SattvaHiring for Associate Principal- Government Advisory at Gurgaon, Haryana Full Time

Time Commitment: 4 months (minimum ) starting May 2022

Location: New Delhi

About Sattva

We are an organisation driven by the mission to end poverty in our lifetime. Our work focuses on scalable solutions for sustainable social impact. We work with our clients – corporations, philanthropists, foundations, government and social organisations – to achieve social impact goals effectively and maximise the social return on their investment. Deep understanding across sectors and collaboration with multiple stakeholders drive our work. This approach helps us, and our clients develop holistic solutions for solving critical societal problems. We are driven by impact and powered by knowledge. We bring the right balance of the head-heart-hand to our work. Our work is powered by the passionate energy of our mission-driven young team, guided by the strong leadership and advisory board with multi-dimensional experience in business and social sectors. Our team of 400 (and growing rapidly) across offices in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi comes with stellar professional credentials from diverse backgrounds and is bound together by our common commitment to social impact.

Foundations : Ecosystem and Policy Advisory

Sattva has ongoing work with several leading Global, Regional, Domestic Foundations and Multilateral organisations to create evidence and curate dialogue for policy action. Sattva’s Ecosystem and Policy Advisory practice enables foundations to amplify their influence and impact through ecosystem engagement and policy research and advisory. We enhance portfolio performance for funders, engage the ecosystem through convenings, knowledge creation and dissemination, facilitate collaboration between funders, implementation organisations, and facilitate policy research, advisory and policy engagement and communication with Central, State and District Governments.

The Opportunity

We are hiring an Associate Principal to work with an advisory body set up by the Central Government. The advisory body is looking for a subject-matter expert in the field of higher education to help identify gaps in capability and create a plan to help address those gaps.

The Associate Principal will lead this effort from within a Department of the Central Government. They will work directly with senior government officials such as Joint and Additional Secretaries at a Department to conduct rigorous research, analyze data, identify gaps in capabilities, and design strategies to address the capability gaps identified. On successful completion of Phase 1, they will be considered for supporting the Ministries and Departments implement the designed strategies in Phase 2.

Key qualifications and experience:
We are looking for individuals who align with our mission and meet the following requirements:

At least 10 years of relevant professional experience in the field of higher education at multilateral institutions, social enterprises, consulting firms, or global foundations are required.

An understanding of the setup and transformation of higher education initiatives is preferred.

A master’s degree in research/development/public policy/ business or development management is preferred.

At least 4-5 years experience of working closely with senior government officials such as Principal/Joint Secretary level officials is preferred.

Key responsibilities and expectations:
At Sattva we believe in an outcome-oriented approach in everything we do. The key responsibilities and expectations for this role include:

Delivery Excellence:
Co-create strategies to meet client’s current and future needs, working closely with a variety of stakeholders both internally and externally, through active listening and problem solving.

Contribute deep strategic and sector specific expertise and lead structured, hypotheses-based rigorous problem solving.

Mentor team and ensure delivery excellence in their work.

Stakeholder Engagement:
Establish credibility by co-creating solutions with the client and demonstrating high levels of sector and functional knowledge.

Listen actively to stakeholders and understand both articulated and unarticulated needs.

Influence decision-making and action at the senior level to enable positive and sustainable impact.

Project Management:
Agility and adaptability to deliver quality work in short timelines.

Excellent time management and prioritisation skills to work on key activities that are directly linked to impact outcomes.

Document key project knowledge assets and learnings for further productization.

People Leadership:
Ensure growth of the team through guidance, mentoring, and enabling a supportive work environment.

Build capability in the team on an ongoing basis and support direct reportees on their career growth and development.

We cultivate a supportive and inclusive work environment for all our employees and reinforce diversity in our workplace. All applications regardless of race, religion, caste, color, place of origin, gender, sexuality, disability and age will be welcome and will be fairly evaluated as per the requirements of the role.