Sr. Program Associate - Analytical Communications

Position:Senior Associate - Analytical Communications

Location: Remote

Reporting : Head of Strategic Partnerships and Communications

About CEGIS

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

The four key characteristics of any high-performing organisation are (a) measuring outcomes through reliable, high quality data that enables goal setting and monitoring progress towards these goals; (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 is based on evidence and cost-effectiveness; (d) and creating efficient systems to leverage external actors (including for-profit and nonprofit organisations). The Indian State needs to perform better on all four fronts above, by enhancing its capacity. CEGIS partners with states to improve this capacity by focusing on these four pillars of the State.

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. This vision and Theory of Change (ToC) is an outcome of extensive research done by Prof. Karthik Muralidharan (CEGIS Co-Founder and Scientific Director) and strategic philanthropic support provided by Mr. Ashish Dhawan (CEGIS Co-Founder).

Prof. Karthik Muralidharan is the Tata Chancellors Professor of Economics at the University of California, San Diego. Over the past two decades, he has led extensive research projects in India across education, health, and social welfare. His book, Accelerating Indias Development: A State-Led Roadmap for Effective Governance, systematically analyses Indias governance challenges and provides actionable, evidence-based strategies, emphasising state-level reforms as critical for Indias advancement.

Ashish Dhawan is a leading Indian philanthropist and the Founder-CEO of The Convergence Foundation (TCF). He is also the Founding Chairperson of Ashoka University and the Central Square Foundation, and is a governing board member of the Gates Foundation. Before his second career as a philanthropist, Ashish was among Indias most successful private equity investors.

CEGIS Approach and Model of Functioning

Our solutions to enhance governance are co-created with state governments in a state-led way, where we focus on deep partnerships with states with 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.

In alignment with our four principles or pillars of change - outcome measurement, personnel management, strategic public finance, states and markets, CEGIS is currently working with the governments of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, NCT of Delhi, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, , and a few Government of India entities like the Capacity Building Commission (CBC), Karmayogo Bharat and NITI Aayog across a range of projects and sectors. Through CEGIS flagship offering, we are supporting state governments in setting up their own Financial Analytics Unit (FAU) to enable better decision-making on revenue augmentation, macro-fiscal management, expenditure quality and improving value for money. CEGIS also assists Chief Ministers Office/ Planning Departments in setting up their own programmatic Data Analytic Units (DAU) for analysing the existing programmatic datasets to generate better insights for state level goal setting and periodic reviews and improving the quality of these insights by triangulation with citizen-level granular and high frequency data from independent third party surveys and outbound call centres. We further provide support to priority line departments in improving the quality of administrative data with focus on outcomes and improving measurement structures and improving data supervision mechanisms. Our work with the HR/Administrative Reforms & Training Department focuses on setting up in-house capacity for improving the capabilities of government officials through Human Resource Units (HRU) that aid the adoption of competency-based Learning Management Systems (LMS), Performance Management Systems (PMS) .Our solutions are constantly being refined based on real-time feedback and are designed to be customised and replicated across contexts.

CEGIS@5: A Journey of Learning & Building Capacity

Since its incorporation in 2019, despite the enormous challenges posed by COVID, CEGIS has gained significant momentum in building strong collaborations with the government(s) as a trusted partner who can provide both thought leadership and implementation support on key governance reforms. CEGIS 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 2 state government engagements in the first 2 years of its inception, today CEGIS is working across several Indian states with 15+ projects across key state level departments dealing with 3 cross cutting functions of finance, planning and human resources and 3 line departments, namely education, nutrition and health. From a small group of founding members, we have grown by leaps and bounds to become a team of 150+ members committed to nation building located across the country. Helmed by a former bureaucrat with invaluable governance experience, state and solution team leads with decades of domain expertise, and enabling functions led by professionals with considerable corporate careers, the team at CEGIS brings together knowledge and experience that spans various sectors - from developmental economics, research, and governance to management consulting and social entrepreneurship. We also explore synergies with other organisations non-government organisations working with government on technical as well as implementation to accelerate impact.

Over the last 5 years, we have also been able to garner support for our vision and theory of change from a diverse range of foundations and philanthropists whose partnership has enabled us to build our own organisational capacity as well as continue to experiment and improve our solution design to augment state capacity and governance. We believe that this approach will gradually enable all government officials to achieve their goals more effectively, thereby improving the ability of the State to deliver services to all Indian citizens in the decades to come.

