Associate Director at The Centre For Economic Data And Analysis (CEDA) – Ashoka University

Ashoka University: 10 years ago, we embarked on a journey to establish a world-class, multi-disciplinary, liberal arts and sciences university in India. Built on the finest global best practices of institution and university governance, Ashoka has truly transformed Indian higher education in India with its unique pedagogy, governance and best practices. Ashoka is today India’s #1 liberal arts and sciences university that is home to the most diverse student body, a hub for impactful research and a magnet for best-in-class faculty and staff.

Ashoka has been ranked in the top five among private Universities in India by QS Asia and has also secured top rank among all Indian Universities in the ‘International Faculty’ indicator. The University was earlier awarded Diamond rating by QS I.GAUGE as a recognition of its continuous focus on academic rigour, inter-disciplinary pedagogy, world[1]class faculty, academic research, innovative modules of engagement with the community and teaching methods. For further information, visit www.ashoka.edu.in.

Experience (in years): 8-12 years

Nature of work: Full Time

We aim to co-create a nurturing space for our students, faculty, staff, donors and community positively through universal values:

• Be Mission-Driven
• Think Strategically
• Act Authentically
• Take Accountability
• Build Collaboration
• Deliver Excellence

About Department/Centre: The Economics Department of Ashoka University has set up the Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA) with the primary aim of facilitating informed debate about economic and social developments in India. CEDA also aims to directly contribute to public discussions on policy relevant issues by generating written content in the form of blog posts, summaries of research papers, commentaries on economic and social issues etc. Do you see stories in numbers? Are you deeply interested in a data-driven understanding of socio-economic realities of India? Do you have a sharp eye for detail?

We are hiring for an exciting opportunity to lead the Centre for Economic Data and Analysis, (https://ceda.ashoka.edu.in) which has been generating data narratives, illustrations and bulletins on a regular basis since its creation in January 2021.

The ideal candidate will have drive, vision, an eye for generating new ideas based on current economic issues, a strong understanding of generating insights from quantitative data and a passion for making high-quality research accessible to the wider public.

We are looking for a driven, effective and enthusiastic candidate with strong work ethics, with good communication and interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work independently to lead our small team. We are looking for leadership and initiative in managing the daily operations of CEDA as well as providing vision in drafting a strategy for its growth and expansion.

The ideal candidate should be self-driven, and should be able to take ownership of tasks and have the ability to multitask.

While working under the overall academic and scholarly guidance of the Chief Advisor and Scientific Director, the Centre Director’s job, to start with, would involve liaising with Ashoka faculty, potential authors from within and outside Ashoka, student interns and CEDA staff. As a next step, this would involve driving the reach of the Centre’s work, and also brainstorming and pitching ideas for content as well as to create partnerships and secure funding for CEDA’s future growth. As such, this position allows plenty of opportunity for personal growth

Role and Responsibilities: Overall, the Centre Director would run the centre to achieve goals and targets set by the overall academic and scholarly guidance and vision of the Economics faculty. The Director will launch, build and scale deliverables and collaborate with faculty to drive the intellectual vision set for the Centre. This would be a key result area (KRA) for the Director. In addition to the analytical content, CEDA has constructed an interactive data visualisation portal with socio-economic data for India (employment, wages, education, health, demographic characters) from several data sets; with agricultural prices data and with daily price data for food commodities. Check out our website here.

The roles and responsibilities of the Director would also involve generating ideas about data sets to add, about how to enhance data portal UI/UX, writing or commissioning narratives to go along with data portal viz (similar to the analytical pieces on Our World in Data). The Director will also provide oversight in smooth functioning of the portal in collaboration with the technical team at CEDA.

The broad job description includes, but is not restricted to, the following.

The actual tasks can be worked out according to CEDA needs and the candidate’s skill set.

1. Strengthening and Expansion of CEDA’s footprint. Lead the team for developing content for CEDA. This could arise directly out of the data portal: for example, generating ideas for data narratives, helping generate simple visualisations using the tools of the data portal OR data narratives based on data from other sources.

2. Devising strategies and action plan for making CEDA the first port of call for those looking for quick and usable data summaries and statistics for India. This includes addition of new datasets in collaboration with the technical team at CEDA and continuous improvements of our existing data products.

3. Planning and organising events (lectures, panel discussions etc.)

4. Providing ideas to generate audio and video content, for instance, help in preparing short podcasts/videos showcasing the Ashoka Economics faculty expertise or new initiatives at CEDA.

5. Managing all communications related to internal reporting within the Ashoka ecosystem, generating newsletters, working with the Editor in managing social media handles. You will be responsible for the overall communications, news media and web presence of the Centre and its activities. This includes drawing up a quarterly activity report.

6. Supervising staff who work with CEDA on the data portal or on content.

7. Be a prime driver – along with the University Development team – on securing funding to drive the growth of the Centre through grant applications, fundraising activities, and outreach relating to CEDA.

Overall, the candidate should be willing to continuously learn new things and have a holistic approach towards the growth and development of the organisation. The candidate will work closely with Professor Ashwini Deshpande, Chief Advisor and Scientific Director, CEDA and the faculty advisory committee members (Professors Kanika Mahajan and S.K. Ritadhi).

If the above sounds exciting, we have just the opportunity for you.

Eligibility: We are looking for candidates with at least 8-12 years of work experience.

Experience in a leadership position formally or informally will be a strong positive. We are committed to equal opportunities in the workplace through diversity and inclusion.

Education Qualification: Preference will be given to candidates with a PG degree or higher in social sciences (economics, sociology or political science), especially economics. Familiarity with survey based and administrative datasets as well as knowledge of statistical softwares like Stata or R or Python, R is essential. We are open to other applications, as long as the candidate’s skill set matches with the operational requirements of this position

Application Submission Process

Please apply by filling this Google Form, including details of current employment.

Please include the names of two referees and indicate when you can start work, if hired.

References will be asked only from the candidates who have been shortlisted.

Link to Google Form https://forms.gle/jj94MnAhNNSMJeJd9 Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted

Ashoka is an equal opportunities employer. Remuneration will be competitive with Indian non-profit pay scales and will depend upon the candidate’s experience levels and the overall organization’s salary structure