Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS)
Senior Program Associate (SPA), Solution Delivery, Line Department
🇮🇳Mumbai, Maharashtra, India7 days ago
MidFull TimeEN
1. Position
Job Title: Senior Program Associate (SPA), Solution Delivery, Line Department
Reporting to: Program Manager (PM), Solution Delivery, Line Department
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Experience: 3-5 years
Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS – pronounced See-Jis) aims to improve lives by helping Indian state governments deliver better development outcomes. We believe that the most impactful lever for accelerating national development is to improve governance and state capacity to better deliver core public services at scale.
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. CEGIS's vision and Theory of Change (ToC) are an outcome of extensive research done by Prof. Karthik Muralidharan (CEGIS Co-Founder and Scientific Director) and outlined in his multiple award-winning, national bestselling book Accelerating India's Development, and enabled by strategic philanthropic support provided by Ashish Dhawan (CEGIS Co-Founder).
CEGIS's solutions to enhance governance are co-created with state governments in a state-led way, where we focus on deep partnerships with states using 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. Many of our solutions reflect ideas outlined in the book Accelerating India's Development, and these solutions are constantly refined based on real-time feedback and are designed to both be customised to the contexts we are working in and to create templates that can provide the starting point for replication across contexts.
Our focus areas reflect evidence that key characteristics of high-performing organisations include (a) measuring outcomes through reliable, high quality data that enables goal setting and progress monitoring; (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 and revenue collection are based on evidence and cost-effectiveness; (d) and creating efficient systems to leverage external actors (including for-profit and nonprofit organisations). CEGIS partners with states to improve capacity by focusing on these pillars of State effectiveness, and aims to also integrate these horizontal governance improvements into integrated sectoral roadmaps to accelerate the achievement of state and national development outcomes.
Internally, CEGIS is organised into solutions teams that lead the design and technical quality control of our research and evidence-backed approaches to improving governance and state capacity; delivery" teams that lead state-facing work to contextualise the solutions, and support governments in implementing them; and enablement teams that enable the organisation to function smoothly.
Since its incorporation in 2019, CEGIS has gained significant momentum in building strong collaborations with state government(s) as a trusted partner who can provide both thought leadership and implementation support on key governance reforms. CEGIS's 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 1 state government engagement in 2019, today CEGIS is working across 9 Indian states (Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh). We also partner with union agencies/ministries such as the Capacity Building Commission, the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MoWCD), and the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to share insights from our state-level work to inform national-level guidelines and dissemination to other states. Finally, we also take on selected work at the district level to design and test implementation templates.
From a small group of founding members, we have grown to become a team of 150+ members located across the country, and expect to grow to over 200 in the coming year. Led by a former senior civil servant with deep governance experience, state and solution team leads with decades of domain expertise, and enabling functions led by professionals with considerable corporate experience, the team at CEGIS brings together knowledge and experience that spans various sectors – from development economics, research, governance, management consulting, and social entrepreneurship.
Over the last 6 years, CEGIS has also garnered support for our vision and theory of change from several foundations and philanthropists whose partnership has enabled us to build our organisational capacity as well as continue to experiment and improve our solution design to augment state capacity and governance. With the rapidly growing demand for CEGIS's offerings, CEGIS is well-positioned to play a key role in accelerating India's development.
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.
We believe that empowered, equipped and future-ready public officials are crucial to achieving citizen-centric service delivery.
We work with central, state, and local governments to actualise their human capital by improving human resource (HR) management practices and organisational effectiveness using a competency-driven approach. We believe that supporting governments in undertaking these reforms will improve execution capacity and provide a fulfilling career journey for public officials.
The competency-driven approach focuses on the knowledge, skills, and attitude required for specific government roles. By adopting this approach, CEGIS aims to clarify the work officials do and empower them to achieve better results. This translates to a shift in accountability – from simply following processes to delivering tangible outcomes.
The Personnel Management team achieves this through three key workstreams.
Competency-Based Recruitment: Ensuring the right people are selected for the job and bringing the necessary competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitude) on board from the outset.
Competency-Based Learning & Development: Equipping public officials with the ongoing training and development they need to excel in their roles.
Performance Management Systems: Evaluating and improving individual and team performance based on achieving defined goals, not just by adherence to procedures.
Through these efforts, the Personnel Management team strives to bring enhanced clarity and effectiveness to government work in India. By empowering officials with the right skills and holding them accountable for achieving desired outcomes, CEGIS is paving the way for a more efficient and impactful government service.
We are seeking a dynamic Senior Program Associate (SPA) - Project Delivery (Personnel Management), Line Department, Govt of Maharashtra, to provide the analytical and operational horsepower to pilot and implement innovative solutions within the state/line departments that help bridge competency gaps and strengthen HR practices.
