Job Description

Position: Senior Program Manager

Reporting to: Vice President/Head - Personnel Management Vertical

Location: New Delhi

Experience: 8-12 Years

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.

The four key characteristics of any high-performing organisation are (a) measuring outcomes through reliable, high quality data that enables goal setting and monitoring progress towards these goals; (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 is based on evidence and cost-effectiveness; (d) and creating efficient systems to leverage external actors (including for-profit and nonprofit organisations). The Indian State needs to perform better on all four fronts above, by enhancing its capacity. CEGIS partners with states to improve this capacity by focusing on these four pillars of the State.

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. This vision and Theory of Change (ToC) is an outcome of extensive research done by Prof. Karthik Muralidharan (CEGIS Co-Founder and Scientific Director) and strategic philanthropic support provided by Mr. Ashish Dhawan (CEGIS Co-Founder).

Prof. Karthik Muralidharan is the Tata Chancellors Professor of Economics at the University of California, San Diego. Over the past two decades, he has led extensive research projects in India across education, health, and social welfare. His book, Accelerating Indias Development: A State-Led Roadmap for Effective Governance, systematically analyses Indias governance challenges and provides actionable, evidence-based strategies, emphasising state-level reforms as critical for Indias advancement.

Ashish Dhawan is a leading Indian philanthropist and the Founder-CEO of The Convergence Foundation (TCF). He is also the Founding Chairperson of Ashoka University and the Central Square Foundation, and is a governing board member of the Gates Foundation. Before his second career as a philanthropist, Ashish was among Indias most successful private equity investors.

CEGIS Approach and Model of Functioning

Our solutions to enhance governance are co-created with state governments in a state-led way, where we focus on deep partnerships with states with 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.

In alignment with our four principles or pillars of change - outcome measurement, personnel management, strategic public finance, states and markets, CEGIS is currently working with the governments of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, NCT of Delhi, Assam, and a few Government of India entities like the NITI Aayog and Capacity Building Commission (CBC) across a range of projects and sectors. Through CEGIS flagship offering, the KPI (Key Performance Indicators) Survey, we are helping enable state governments we are working with to collect better quality citizen level data, make informed, evidence-based decisions, and institutionalise this process of securing periodic citizen-level feedback. We are setting up a Financial Analytics Unit (FAU) to enhance analytical capacity and increase the effectiveness of budgetary allocations of the Finance Department in another state. In alignment with our personnel management workstream, we are also working with the HR/Administrative Reforms & Training Department to set up and institutionalise an in-house Capacity Building Unit (CBU) that aids the adoption of competency-based Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Performance Management Systems (PMS) with a few of these entities. Similarly, to improve the value of public money, we are working at the interface of states and markets which encompasses procurement, regulation, and policy formulation. Our solutions are constantly being refined based on real-time feedback and are designed to be customised and replicated across contexts.

CEGIS@5: A Journey of Learning & Building Capacity

Since its incorporation in 2019, despite the enormous challenges posed by COVID, CEGIS has gained significant momentum in building strong collaborations with the 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 2 state government engagements in the first 2 years of its inception, today CEGIS is working across several Indian states with 15+ projects across several sectors, including education, nutrition and local governance. From a small group of founding members, we have grown by leaps and bounds to become a team of 150+ members located across the country. Helmed by a former bureaucrat with invaluable governance experience, state and solution team leads with decades of domain expertise, and enabling functions led by professionals with considerable corporate careers, the team at CEGIS brings together knowledge and experience that spans various sectors - from developmental economics, research, and governance to management consulting and social entrepreneurship.

Over the last 5 years, we have also been able to garner support for our vision and theory of change from a diverse range of foundations and philanthropists whose partnership has enabled us to build our own organisational capacity as well as continue to experiment and improve our solution design to augment state capacity and governance. We believe that this approach will gradually enable all government officials to achieve their goals more effectively, thereby improving the ability of the State to deliver services to all Indian citizens in the decades to come.

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.

Funding Partners

TCF-https://theconvergencefoundation.org

NATCO- https://www.natcopharma.co.in/

Veddis Foundation- https://veddis.org/

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation- https://www.gatesfoundation.org/

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation- https://www.dell.org/

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Senior Program Manager for our Personnel Management vertical to design and drive strategic initiatives around performance management, specifically leveraging an Electronic Human Resource Management System (eHRMS) within a government framework. This role aims to ensure that the eHRMS streamlines HR processes and aligns with the government's objectives for efficiency, accountability, and transparency in public sector performance.

