Trayas Foundation is recruiting a Research/Policy Analyst to work on regulatory reform
across different issues.
We are hiring!!! Trayas Foundation, a brand new research and policy advisory organisation, is recruiting
Research/Policy Analysts. At Trayas, we study the ins and outs of policy and regulation, deep dive into
centre-state relations, publish our analysis, and work with governments and advocacy organisations to see
our ideas executed. Our most recent success involves analysing draft labour regulations in one state, and
having our analysis and recommendations put on file at the leadership level. If this kind of work sounds
exciting, come join our team.
Who we are
Trayas Foundation is a research and policy advisory organization in New Delhi. We are a brand new outfit,
so life at Trayas is emergent and interesting. Our work involves studying regulations carefully, creating an
analytical framework to break down those regulations, and sharing insight from this analysis. We work with
governments and with advocacy organisations, acting as the intellectual and research engine to drive reforms.
What we are looking for
Analysts at Trayas are hungry, observant, and adept at logical reasoning and critical analysis. They have a
keen interest in current events that have a bearing on government and civil society's actions. The Analyst
should be passionate about reading, understanding, and writing on the areas of interest to the Foundation.
An ideal team member can shapeshift into various roles to achieve project objectives. S/he can balance
opposites—can run solo or in a team, do small tasks and deep uninterrupted work, and is independent but
knows when to seek help. Our culture prizes openness to ideas and dialogue, antifragility, honesty, drive for
self-improvement, adaptiveness, will to lead change, and pragmatic perfectionism. This is of course the
dream; each of our analysts is different in temperament and skills. What they do share is curiosity about the
world, relentless pursuit of knowledge, and ability to relay with others.
We are still figuring out what our key domains of play are, so this is a time of experimentation at Trayas. It
helps if you are open to sampling different areas of work. Your past work can be a prelude, but doesn’t have
to be a limitation. This is important to us: we are not looking for folks who want to work on only specific
areas. This will come later in our growth journey.
What you got
● Analysts: Bachelor's degree from a reputed university
Senior Analysts: MA/MSc Economics/Statistics/Law/Political Science/Sociology/Political
Economy/Public Policy
Where you worked
● At least two years of research experience from a think tank, law firm. media house, research
institution, government or consulting firm
● Published/unpublished academic research (academic papers, reports, blogs in own name)
● Open to working with freshers if skills, attributes and motivation align.
What you can do
● At least one of the following:
○ Working with government administrative data, including data sourced from gazettes
○ Regulatory research: analysis and study of laws, rules, government orders, circulars,
notifications
○ Working with large datasets (e.g. NSSO, CMIE's household or firm data)
● Demonstrated proficiency in high-quality succinct error-free writing in English
● Collaborative work and cloud technologies
What you will do everyday
● Regulatory analysis: Place regulation historically and evaluate it from the perspective of economics,
history, anthropology, political science, and common sense.
● Study centre-state relationships: Track how states do rule-making and how centre-state dynamics
work out.
● Identify best practices: Study regulation and regulation making across states to identify
best/average/worst practices.
● Work with secondary data: Survey datasets including government’s administrative data, third-party
data sets, literature, government and legal documents.
● When all else fails, collect primary data: Through interviews with government officials, individuals,
and experts or observations.
● Draft recommendations: Once you have developed expertise, do what experts do—make
recommendations.
● Write, write, write: Analyse and interpret information to produce error-free, concise research
products for different audiences: academic papers, presentations, short policy briefs, and opinion
pieces.
● Visualise what you write: Create graphics for the dissemination of ideas in engaging ways.
● Collaborate with advocacy organisations and government partners, build functional and sector
specific networks, present research to government stakeholders
● If you are responsible for a project, you
○ Plan project deliverables, timelines, research design and execution strategy
○ Manage people, particularly interns, money, and service providers
○ Oversee execution to ensure timely collection of data collection and analysis
○ Ensure delivery within agreed timelines
○ Coordinate with donors, project partners, and government clients.
● Stay up to date: Be on top of the current and pertinent policy and research issues by regularly
reviewing media articles, blogs and government announcements.
● When all is over, disseminate: Participate in and organise dialogues and conferences; write opinion
pieces on research undertaken for external publication.
How to apply
Job Title
Research/Policy Analyst, Trayas Foundation
Location
We are currently a fully remote team, and hope to stay that way for as long as we can.
Compensation
Compensation will be commensurate with experience and skills. We also offer flexi-working (roles,
portfolios, location, etc), autonomy, and opportunities to venture into new work areas.
Application
Candidates who are qualified should apply using the web application form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/13jerYXKPvQnZ9nmBvWm0bpKk67PR-iotYRiIur6cS20/viewform?edit_requested=true. The form includes
placeholders for :
● a 500-word cover note explaining why this role and why Trayas
● a 100-word bio about yourself
● a 500-word essay on your favorite non-fiction book
● Uploading a CV (no-longer than 2 pages in PDF)
● Uploading at least 2 publications (hyperlinks to or attachments of solo or co-authored in pdf), and
● Names and contact for 2 references.
Interview process
Typically candidates will go through one assignment and 2 rounds of conversations with different team
members. Some of these conversations will be 1:1 conversations, and some with a group. We want to get to
know you, and for you to get to know us. Through the conversations we are hoping to gauge knowledge and
skill levels, approach to work, and aspirations.