The ideal candidate brings a strong understanding of competency frameworks and their applications in learning and development. You will be responsible for conducting diagnostics, analysing data, developing reports and co-creating scalable solutions with government stakeholders.
This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of policy and practice, collaborating closely with senior public officials, donors, and implementation partners to shape the future of HR and governance reform in India. It's an ideal opportunity for someone who thrives in dynamic environments and seeks to create measurable, lasting impact in public service delivery.
Conducts independent research, literature reviews, and root-cause analyses to identify L&D gaps within an MDO
Conducts primary research (interviews, FGDs, surveys) with public officials to map roles, responsibilities, activities, associated competencies and relevant learning opportunities
Collaborates in the co-creation of project-specific solutions to drive the implementation of capacity-building processes (role-competency mapping, Competency Assessment instruments, assessment reports, trainings/ workshops/ courses) by offering technical support
Supports the Program Manager in diagnosing gaps in broader HRM systems and recommending innovative reforms
Tracks and validates datasets from multiple sources for accuracy and reliability.
Analyses complex qualitative and quantitative data (such as data from training needs and competency gap assessments, course engagement and competency growth patterns) to generate actionable insights to inform targeted capacity building efforts
Prepares reports, dashboards, policy briefs, and presentations to support decision-making
Maintains and updates the database of competencies, assessments, and courses deployed within an MDO
Develops and prioritises work plans, ensuring accountability for timelines with minimal supervision and tracks project progress
Supports the design, prototyping, and implementation of competency-based solutions across projects and state engagements
Develops knowledge tools, training materials, and process guides based on field learnings to facilitate implementation
Documents and codifies learnings, contributing to continuous improvement and institutional knowledge within the team
Supports the team in identifying, engaging, and coordinating with key stakeholders across the MDO to enable effective solution delivery
Facilitates communication and knowledge exchange by organising meetings, preparing and delivering presentations, briefs, and updates to internal and external stakeholders
Builds and maintains productive working relationships with stakeholders, partner organisations and the team by ensuring regular interactions, capturing feedback, and identifying opportunities for deeper collaboration
Bachelor's degree in economics, public policy, social sciences, or a related discipline from a reputable institution.
3–5 years of relevant professional experience, particularly in government projects, HRM, capacity building, or project delivery.
Prior sectoral exposure to health or nutrition, working with line departments, government ecosystems, or multi-stakeholder initiatives is strongly preferred.
The competencies required to perform the above-mentioned roles and responsibilities are as follows:
Domain Competencies
Public Administration Understanding: Demonstrates basic understanding of India's governance, policy landscape, data sources, and service rules
Competency-based Learning and Development: Understands the components of the learning and development (L&D) cycle and uses competency to facilitate L&D interventions
Functional Competencies
Research & Analytical Acumen: Ability to conduct research, interpret patterns, and synthesise information into findings
Data Literacy & Analysis: Accurately interprets data, identifies patterns, and develops reports
Project Management: Supports project delivery by drafting plans, coordinating resources, tracking timely deliverables, and maintaining documentation
Communication and Knowledge Practice: Communicates and documents ideas clearly across formats
Behavioural Competencies
Leading Self: Takes ownership of tasks and ensures timely completion
Learning Orientation: Seeks feedback, applies guidance, and adapts work practices to evolving needs
Collaboration: Keen on building relationships, sharing responsibilities, and contributing effectively to team goals
The role will be based out of Mumbai, Maharashtra
Language Proficiency in Marathi and English
Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy and social-sector pay scales, depending on the candidate's experience level.
CEGIS is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin.
Please go through the following materials before sending in your application.
A glimpse into life at CEGIS - CEGIS Retreat 2024
State Capacity, Governance, and Public Systems — Prof. Karthik Muralidharan on Seen & Unseen with Amit Varma – on education, healthcare, federalism and state capacity, and bureaucracy in India.
Go-HRM: Goal-oriented approach to human resource management (GO-HRM)
You are also strongly encouraged to read Prof. Karthik Muralidharan's book Accelerating India's Development: A State-Led Roadmap for Effective Governance (especially Chapters 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, and 11), which informs much of CEGIS's work and theory of change.
Recommended listening:
Karthik Muralidharan Episodes on SparX by Mukesh Bansal: Podcast Episode 1, Podcast Episode 2, Podcast Episode 3.
Karthik Muralidharan: India's Roadmap for Effective Governance — FED Dialogues: Podcast Episode.
Karthik Muralidharan on Making Governance More Effective — Sushasan | Podcast.
