Open Positions – Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS)

Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS) aims to improve lives by helping state governments deliver better development outcomes.

At CEGIS, we believe that three fundamental principles should underpin effective governance. And we work with state governments to put these principles into practice across sectors.

Outcome measurement
Across sectors, state governments largely focus on input-based programme implementation instead of improving outcomes. This is partly because there simply is a lack of accurate, regular and representative data on outcomes or beneficiary experience of government-provided benefits and services. CEGIS helps state governments in not just collecting this type of data, but also improving the quality of their administrative data, and incorporating insights from this data into government goal-setting, performance monitoring and general functioning.

1.(Senior) Program Associate, Outcome Measurement Team

Position Summary 
Within CEGIS, the Outcome Measurement (OM) team’s role is to support institutionalization  of data driven decision making by setting up the required infrastructure and technical  capacity with the Planning department and relevant line departments in the State. High quality data and insights generated through this facility are expected to provide assistance to  the State in goal setting, progress monitoring and strategic decision making for personnel and  budget/ finance management.  Specifically, this will, among other things, entail:

• Conducting independent household level outcome measurement across various sectors  such as school education, health, child nutrition, water & sanitation, jobs &  unemployment, public safety and agriculture etc. to assist the government in goal  setting and progress monitoring
• Measuring integrity of administrative data gathered and managed by the state  machinery and suggest ways of improving its quality
• Conducting high-frequency measurement of outcomes and monitoring (of key programs  and schemes) using various tools and techniques
• Generating learning notes to document project milestones and lessons for the future, and  share generalizable knowledge with the wider team.

The (Senior) Program Associate (PA) – Outcome Measurement will play an important role in  contextualizing and executing the CEGIS vision in a select state. The role will work closely with  the Outcome Measurement technical team and project delivery teams in the respective State team.

The (Senior) Program Associate will be directly reporting to the Program Manager, Outcome Measurement in the state.

​Role and Responsibilities 

• The key responsibilities of the (Senior) Program Associate include:
• Assist in developing technical notes and measurement and analysis protocols for the vertical
• Oversee complex digital data collection operations (to be carried out by an external agency) involving multiple rounds of multi-sectoral surveys
• Design and manage other smaller scale survey operations in-house (including both in-person and phone surveys) as per the requirement of the project delivery teams
• Ensure adherence to data quality protocols, including auditing enumerators, monitoring data collection, and conducting data quality audits
• Replicate any analysis submitted by external partners to ensure rigor and quality of outputs
• Gather administrative data from relevant government line departments, review them using a prescribed template and conduct analysis as required
• Manage all the primary, secondary, and administrative data by strictly following data management and security protocols
• Keep track of global best practices in measurement and assist in strengthening team’s capacity to adopt those
• Develop high quality outputs for dissemination at various forums

​Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities 
Education and Experience  

• Bachelor’s degree (Master’s degree or equivalent preferred) in economics, public policy, social science or related fields from a reputed institution
• 0 to 3 years work experience in India with a research organization (research agency/ think-tank (government or private sector) preferred
• Experience with data cleaning and analysis of large and complex data sets and econometric analysis
• Knowledge of STATA or R (strongly preferred) or any other data analysis software preferred
• Understanding of experimental and non-experimental research methods

​Personal Characteristics and Desired Qualities

• Excellent problem-solving and strategic thinking skills, strong research aptitude ability to analyse complex quantitative and qualitative data and formulate solutions
• Fluency in English and excellent writing and communication skills (ability to communicate complex ideas in a meaningful way and across different audiences) within and outside the organization
• Strong planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines
• Ability to think creatively, willing to take risks to experiment with new ideas and the ability to turn ideas into action
• High ability to collaborate and actively listen to others, understanding and valuing others’ views Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations
• Operating style suited to working independently and in a small-organization setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued

​Location and Compensation
The position is open in multiple states and the role will be based out of the respective state capital.

Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy and social sector pay scales and will depend on the candidate’s experience levels.

​​2. Program Manager – Outcome Measurement

Position Summary 
Within CEGIS, the Outcome Measurement (OM) team’s role is to support the institutionalization of data-driven decision making by setting up the required infrastructure and technical capacity with the Planning department and relevant line departments in the state. High-quality data and insights generated through this facility are expected to provide assistance to the state in goal setting, progress monitoring and strategic decision making for personnel and budget/ finance management.  The Program Manager (OM) will play an important role in executing this vision in Telangana. The Program Manager will work closely with both the OM technical team and the State team.

​Role and Responsibilities 

• Oversee complex digital data collection operations (to be carried out by an external agency) involving multiple rounds of multi-sectoral surveys
• Work closely with senior academics and government stakeholders to tailor research design and protocols to local context, and translate technical requirements to on ground implementation
• Support in development of high quality outputs (presentations, reports, briefs) summarizing project progress, data analyses, research findings for both technical and non-technical audiences and for dissemination at various forums
• Ensure adherence to data quality protocols, including auditing enumerators, monitoring data collection, and conducting data quality audits in any data collection project
• Replicate any analysis submitted by external partners to ensure rigor and quality of outputs
• Facilitate access to administrative data from relevant government line departments, review them using a prescribed template and conduct analysis as required
• Manage all the primary, secondary, and administrative data by strictly following data management and security protocols
• Assist in standardization of measurement and analysis protocols for projects
• Support the technical and professional development of reportees
• Keep track of global best practices in measurement and assist in strengthening team’s capacity to adopt these practices

 Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities 

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, statistics, public policy, engineering, social science, or related fields from a reputed institution
• 4 to 5 years relevant work experience, including extensive field research, managing evaluations, basic quantitative analysis, and managerial experience
• Experience in quantitative data management and analysis using STATA, R (strongly preferred) or Python programming
• Understanding of experimental and non-experimental research methods, including design and implementation of field sample surveys

Personal Characteristics and Desired Qualities

• Fluency in English and basic to intermediate proficiency in Telugu
• Excellent problem-solving and strategic thinking skills, strong research aptitude ability to analyse complex quantitative and qualitative data and formulate solutions
• Fluency in English and excellent writing and communication skills (ability to communicate complex ideas in a meaningful way and across different audiences) within and outside the organization
• Demonstrated relationship-building ability and management of high-level relationships with partner organizations, ideally based on experience of working with Indian state governments
• Strong planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines
• Passion for improving the effectiveness of Indian States, and alignment with CEGIS’s theory of change/ impact
• Operating style suited to working independently and in a small-organization setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued
• Ability to work under pressure by handling competing priorities, strong planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines, maintaining attention to detail and delivering high-quality outputs
• Ability to think creatively, willing to take risks to experiment with new ideas and the ability to turn ideas into action
• High ability to collaborate and actively listen to others, understanding and valuing others’ views
• Versatility to be comfortable taking on different projects and quickly dive into
  new sectors

Location and Compensation
This role will be based out of Hyderabad, Telangana.

Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy and social sector pay scales and will depend on the candidate’s experience levels.

Interested candidates are requested to submit their application here. 

​Pre-reads for the application process
To learn more about the type of reforms CEGIS is seeking to implement in states, please go through the following materials before sending in your application:

1. Podcast episodes with Prof. Karthik Muralidharan – one each on education and healthcare in India.

2. Collection of Prof. Karthik Muralidharan’s work here.