Job Openings Senior Program Manager – Strategic Public Finance

About the job Senior Program Manager – Strategic Public Finance

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 India's 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 the Team / Vertical

Within CEGIS, the Strategic Public Finance team works with state governments to strengthen public financial management systems. The team focuses on addressing key bottlenecks in the budgeting process, improving the adequacy, improving the efficiency of spending, and ensuring smooth fund flows. Together, these efforts enable more efficient allocation and utilisation of public funds, ultimately improving financial outcomes and public service delivery.

Our work is organised across four key streams:

  • Strengthening revenue systems

  • Improving the quality of expenditure (budget planning and execution)

  • Macrofiscal and economic policy

  • Decision Support Systems / Financial Analytics Unit

The team also supports the institutionalisation of data-driven decision-making by building the necessary data infrastructure and technical capacity within line departments. Through this, it generates high-quality data and insights that help states set goals, monitor progress, and make informed strategic decisions.


Position Summary (Role Purpose)

The Senior Manager shall lead the design and delivery of high impact Strategic Public Finance engagements including translating data and analysis into actionable insights, systems, and policy inputs for government partners. The role combines analytical, implementation, and stakeholder facing responsibilities, with significant ownership over complex, multi stakeholder projects. The Senior Manager drives end to end execution i.e. from data management and advanced analysis to developing frameworks, tools, and decision-support systems, and supporting their adoption within government systems. Working closely with senior government officials, line departments, and internal sectoral delivery and functional teams, the role ensures alignment, quality, and impact of outputs. The ideal candidate shall be a systems thinker with a strong orientation towards 'research to implementation', capable of navigating complexity and turning insights into scalable, real world solutions.


Roles & Responsibilities

Data & Insights

  • The SM shall be responsible for the access, management, and governance of administrative, primary, and secondary data from government systems, ensuring adherence to data quality and security protocols.

  • Designs and conducts advanced quantitative analyses (including budgetary, sectoral, and forensic analyses) to generate actionable insights that improve targeting, efficiency, and financial outcomes.

  • Translates complex datasets into clear, decision ready insights through dashboards, reports, and analytical outputs that inform policy and program decisions.

Research & Analysis

  • Conducts in depth research and situational analyses across public finance and economic sectors, integrating global best practices into project design.

  • Designs and implements rigorous evaluation approaches to test policy interventions and generate evidence for scale.

  • Synthesises findings into policy relevant insights that inform government strategy and strengthen public financial management systems.

Solution Design & Technical Work

  • Designs frameworks, tools, and decision support systems to address systemic bottlenecks in budgeting and fund flows.

  • Develops scalable, implementation ready solutions by combining analytical insights with an understanding of government processes and constraints.

  • Supports piloting and institutionalisation of solutions within government systems to drive sustained impact.

Project & Delivery Management

  • Leads end to end project execution: from conceptualisation and work planning to resource allocation, implementation, and monitoring, ensuring alignment with SPF objectives.

  • Manages team workflows, reviews outputs for quality and rigour, and provides technical guidance to ensure timely and high quality delivery.

  • Oversees project resourcing and coordination to maximise efficiency, outcomes, and cross project learning.

Stakeholder & Knowledge Management

  • Engages with senior government officials, line departments, donors, and internal teams to co-create solutions, drive adoption, and build long term partnerships.

  • Leads development of proposals, presentations, and communication materials to influence decision-making and expand SPF engagements.

  • Builds and strengthens knowledge systems by developing policy notes, reports, and frameworks, and by driving internal knowledge sharing and external partnerships.

Education & Experience:

Required degree domain(s): Postgraduate degree (Master's/PhD or equivalent) in Economics, Public Policy, Statistics, Data Science, Engineering, Finance, or related quantitative/social science disciplines.

Experience range: minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience with increasing responsibility in analytical, policy, or program delivery roles.

Type of experience valued: Strong experience in public finance, data analytics, and/or public policy, with demonstrated work in systems reform, budget analysis, financial management, or evidence based program design and evaluation. Experience in managing complex projects and leading teams is essential.

Prior experience working with government systems, especially at the state level, and in multi-stakeholder environments involving government, donors, and research/implementation partners, familiarity with budgeting processes, fund flow systems, and decision support/analytics is highly desirable.

Required Competencies (Core Differentiator Section)

Domain Competencies

  • Understanding of public finance, including budgeting processes, fund flows, and revenue/ expenditure management.

  • Familiarity with policy and governance structures, especially within state government systems.

  • Technical expertise in financial analytics, and evidence - based policy design.

Functional Competencies

  • Research and analytical ability, with experience translating complex data into actionable insights.

  • Data literacy, including working with large administrative datasets and using tools such as R, Python, or STATA.

  • Strong problem - solving and solution design skills, with the ability to develop frameworks, tools, and decision-support systems.

  • Effective communication and documentation skills for creating policy notes, reports, and stakeholder presentations.

  • Proven ability to manage and execute complex projects end to end, ensuring quality and timeliness.

Behavioural Competencies

  • High ownership and accountability in managing projects and delivering outcomes.

  • Strong learning agility, with the ability to adapt to new domains and integrate global best practices.

  • Collaborative approach to working with cross functional teams and diverse stakeholders.

  • Sensitivity to stakeholder needs, particularly within government systems.

  • Comfort with ambiguity and ability to navigate evolving priorities in reform-oriented environments.

Role Logistics

The role is based out of Mumbai, Maharashtra. Proficiency in English and working knowledge of Marathi is essential to effectively engage with government stakeholders. The role involves travel within and to other states, depending on project needs, including regular interactions with line departments and periodic field visits.

Pre-reads for the application process

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

Recommended listening:

  • Karthik Muralidharan: India's Roadmap for Effective Governance — FED Dialogues: Podcast Episode.

  • Karthik Muralidharan on Making Governance More Effective — Sushasan | Podcast.


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