assessment and content providers, by ensuring regular interactions, capturing inputs, and identifying opportunities for co-creation and refinement of solutions

Education and Experience

  • Bachelors degree in economics, public policy, social sciences, or a related discipline from a reputable institution
  • 3-6 years of relevant professional experience, particularly in HRM, capacity building, or project management
  • Prior exposure to government ecosystems or multi-stakeholder initiatives is strongly preferred

Required Competencies

The competencies required to perform the above-mentioned roles and responsibilities are as follows:

Domain Competencies

Public Administration Understanding: Understands Indias governance and policy landscape to ensure solutions are contextually relevant and aligned with governmental priorities

Competency-based Learning and Development: Understands the components of the learning and development (L&D) cycle, adult learning frameworks and methodologies to support L&D programs

Functional Competencies

Research & Analytical Acumen: Ability to conduct research, interpret patterns, and synthesise information into findings

Data Analysis & Insights: Accurately interprets data, identifies patterns, and develops reports

Solution Design and Innovation: Understands design thinking principles to support the development of solution prototypes

Communication & Knowledge Practices: Communicates and documents ideas clearly across formats

Behavioural Competencies

Leading Self: Takes ownership of tasks and ensures timely completion

Learning Orientation: Seeks feedback, applies guidance, and adapts work practices to evolving needs

Collaboration: Keen on building relationships, sharing responsibilities, and contributing effectively to team goals

Note

  • The role will be based in New Delhi
  • Proficiency in Hindi and English
  • Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy and social sector pay scales, depending on the candidates experience levels.

CEGIS is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against based on race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin.

Pre-reads for the application process

Please go through the following materials before sending in your application:

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