Job Description

Chief Operating officer

Location: Delhi / Mumbai / Bangalore / Hyderabad / Chennai 

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.

Overview

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) at CEGIS will be a key member of the senior leadership team, responsible for operationalising the vision and strategy set out by the CEO and the Board. The COO will ensure the seamless functioning of the organisations internal systems, processes, and structures to drive high-impact governance reforms in collaboration with state governments.

This role requires a strong organisation builder with strong execution skills, operational excellence, and the ability to align and drive change in multidisciplinary teams across diverse geographies. The COO will play a critical role in enabling CEGIS to scale its programmes, maintain operational efficiency, and foster a culture of innovation and collaboration.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Partner with the CEO and collaborate with senior leadership to translate organisational strategy into operational plans.

• Ensure effective change management, organizational efficiency and financial sustainability

• Ensure alignment of all teams with CEGIS mission, Theory of Change, and strategic priorities.

• Develop frameworks and scalable models to support solution and delivery teams in driving governance reforms across states. Helps institutionalize these and manage change with rigorous follow up

• Continuously evaluate and refine operating models to align with strategic priorities and changing environment

Operational Excellence

• Oversee day-to-day operations, ensuring efficient functioning of systems, processes, and infrastructure.

• Design and implement streamlined workflows and processes to inform how CEGIS delivers impact and enhance productivity and reduce inefficiencies.

• Build and refine operational frameworks to support projects, partnerships, and capacity-building initiatives.

• Design and implement mechanisms to track and improve performance metrics across areas of operations including internal operations.

• Develop and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure operational success and inform decision-making

• Establish and Supervise the efficient financial and grants management practices for CEGIS projects following receipt of the grants.

Workforce Planning, Optimization, and Resource Management

• Oversee the development of funding priorities, annual plans, and strategic workforce planning activities. Monitor and track the execution of the operating plan to ensure alignment with organizational goals.

• Collaborate with the finance team to develop budgets, manage costs, and ensure fiscal discipline and operational sustainability.

• Ensure optimal use of human, technological, and financial resources to expand CEGIS operational capacity. Establish robust resource management processes and governance mechanisms to track time, cost, and schedule leakages on projects.

• Streamline team management processes, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and high performance. Mentor senior leaders to ensure alignment across programmatic, operational, and enabling functions.

• Work closely with finance and fundraising teams to secure sustainable funding streams. Monitor and enhance the cost-effectiveness of CEGIS programs and ensure efficient resource allocation.

Annual and Workforce Planning & Optimization

• Lead planning activities and monitor / track the execution of the operating plan

• Work closely with the finance team to develop budgets, manage costs, and ensure financial discipline and operational sustainability.

• Work with Senior leadership to streamline team management processes, fostering a high-performance culture of collaboration and accountability.

• Ensure optimal use of Human, Technological and Financial Resources to expand CEGIS operational capacity ; Establish and oversee robust resource management processes

• Establish governance mechanisms to track time, cost and schedule leakages on projects

• Collaborate and work with senior leaders to ensure alignment across programme, operational, and enabling functions.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Support Strengthening of relationships with key partners, including state governments, philanthropic funders, and other stakeholders.

• Act as a trusted representative of CEGIS in high-level discussions with board members and relevant partners.

• Supporting structuring the proposals and other grant opportunities.

• Ensure timely and effective communication of impact and outcomes to stakeholders.

Compliance and Risk Management

• Identify operational risks and implement mitigation strategies.

• Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, and organizational standards across all operational functions.

Key Qualifications

• Masters degree with 18+ years of professional experience, including senior leadership roles in management consulting from a top tier firm.

• Proven track record of operational leadership in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

• Strong understanding of governance, public finance, or capacity-building in Indian states is desirable.

Key Competencies

• Operational Acumen: Expertise in designing and implementing processes that ensure efficiency and impact.

• Leadership: Demonstrated ability to inspire, mentor, and lead large, multidisciplinary teams.

• Stakeholder Management: Exceptional relationship-building and influencing skills across diverse stakeholder groups.

• Adaptability: Resilience and flexibility to navigate ambiguity and scale operations in a dynamic environment.
  

Compensation:

Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy and social sector pay scales and will depend on the candidates experience levels.

Interested candidates are requested to submit their application here.

Note: CEGIS has zero tolerance to sexual harassment. We therefore expect each applicant to self-declare related to the same. CEGIS could, if required, initiate a prevention of sexual harassment-based background verification. If an applicant is reported of misconduct, appropriate action that may include employment termination would be taken. Please Click the link for self declaration.

Pre-reads for the application process

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

• 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.