State Lead – Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS)

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

From poor learning outcomes to malnutrition, many of India’s biggest development challenges stem from weak state capacity. Whether it is ineffective government schools and clinics, people not receiving their welfare entitlements, understaffed and overworked police forces, or our backlog of over 30 million court cases, weak state capacity hinders the quality of public expenditure, constrains growth and hurts the poor.

CEGIS believes that building the effectiveness of the state and improving the quality of public expenditure is the most cost-effective way of improving development outcomes at scale. Governments are responsible for designing and implementing policies, delivering services and regulating markets. And research has shown that even small improvements in state capacity can generate outsized effects on development.

We believe that well-functioning governments share at least three features: (i) outcome measurement to monitor progress against specific goals; (ii) policies and practices that effectively hire, train and manage personnel to meet goals; and (iii) resource allocation based on evidence and cost-effectiveness. At CEGIS, we support Indian state governments to build these foundations so that they can deliver development outcomes more effectively.

State Lead – Telangana
 
Position Summary 

As the State Lead for Telangana, you will lead and drive the CEGIS engagement in the state. This will involve directly or indirectly managing all ongoing projects in the state while working with senior Government officials to develop a pipeline of future projects. In doing this, you will interact regularly with senior government officials, researchers and other organizations working in the space. You will be required to build an in-depth understanding of the state’s major policy developments and priorities.

This role directly reports to the President of CEGIS, who comes with substantial experience in government and a proven ability to deliver systemic reform/ programs at scale. You will also be expected to work closely with the founder and Scientific Director (Prof. Karthik Muralidharan) to understand the intellectual vision behind proposed reforms and drive the implementation of the reforms across sectors in Telangana. Finally, you will be expected to work closely with the co-Founders, President and Head – People and Partnerships to support capacity building and organizational development.

​Role and Responsibilities 

• Drive CEGIS’s reform initiatives in Telangana with a strong execution focus. This will involve collaborating with CEGIS’s functional and sectoral teams (i.e. Outcome Measurement and Nutrition etc.) and drawing on your own knowledge to shape outcomes and create impact at scale.
• Develop relationships with key officials in Telangana and establish mechanisms for review and institutionalisation of reforms.
• Source, embed and provide oversight to other key strategic partners for the State.  While CEGIS has a small team in Telangana, the extended “network team” includes government resources in the form of seconded personnel, Fellows available via a GoTS sponsored fellowship program and external partners. As State Lead, you would work with senior state officials to select, embed and ensure alignment and delivery from all the partners under this reform umbrella.
• Create a culture of impact and enable team building through collaboration and transparency. CEGIS is a young organization. As a startup with a unique goal, managing talent that is energized by contributing to demonstrable impact requires building a culture that is collaborative, inclusive and prioritizes rigour. As State Lead, you will help shape our choices about what we do and how we do it.

 Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities 

• Master’s degree or equivalent in relevant fields, including management, economics or public policy – from a top global program
• 10 to 15 years of work experience with managerial responsibilities, demonstrating entrepreneurship, superb project delivery and team leadership
• Prior exposure to working very closely with senior bureaucrats and designing/implementing large-scale projects is highly desirable
• Strong interest in improving the functioning of the government combined with interest/experience in using research and evidence to improve policy
• Excellent problem-solving and strategic thinking skills, ability to analyse complex quantitative and qualitative data, craft possible solutions and recommend actions
• Excellent writing and communication skills (ability to communicate complex ideas in a meaningful way and across different audiences) in both English and Telugu
• Ability to build and maintain positive and collaborative relationships both within and outside the organization
• Ability to set goals and metrics for a team, and manage the team towards delivering those goals
• Strong planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines.

Personal Characteristics and Desired Qualities

• Ability to align multiple stakeholders and build platforms for collaboration and coordination
• Passion for working with governments and making Indian states work better
• Public-spirited and generous temperament
• Ability to think creatively, willing to take risks to experiment with new ideas and the ability to turn ideas into action
• Excellent people management skills, with the ability to develop and motivate teams working out of different locations in India towards a common goal
• High ability to collaborate and actively listen to others, understanding and valuing others’ views
• Intellectual curiosity and ability/willingness to constantly learn
• Operating style suited to working independently and in a small-organization setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued

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.