Position: Program Manager-Knowledge

Organization: SELCO Foundation

Location: Bangalore

Apply: http://www.selcofoundation.org/career-apply-form/?$p=17925

Experience : 8 to 10 years

Starting date : Immediately

Travel : 10 days in a month

Job Description:

This position would require the candidate to have strong analytical thinking and interpersonal communication skills. The candidate should have a good sectoral understanding, and proven experience in designing action research studies, evaluation studies, managing teams, developing and monitoring partnerships and coordinating for successful long-term strategic programs. The candidate should also have demonstrated ability to communicate with a diverse set of external audiences, and experience in creating pitch decks, designing workshops, and collaborative discussions. (S)He is also expected to be entrepreneurial, and adapt to varying situations and organizational requirements. In this role, the candidate would play a key role in ensuring that the values, philosophy and key approaches of the organization are demonstrated in a consistent manner across the work portfolio

Responsibilities:

• Conceptualise and monitor program timelines, milestones and budgetary allocations in line with the 5-year strategy of the organization
• Lead and coordinate for Primary and Secondary research, data analysis with respect to the sector or programs as per the designed studies
• Continuously evaluate and develop research methodologies that is practitioner driven and end user centric
• Work with key staff at SELCO Foundation to analyse and develop key concepts that feed back to the organization strategy or internal processes around innovation and ecosystem building for sustainable energy access.
• Plan for regular opportunities to identify lessons learned and implications for the project’s next steps including effective communication and dissemination of lessons learned
• Develop internal tools for the organization that promote sharing of learnings and best practicesthese could be in the form of frameworks, guidelines, case studies; in order to improve coordination and further the innovation and learning transfer from one geography/ team to the other
• Responsible for ensuring that all technical, research inputs are strategic, consistent and coordinated, and that quality reports are delivered as per the indicated schedule
• Design and manage partnerships, developing long term strategic plans for each
• Coordinate and network with other stakeholders to develop and promote appropriate programs and learnings from the implementation portfolio across the larger sectoral network of organizations and champions
• Develop and anchor partnerships with a variety of stakeholders (institutes, innovation labs, innovators, entrepreneurs, civil society organizations etc) and build engagement tools which allow for better collaboration and communication to solve problems
• Conduct regular team meetings for the vertical, as well as program specific meetings to update all members on best practices and continuing expectations and vision
• Actively participate and plan internal/external events and partner visits in order to transfer the ecosystem approach for energy access
• Keep updated on sectoral progress nationally and globally

Qualities:

• Strong organizational skills that reflect the ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks seamlessly with excellent attention to detail
• Very strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders at multiple levels, including staff, end users / community members, micro entrepreneurs, government officials, internal advisors, external partners and donors
• Demonstrated proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability
• Highly resourceful team-player, with the ability to also be extremely effective independently
• Be adaptable to various competing demands, and demonstrate the highest level of end user and partner service and response
• Demonstrated ability to achieve high performance goals and meet deadlines in a fast paced Environment

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Work Experience: minimum 8 years of experience is preferred; showcasing experience in leading,managing and mentoring teams and programs, preferably in a non-profit organization
• Demonstrated competence in evaluation frameworks, design of action research studies, impact metrics and evaluation studies etc
• The candidate should be a good communicator, and should be willing to cut across stakeholders from varied backgrounds- ie coordinate with a diverse group of practitioners and grassroot level stakeholders to extract learnings, and macro level stakeholders for informing policies and program design.
• The candidate should have an interest in social development and grassroot problem solving based innovation.
• The candidate should have demonstrated ability in synthesizing information and present it in a manner that can feed back into program designs and organization strategy
• It would be preferred if the candidate has experience in managing and producing communications content with a higher degree of informational content. The candidate should have good aesthetic sensibilities with an understanding of various forms of communication including print, web based, videos, photography, etc.
• It is preferred that the candidate has an understanding of systems thinking, design thinking and should be willing to learn new and complex concepts, if necessary.
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral
• Ability to process information and create compelling communication channels
• Willingness to travel.