Job Description

Position: Program Associate / Sr. Program Associate

Location: New Delhi, India

Background

We live in a world of fast-paced innovation today, driven by exponential progress in science and technology (S&T) and the growth of vibrant ecosystems to commercialize research. India must aspire to be a top 3 S&T Nation, where the first two places are occupied by US and China today. To do so, India needs to be at the forefront of research: the creation of new knowledge (research) and its translation to economic and social goods. This is imperative for long-term industry differentiation and competitiveness, National security, and self-reliance to attain our socio-economic goals.

The time for India to revive its S&T agenda is now or never. We have the economic size, the talent pool, a large market size and a vibrant startup ecosystem to both invest in research and be able to translate S&T knowledge into economic value. For India to be a global leader, exponential S&T growth needs to go hand-in-hand with economic growth and social progress.

While the West has traditionally dominated global S&T, many Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan have made rapid progress in the past, and China has dramatically scaled its S&T prowess to become #2 in the world behind USA. Indias Contribution is relatively dwarfed - its high impact research output is ranked 1oth, with US & China being the top 2, no Indian university shows up in top 100 research rankings, with just 1 company in worlds top 50 innovative companies.

Way of Work

The Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology (FAST India) is a non-profit institution of excellence dedicated to catalyse Indias journey to a top 3 S&T Nation. We identify that the major stakeholders for S&T include the government, the research institutions and the industry. There are systemic challenges with how these actors today work, such as size of ambition, right incentives, resource allocation and efficiency. Our way of working is to identify these challenges, develop and vigorously advocate policy solutions and best practices to address them. We also identify high-leverage projects that can have an outsized impact on the ecosystem, and run programs with stakeholders, where we lend our team of experts, to make sure best practices are used and the program is impactful. At maturity, we see the ecosystem develop the virtuous cycle of research funding, new breakthrough research, translation into economic value, and re-investment. While we build the ecosystem, we also look forward to build a strong narrative of S&T leadership in India and create political salience around it.

In a short period of time, FAST has started engagements with the Office of PSA (Govt of India), NITI Aayog, Capacity Building Commission of India and Banaras Hindu University, among others. Our projects span easing procurement for scientists, re-envisaging government and industry financing of research, fixing institutional grant management process, etc. We have produced multiple succinct policy briefs for the governmental and institutional sector. We also run Indias largest non-profit science festival in India called the India Science Fest, which has seen an audience of 50,000 people over the last three years. We also recently launched a Science Book Fellowship to spur public science books in India.

Leadership

FAST India is founded by Varun Aggarwal, who is a successful entrepreneur and researcher, and Ashish Dhawan, a private equity investor turned philanthropist. Varun built and sold Indias largest job assessment company, Aspiring Minds and wrote a book on the science ecosystem of India. Ashish Dhawan is the chairperson of Ashoka University, a leading liberal arts university in India, and Central Square Foundation, and is passionate about promoting science in India.

FASTs advisory board is chaired by Prof. Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School and consists of Dr K VijayRaghavan, formerly Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India ; Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former Chief Scientist at the World Health Organisation; Dr Thomas Barlow, author, former Adviser to the Australian Government, and Financial Times columnist; Shantanu Rastogi, Managing Director at General Atlantic.

FAST India receives guidance from its panel of advisors that comprises Ajay C Mehta, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Dr. Swaminathan Sivaram, Dr Samir K. Brahmachari, Dr Sanjay Sarma, Vijay Chandru, Abhishek Goel, Dr Venkatesh Narayanamurti & Dr Gagandeep Kang.

FAST India is led by Sheel Kapoor as its Chief Executive Officer, a senior professional with many years of leadership experience in General Electric & Regal Rexnord Corporation in India and around the world. At Regal Rexnord, Sheel was the India Regional President & the CEO of its India and Middle East Climate Business.

Pre-reading

Varuns talk on his book explaining Indias S&T ecosystem and the need for change

Keynote Remarks and Panel Discussion at India Science Fest about why India needs to invigorate its S&T ecosystem

Policy and best practices briefs by FAST

Position Summary

We are looking to hire an exceptional Program Associate(PA) / Sr. Program Associate (SPA) to join the team in an exciting time of organisational growth and development. This role will require working closely with the organisation leaders, across all verticals of FAST India, to place India at the forefront of global innovation through the creation of science and technology research and its translation into social and commercial applications. Overall, the PM will provide intellectual and execution support, aligned with FAST Indias missions, goals and targets.

Linked with its mission, FAST India has already signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India and Capacity Building Commission, Government of India for collaboration on projects in the science and technology ecosystem. FAST India would enter into more such MoUs with relevant stakeholders.

This is a high-energy, entrepreneurial role and a great opportunity for those who enjoy working in a start-up environment and care deeply about the impact sector. This role includes working with senior stakeholders and engaging with them on strategic projects to enhance the science and technology ecosystem in India.

Roles and Responsibilities

The key responsibilities of the PA /SPA include, but are not limited to:

• Assist with the framing of policies, structures, and processes that help bring efficiency in scientific R&D financing and dismantling regulatory barriers to innovation and science entrepreneurship in India
• Support the leadership team with research and insight, recommending an appropriate approach for diverse policy questions
• Engage in primary and secondary research, speak with experts and synthesize data from multiple data points
• Develop and help implement programs and projects with institutions in the ecosystem, private sector, and consolidate best practice for change
• Take on diverse operational tasks to ensure organizational success
• Assist the leadership team with creating and maintaining deep engagement with top leaders, funders and experts
• Aid the development and implementation of capacity building programs by primarily engaging with institutions, companies and quasi-governmental bodies
• Work closely with the India Science Festival team to make it the leading science event in India and the world

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities

• Postgraduate or Undergraduate degree in a relevant subject from a top tier institution. While there is no preference for a particular major, we expect to see high degree of intellectual curiosity, sophistication and execution rigor
• 1 to 4 years years of work experience in a challenging/high growth environment
• Entrepreneurial self-starter, passion for science and technology, and desire to develop and strengthen the science ecosystem in India
• High intellectual vitality, the desire to continuously learn, read, and engage on a variety of topics. While the person may only have a basic understanding of science and technology, we highly value the willingness to learn
• Excellent analytical, critical thinking, planning and organizational skills with high attention to detail, accuracy, professionalism, and deadlines
• Strong communication, writing, interpersonal, and stakeholder-facing skills including great presentation and facilitation skills

Desired Qualities

• Drive to excel in every aspect of work with high level of innovation and strong perseverance
• Ability to take initiative and develop solutions quickly and effectively
• Ability to understand and consider organizational culture and change
• Ability to function and interact in a professional level capacity to sustain the mission, culture and best interests of the organization
• Ability to adapt and exhibit confidence in a highly evolving, agile, and fast paced work environment
• High level of discretion in maintaining confidentiality of sensitive materials and issues
• Operating style suited to working in a small-organization setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued

Remuneration

Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy pay scales and with organizations working with a similar mandate.