Funding Partners
TCF-https://theconvergencefoundation.org

NATCO- https://www.natcopharma.co.in/

Veddis Foundation- https://veddis.org/

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation- https://www.gatesfoundation.org/

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation- https://www.dell.org/

Position Summary

The Senior Associate Analytical Communications will be responsible for transforming complex research, data, and technical analyses into compelling and accessible communication materials. This role is ideal for someone with a consulting or analytical writing background who excels at synthesizing large volumes of informationsuch as reports, dashboards, and datasetsinto clear, structured, and impactful narratives.

The incumbent will work closely with solution and program delivery teams to develop high-quality presentations, policy briefs, reports, and stakeholder pitches that translate data-driven insights into actionable messaging. They will also support the fundraising team by crafting persuasive donor proposals, impact reports, and strategic communication materials that effectively convey CEGISs mission and impact.

The ideal candidate is a strong analytical thinker with experience in structured problem-solving, storytelling with data, and executive-level communication. They should have a proven ability to distill complex findings into succinct takeaways, design data-driven presentations, and create engaging written and visual materials for diverse stakeholders, including government partners, funders, and the broader public policy ecosystem.

Role and Responsibilities

1. Simplifying Technical and Analytical Content

• Work closely with solution and program delivery teams to distill complex data, insights, and analyses into clear and compelling narratives.
• Develop engaging presentations, policy briefs, and explainer documents that effectively communicate key findings and recommendations.
• Use storytelling techniques to make research and impact narratives more accessible to non-technical audiences.

2. Content Development

• Design visually appealing and data-driven presentations for internal and external stakeholders especially the board and international donors among others.

3. Fundraising and Donor Communications

• Collaborate with the fundraising team to develop persuasive grant proposals and donor reports.
• Craft compelling pitch decks, concept notes, and other fundraising collateral tailored to different donor audiences.
• Ensure consistency in messaging and alignment with CEGISs strategic priorities in fundraising materials.

4. 5. Visual and Data Storytelling

• Leverage data visualization tools and techniques to make research findings more digestible.
• Work closely with designers to create infographics, charts, and other visual aids that enhance clarity and engagement.
• Simplify the ongoing dialogue around our solutions into succint materials that can be used to pitch externally

Desired Skills

• 3-5 years of relevant work experience in analytical writing, consulting, strategic communications, or a related field.
• Bachelors degree in Public Policy, Economics, Business Administration, Communications, or a related discipline.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize complex reports, dashboards, and datasets into clear takeaways.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with experience in simplifying technical and analytical content for different audiences.
• Proficiency in creating structured presentations using Google Slides/MS PowerPoint, with a strong eye for clarity and visual storytelling.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines, working across teams in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience with data storytelling and familiarity with visualization tools like Excel, Google Sheets, Tableau, or Power BI (preferred).
• Basic knowledge of fundraising communications, including donor proposals, grant writing, and impact reporting (preferred).
• Detail-oriented and highly organized, with the ability to format and structure content for maximum impact.
• Self-starter with a collaborative mindset, capable of working independently while supporting multiple teams.

Location and Compensation

The ideal candidate can be based remotely and should be willing to travel, when needed. Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy and social sector pay scales and will depend on the candidates experience levels.

Note: CEGIS has zero tolerance to sexual harassment. We therefore expect each applicant to self-declare related to the same. CEGIS could, if required, initiate a prevention of sexual harassment-based background verification. If an applicant is reported of misconduct, appropriate action that may include employment termination would be taken. Please Click the link for self declaration.

Pre-reads for the application process:

Please go through the following materials before sending in your application:

• Concept note on CEGIS
• A glimpse into life at CEGIS - CEGIS Retreat 2024
• CEGIS Snapshot 2023-24
• Podcast episodes with Prof. Karthik Muralidharan On education in India, on why Prof. Karthik gives India a B+ grade and why that is a good thing, on a reality check on India's social infrastructures and on breaking down tax revenue and expenditure.
• You are also encouraged to read more of Prof. Karthik Muralidharans work here and through his book Accelerating Indias Development: A State-Led Roadmap for Indias Development.