Job Description:
Job Title: Head of MSME Initiative (Director)
Reports to: CEO, The Convergence Foundation (with a dedicated Board / Advisory Council as the initiative scales towards an independent organisation)
About The Convergence Foundation:
The Convergence Foundation (TCF) is an Indian philanthropic foundation established by Ashish and Manisha Dhawan in April 2021. TCF builds on their legacy of impactful philanthropy, including the founding of transformative institutions like Ashoka University and the Central Square Foundation.
Our mission is clear: to transform the lives of all Indians through rapid, sustained economic growth and inclusive development. To achieve this, we focus on 3 pillars 1) Direct engines of economic growth that enable job creation, 2) Human capital development through education and employability, and 3) Development Enablers that strengthen the philanthropic ecosystem and improve state capacity.
In each area, TCF works on:
- Building pioneering institutions to address India's most complex socio-economic challenges.
- Shaping the larger ecosystem and sharing knowledge, insights and learning with other philanthropists, governments and key stakeholders
We believe that the government is the key actor for system change, and the role of philanthropy and nonprofits is to strategically support the government. The TCF Network includes 20+ organisations all working systemically with the government, committed to addressing specific areas of India's socio-economic development, across our three pillars. (1) Economic Growth & Jobs – enabling India’s direct engines of growth; (2) Human Capital – improving learning and employability outcomes & (3) Development Enablers – strengthening governance, state capacity, and philanthropy itself
About MSME Project
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of the Indian economy. The sector accounts for roughly 30% of India’s GDP, around 35% of manufacturing output and close to 45–48% of exports, and is the second-largest source of employment after agriculture. Yet the sector is highly skewed: the overwhelming majority of enterprises are micro units, and over 98% represent forced or necessity-driven entrepreneurship rather than growth-oriented businesses. A small set of small and medium enterprises punches well above its weight, contributing a disproportionate share of exports and high-quality jobs.
The MSME Initiative is a new project within The Convergence Foundation, set up to help India build the right policy ecosystem for enabling its small enterprises to scale and become globally competitive. While the broader sector is vast, the initiative will focus specifically on SMEs, with a particular emphasis on manufacturing enterprises – of which there are an estimated 1.5–2 lakh in India. These are the firms with the greatest potential to grow into competitive, job-creating, export-oriented businesses, and where well-designed policy can have an outsized impact. Over time, the initiative is expected to be spun out as an independent organisation.
The initiative will work systemically – developing policy perspectives and partnering with government to drive change – rather than engaging in on-ground execution. It will generate and shape ideas across the following dimensions:
- Access to finance: Improving SMEs’ access to timely, adequate and affordable capital to fund growth and modernisation.
- Access to markets: Expanding SMEs’ access to domestic and global markets, with a particular focus on enabling and growing exports.
- Access to technology and management knowhow: Helping SMEs adopt modern technology, improve productivity and strengthen management capabilities.
- Access to a skilled workforce: Improving SMEs’ ability to attract, train and retain skilled talent suited to their needs.
- Ease of regulatory burden: Reducing the compliance and regulatory burden that constrains SMEs from scaling and competing.
Across each dimension, the initiative will build a strong policy perspective, drawing on best practices from successful Indian enterprises and clusters as well as relevant global examples. It will work primarily with the central government to shape policies for the SME ecosystem, while engaging other stakeholders as needed. The initiative will remain a small, high-quality team focused on ideas, influence and partnerships rather than implementation.
Position Summary
We are looking for an exceptional leader to serve as the Head of the MSME Initiative. As the founding leader, this person will shape the vision, strategy and agenda of the initiative, build a small but outstanding team, and establish it as a credible and influential voice on SME and manufacturing policy in India. The role is highly entrepreneurial: it combines the rigour of strategy and problem-solving with the relationship-building and stakeholder engagement needed to drive policy change with senior decision-makers in government.
The leader will develop sharp policy perspectives across the initiative’s focus areas – access to finance, access to markets and exports, access to technology and management knowhow, access to a skilled workforce, and ease of regulatory burden – and translate them into actionable recommendations for the central government. Given the intent to eventually spin the initiative out as an independent organisation, the role also carries significant institution-building responsibility, from setting culture and standards to laying the foundations for long-term sustainability.
Key Responsibilities
- Set the vision and strategy: Define the overall vision, strategy and priorities for the MSME Initiative, with a clear focus on helping SMEs – particularly manufacturing enterprises – scale and become globally competitive, and evolve them as the initiative matures towards becoming an independent organisation.
- Build policy perspectives: Develop rigorous, well-researched policy positions across the initiative’s focus areas – access to finance, access to markets and exports, technology and management knowhow, skilled workforce, and regulatory burden – drawing on best practices from successful Indian enterprises and relevant global examples.
- Engage senior government stakeholders: Build and sustain trusted relationships with senior stakeholders in the central government – including the Ministry of MSME, relevant economic ministries and NITI Aayog – to influence and drive concrete policy change for the SME ecosystem.
- Drive systemic policy change: Translate policy perspectives into clear recommendations and reform proposals, and work with government partners to embed these into national policy – while keeping the initiative focused on systemic change rather than execution.
- Build and lead a high-quality team: Recruit, mentor and lead a small, talented team, setting a high bar for quality, rigour and impact, and fostering a strong, mission-driven culture.
- Build the institution: Establish the systems, partnerships and credibility needed for the initiative to operate effectively and, in time, be spun out as a sustainable independent organisation.
- Represent the initiative externally: Serve as a thought leader and credible public voice on SME and manufacturing policy, building partnerships with experts, industry bodies, philanthropists and other organisations in the ecosystem.
Experience & Qualifications
- Around 15–20 years of professional experience, with a strong track record in problem-solving, strategic thinking and project management.
- Consulting experience is highly desirable, ideally including work on complex, ambiguous problems for senior clients or stakeholders.
- Experience of working on MSME, manufacturing, industrial or economic policy issues is desirable; a keen interest in enterprise growth, economic development and public policy is important.
- Experience of engaging with senior stakeholders – in government, industry or large institutions – will be valuable.
- A postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline (such as economics, public policy, management, business or a related field) is preferred.
Skills & Attributes
Essential
- Strong strategic mindset, with the ability to see the big picture, structure ambiguous problems and develop clear, actionable solutions.
- Entrepreneurial drive and comfort with building something new, taking ownership and operating with limited structure.
- Excellent ability to engage, influence and build trust with senior stakeholders, including in government.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, combined with sound judgement.
- Excellent communication and writing skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas clearly and persuasively.
- High degree of self-motivation, ownership and resilience, with a strong commitment to impact.
Desirable
- Understanding of the MSME / SME and manufacturing sector, industrial policy or the broader development sector in India.
- Experience of working with or within the central government, or with industry bodies and enterprises.
- Experience of building and leading teams, or of setting up a new organisation or function.
- Familiarity with global best practices in supporting SME growth, manufacturing competitiveness and exports.