Apply Here! 

Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka (with extensive travel across districts and states in India)

Position Summary

Program Manager – Projects & Community Action will be a pivotal leader at GRAAM, responsible for spearheading community consultation activities, including comprehensive program and project management, with a specific focus on action research. This role involves the full project lifecycle from sourcing and implementing action research projects to planning and coordinating data collection activities, and critically, building and nurturing a robust network with partner organizations across India. The incumbent will ensure that grassroots perspectives effectively inform evidence-based policy advocacy.

Key Responsibilities

1. Project Development and Management

• Proposal Development: Develop compelling project proposals and effectively present them to clients and partners, contributing to the acquisition of new action research/implementation projects.
• Execution & Oversight: Conceptualize, execute, supervise, and monitor all activities, programs, and projects under their purview, including action research initiatives.

2. Community Engagement & Networking

• Partnership Building: Build and strengthen extensive networks with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) at both state and national levels to establish dependable grassroots partnerships crucial for field research and community consultation.
• Operational Planning: Actively engage in the development of detailed operational plans for implementing community consultation initiatives.
• Stakeholder Coordination: Coordinate effectively with government departments, Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), and people’s representatives to secure necessary permissions and foster cooperation for field surveys and project activities.

3. Data Collection and Analysis (in collaboration with Research Team)

• Data Management: Plan and manage all data collection activities, including rigorous field validation and checks to ensure the highest data quality and integrity for research and study-related activities.
• Field Management & Training: Comprehensively train & manage field surveyors and enumerators for various research and study-related activities.
• Tool Development: Coordinate with research and community consultation teams to develop, translate, and contextualize research tools to ensure cultural appropriateness and effectiveness in diverse community settings.

4. Team Leadership and Management

• Team Leadership: Lead, motivate, and mentor community engagement team members and program staff, fostering a collaborative and high-performing environment.
• Contract Negotiation: Prepare and negotiate contracts, budgets, and survey plans with partners and stakeholders.

5. Documentation and Reporting

• Knowledge Management: Systematically document lessons learned and best practices derived from grassroots engagements and project implementation.
• Reporting: Prepare comprehensive program reports and documentation as required by GRAAM and its partners.
• Communication: Contribute to website updates and newsletters, sharing insights and progress from the community engagement team’s work.

1. Additional Responsibilities

• Capacity Building: Participate in developing field survey capacity-building resource materials and tools.
• Resource Person: Serve as a resource person in training programs organized by GRAAM.
• Field Facilitation: Facilitate field visits for internal team members and external visitors.
• Other Duties: Undertake any other related assignments as entrusted by the reporting authority.

Qualifications and Experience

• Education: Master’s degree in Social Science, Public Policy, Development Studies, or other related fields.
• Experience: 5 to 8 years of progressive experience in community engagement, project management, program implementation, or related areas, preferably within the development sector in India, with a strong focus on action research.

Skills and Competencies

• Leadership: Proven ability to effectively lead, motivate, and manage diverse teams.
• Project & Survey Management: Demonstrated strong project and survey management skills, including planning, execution, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Reporting & Documentation: Excellent program reporting and documentation abilities, with a keen eye for detail.
• Fieldwork Aptitude: Strong flair for fieldwork and a genuine commitment to working directly with communities.
• Community Understanding: Substantial understanding of community processes, dynamics, and challenges.
• Learning Documentation: Expertise in meticulously documenting lessons learned and best practices from grassroots engagements.
• Communication: Strong analytical, written, and oral communication skills, including the crucial ability to understand and translate local/vernacular dialects.
• Language Proficiency: Good command of English, Kannada and Hindi (written and verbal)
• Computer Proficiency: Highly proficient in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).