The ideal candidate will understand competency as a concept and its wide application in performance management. The candidate must also possess deep knowledge and understanding of how technology can be used in performance management in government systems. The candidate is expected to have a proven track record of using principles of systemic thinking and change management and has developed some compelling knowledge resources built to advocate novice frameworks and concepts.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Program and team Management & Strategic Planning:

• Lead the strategic design and development of performance management systems within government departments, aligning them with public service goals.
• Collaborate with senior government officials to establish performance benchmarks that drive improvement in service delivery.
• Manage and mentor a remote team of manager(s) and associate(s) to deliver time-bound, defined outputs and outcomes in alignment with the projects objectives, ensuring effective collaboration, communication, and productivity across various locations.
• Promote a culture of performance excellence and accountability across various government bodies through the effective use of eHRMS.
• Strategise and maintain program objectives with the co-lead/lead and implement them with the manager and associates.
• In collaboration with other team members, manage the administrative aspects of the program, such as hiring, procurement, and contract management.
• Liaison and management of relationships with other stakeholders, such as Technology partners, training institutes, learning content developers, etc.
• Develop knowledge resources such as process guides/ notes/ white-paper to contribute to knowledge management practices.
• Plan and organise outreach interventions such as webinars and workshops.

1. Performance Management System Implementation:

• Develop and implement a government-specific performance management framework that integrates seamlessly with the eHRMS platform.
• Ensure that the performance management systems capture real-time data, enabling accurate tracking of public servants contributions and impact.
• Lead initiatives to ensure that key performance indicators (KPIs) and performance evaluation criteria are aligned with government priorities and objectives.

1. Stakeholder Engagement:

• Collaborate with key stakeholders and government departments to deliver a range of tasks related to competency-based practices and approaches built towards solving personnel management development outcomes.
• Act as a liaison between government HR, IT, and performance management units to ensure smooth implementation and use of the eHRMS platform.
• Collaborate with ministries, state departments, and public sector units to identify performance gaps and create action plans for improvement.
• Engage with external vendors and technology providers to ensure the eHRMS system meets public sector needs.
• Maintain relationships with all stakeholders by creating periodic updates through documents, presentations, etc.

1. Data Analytics & Reporting:

• Develop performance dashboards and reporting tools within eHRMS to provide decision-makers with insights on workforce productivity, employee engagement, and resource allocation.
• Present regular performance updates to senior government officials and policymakers to influence decision-making at the highest levels.
• Use eHRMS data analytics to highlight areas where government departments excel or underperform and propose strategic interventions.

1. Research and Strategy:

• Study and incorporate best practices for competency-based HR practices such as recruitment, capacity building, and performance management.
• Conceptualise and perform research and analysis on data gathered during the program; present the program's outputs in the form of reports, whitepapers, and other collaterals.
• Think ahead with the seniors and colleagues to plan and prioritise the various activities and constantly link them to the broader goals of the program and organisation.

Education, Experience, Required Skills, Characteristics and Qualities

1. Masters degree or equivalent in Public Policy, Management, Human Resources, Social Works, Extension Education or related fields.
2. 8-12 years of work experience in a high-performing environment in project management/ technology consulting, etc., preferably within the Indian government (central as well as state-facing role).
3. Prior performance management and/ or HR strengthening experience in the development sector, preferably with governments.
4. Project/ program management or implementation roles with governments, multi-laterals, and international development institutions.
5. Exceptional oral and written communication skills in crafting tailored presentations, reports, and concept notes for internal and external stakeholders.
6. Ability to build and manage relationships with multiple stakeholders.
7. Experience in growing and managing teams.

Cultural Fitment

1. Embrace an open, diverse, and positive work environment.
2. Proactive, self-motivated, and able to manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment.
3. Work collaboratively with multiple teams at horizontal and vertical levels in a result-oriented manner.
4. Proactively seek and give feedback on the tasks handled by the team and proactively initiate action when they see a problem.
5. Practices proactive reflection and continuous improvement of behaviours and actions.

Note

1. The role will require travel within India depending on the project requirements.
2. Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy and social sector pay scales and will depend on the candidates experience levels.

Pre-reads for the application process

• Concept note on CEGIS

• A glimpse into life at CEGIS - CEGIS Retreat 2024

• CEGIS Snapshot 2023-24

• Podcast episodes with Prof. Karthik Muralidharan one each on education and healthcare in India.

• You are also encouraged to read more of Prof. Karthik Muralidharans work here and through his book Accelerating Indias Development: A State-Led Roadmap for Indias Development.