Associate Manager - Industry Engagement & Work Transition

Rope Purpose

The Associate Manager– Career Transitions will anchor the regional strategy for meaningful work transitions across ITIs and VTIs in Northeast India. The role is designed as a systems and ecosystem-building function focused on strengthening institutional placement systems, industry engagement architecture, and emerging livelihood pathways for youth.

The role will work across the learner transition journey:

Career Exploration → Decision Making → Career Readiness → Work Transition

The position will primarily focus on:

• Regional labour market and ecosystem strategy

• Institutional systems strengthening

• Employer and ecosystem partnerships

• Government and stakeholder engagement

• Building sustainable transition models beyond direct placement activities

While the role will support execution of transition-related activities where required, the primary expectation is to build long-term institutional and ecosystem capacity rather than directly manage day-to-day placement operations.

The role requires a strong balance of strategic thinking, ecosystem engagement, stakeholder management, and regional ownership.

Key Responsibilities Structure (70% Strategic | 30% Execution)

Key Responsibilities

1. Regional Strategy and Ecosystem Development (Primary Responsibility – 35%)

• Anchor the regional work transition strategy for Northeast India aligned with labour market realities and institutional needs.

• Identify emerging employment sectors, industry clusters, green jobs, and entrepreneurship opportunities relevant to youth transitions.

• Build regional pathways for industry engagement, apprenticeships, self-employment, and career transitions.

• Develop long-term employer and ecosystem partnerships to strengthen institutional transition systems.

• Support state and institutional stakeholders in moving from activity-based placements to structured transition systems.

• Contribute to strategic planning, regional reviews, and program design discussions related to meaningful work transitions.

2. Institutional Systems Strengthening (20%)

• Strengthen institutional capacity for placement and career transition systems across ITIs and VTIs.

• Support institutes in developing sustainable placement cells, employer engagement mechanisms, and alumni tracking systems.

• Build the capacity of Placement Officers, trainers, and institutional leadership on transition planning and industry engagement.

• Support adoption of digital systems and data-driven approaches for transition tracking and employer engagement.

• Enable institutions to independently manage placement and transition functions over time.

3. Employer and Stakeholder Engagement (15%)

• Build and maintain relationships with employers, industry bodies, sector skill organizations, and ecosystem actors.

• Facilitate strategic partnerships for apprenticeships, recruitment, exposure opportunities, and emerging livelihood pathways.

• Engage with government stakeholders, NGOs, and regional partners to strengthen ecosystem ownership.

• Represent Quest Alliance in regional ecosystem forums, industry engagements, and stakeholder consultations where required.

4. Transition Activities and Program Execution (20%)

• Support coordination of placement drives, job fairs, industry visits, and transition-related activities in collaboration with institutional stakeholders.

• Provide implementation support for pilot initiatives related to entrepreneurship, green livelihoods, and career transition models.

• Support periodic reviews and tracking of institutional transition activities.

• Ensure timely coordination with internal teams and regional stakeholders for execution priorities.

5. Team Coordination, Learning and Reporting (10%)

• Support associate-level team members, interns, or fellows contributing to transition-related work.

• Document regional learnings, ecosystem insights, and transition models.

• Contribute to reporting, program reviews, and organizational learning systems.

• Ensure adherence to organizational processes and monitoring systems.

Non-Negotiable Skills

• Strategic Ecosystem Building: Ability to build long-term partnerships and transition ecosystems involving industry, institutions, and government stakeholders.

• Labour Market and Regional Understanding: Strong understanding of employment trends, regional industries, and emerging livelihood pathways.

• Institutional Systems Strengthening: Ability to strengthen placement and transition systems within training institutions.

• Stakeholder and Government Engagement: Ability to work across government systems, industry bodies, and multi-stakeholder environments.

• Strategic Program Management: Ability to balance regional ownership, planning, coordination, and execution within complex program environments.

Experience

• Minimum 5–7 years of experience in:

• youth employability

• skilling and vocational education

• workforce development

• industry engagement

• transition or livelihood programs

• Demonstrated experience in:

• stakeholder management

• ecosystem partnerships

• institutional capacity building

• strategic program coordination

• Experience working with government systems, ITIs, VTIs, or workforce ecosystems preferred.

Salary: The pay band for the position starts at Rs. 60,000/- per month (cost to company) ( The salary offered will be commensurate with the experience and expertise of the candidate)

Benefits:

In addition to your compensation, you are also eligible for a suite of benefits designed to support your well-being and growth:

- Comprehensive Personal Accident Insurance covering up to ₹10,00,000 annually

- Mediclaim Insurance covering up to ₹3,00,000 annually, supported through our insurance partner, Loop, which also offers additional wellness benefits

- Reach for the Stars (RFS) amount of up to ₹5,000 to support your self-learning and knowledge-building efforts

- Internet allowance of up to ₹750/month, reimbursable based on actual usage to support flexible and hybrid working arrangements

- For employees with children under the age of 6 years, Quest offers childcare or day care fee support through a monthly matching contribution of up to ₹3,000, helping you create a supportive work-life balance

- Access to emotional health and wellbeing programs such as: