Job Description:
Founding Team for MSME Initiative – The Convergence Foundation
Location: Delhi
Enabling Indian MSMEs Scale to Their Potential
Introduction
India has ~7.34 crore MSMEs, contributing nearly one-third of the nations GDP and employing millions. Yet most remain small, informal, and unable to grow. Over 98% are micro enterprises, and many do not cross 10 employees even after a decade.
Common constraints remain unresolved—limited access to affordable capital, weak market linkages, low technology adoption, inadequate skills, and complex regulatory processes. These gaps hold back both MSMEs and Indias broader economic potential.
This initiative under The Convergence Foundation aims to address these challenges through research-led insights, targeted intervention design, and policy advocacy that can unlock scale for MSMEs.
What We Are Doing (Problem Objective Outcome)
The initiative will build an evidence base and design solutions to remove core roadblocks for MSME growth.
Our objectives are:
Identify MSME Challenges:
Conduct a mixed-method study (large-sample survey + qualitative interviews) to clearly map pain points across segments and sectors.Design Tailored Interventions:
Develop practical solutions and policy recommendations across finance, markets, technology, skills, and regulatory simplification.Policy Advocacy & Knowledge Sharing:
Engage government, industry, financial institutions, and ecosystem partners to drive adoption of recommended interventions. Publish toolkits and knowledge products for wider use.Capacity Building (Pilot):
Evaluate existing models and, if feasible, design and test a capacity-building pilot that supports MSME entrepreneurs through coaching and peer learning. Build a scale-up roadmap if the pilot is effective.
The aim is to create a more enabling environment for MSMEs, allowing them to grow, hire, and contribute more meaningfully to Indias economic development.
How We Will Do It (Approach & Phasing)
Phase 1: Research & Diagnostics (9–12 months)
Quantitative Survey: 5,000+ MSMEs across regions and sectors to gather data on performance, constraints, and support needs.
Qualitative Research: Focus groups and deep interviews to understand underlying causes and lived experiences.
International Benchmarking: Study comparable economies to learn from successful MSME support models.
Phase 2(a): Policy Recommendations & Advocacy (Year 1 onwards)
Solution Design: Working groups with experts, industry, and entrepreneurs to co-develop interventions.
Stakeholder Consultations: Workshops and roundtables to build buy-in and refine recommendations.
Policy Advocacy: Develop detailed recommendations, theory of change, and implementation blueprints; engage central and state policymakers to advance these.
Knowledge Dissemination: Publish reports, toolkits, and case studies; share widely across ecosystem platforms.
Phase 2(b): Capacity-Building Pilot (Year 1–5)
Study existing models and identify gaps.
If a differentiated approach is viable, design and test a pilot in a selected cluster/geography.
Build a clear scale plan if successful.
Key Focus Areas
Access to Finance – improving credit access through alternative scoring, strengthened guarantee mechanisms, and financial literacy.
Market Access – enabling entry into domestic and global supply chains, aggregation platforms, certifications, and e-commerce linkages.
Technology Adoption – accelerating digitisation, demo centres, training, and affordable access to digital tools.
Skills & Capacity – workforce skilling and entrepreneurship development aligned with MSME needs.
Regulatory Simplification – identifying high-friction compliances and advocating for simplification and unified processes.
This initiative recognises that MSMEs are not a monolith. Solutions will be tailored by size, sector, and growth stage rather than applying a one-size-fits-all model.
Founding Team Structure
We are building a mission-driven founding team under TCF with the following roles:
Associate Director / Director (12–15 years)
Program Lead (8–10 years)
Program Managers (2–5 years)
Associates (1–3 years)
We are looking for smart generalists who possess the consulting toolkit from top academic institutions who are passionate about solving this problem and ready to roll up their sleeves to build this initiative from the ground up.