Sr. Project Manager – GROW Project

Grameen Foundation For Social Impact (GFSI), is implementing a largescale program titled GROW (Generating Rural Opportunities for Women to Win in Agri-entrepreneurship) program in four (4) districts of Andhra Pradesh (East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, and Visakhapatnam) over a period of 5 years. The program will create self-employment with a sustainable and regular income for at least 5,000 women, working as agri-entrepreneurs (AE) who, in turn, will contribute to the livelihood enhancement of one (1) million smallholder farmers (SHFs).

Position: Sr. Project Manager – GROW Project
Status: Full Time Employee (2 year contract)
Location: Andhra Pradesh (East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Krishna)

Reporting and relationships: The position reports to the Technical Project Director of GROW project. The Sr. PM will directly supervise staff, local implementing partners and contractors related to the project.

Availability: The Sr. Project Manager will be expected to work a typical work week of 40 hours, plus additional hours to get the job done. The position will be based at project sites in select towns in India. This position will need to be flexible to work in local conditions, and be available to work across different time zones. This position will require intensive travel to field locations and partner branches for project related work.travel (20%-30%) within India.

Job Summary:

The Senior Project Manager (SPM) will use comprehensive experience, skills and knowledge in promoting and strengthening AEs and SHFs, Digital Agriculture and Market linkage. He/she will work directly with the Technical Project Director and regional/district teams to uncover opportunities and innovative solutions and services to strengthen the AE network in partnership with markets, service providers in the areas of finance, capacity building, technology etc. and local partners for end-to-end project management. S/he will play a lead role in planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing of the project efficiently and satisfactorily in the budgetary norm and compliance.

Essential Job Functions

• Key Responsibilities
  • Collaboration with the Technical Project Director, technical experts, and the district teams for smooth and timely implementation of the project deliverables within the budgetary norms and project quality.
  • Cross team collaboration to develop project KPIs, project implementation strategy, program quality standards, knowledge management and impact evaluations.
  • Lead operations by closely mentoring and monitoring the District Managers.
  • Plan, develop, and maintain procedures, equipment, and policies that have an impact in all facets of project implementation.
  • Research, evaluate, and implement new technologies, customer experience and engagement,, training, and stakeholder management
  • Manage project operations, work with individuals internal and external to project/program to exchange information, solve problems, resolve conflicts, develop workflow processes, allocate department resources across projects, and ensure efficient and effective implementations of initiatives
  • Establish a cadence and conduct regular meetings and monitoring visits to project locations and relevant stakeholders to monitor the progress of project and provide feedback which is followed up
  • Identification and onboarding of operationally relevant stakeholders at the state or national level for the project like financial institutions, agri input suppliers, digital agri advisory service providers, agricultural universities, management institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), etc.
• Agri-Entrepreneurship Expertise
  • Developing business plans of the AE, mobilizing working capital and achieving business plan targets
  • Managing Agriculture Input Marketing & Agri Commodities Trading
  • Support the team in designing and developing the AEs’ Capacity Building plans, Business Plan and monitoring their growth trajectory
  • To connect with relevant districts and state level institutions
  • Apply the GF innovation process to enhance the workstreams, includi ng identifying key research questions and implementing cutting-edge research methodologies
  • To identify relevant stakeholders within the community and the district ecosystem for potential collaborations or developing partnerships with local agencies for successful business operations of the AEs
• Project Management
  • Develop detailed project plans with associated milestones and work with internal and external personnel to ensure goals, timelines and quality parameters are achieved using Project Management tools
  • Design pilot, scale-up and replication strategy
  • Keep internal and external stakeholders informed on the progress of the projects
  • Evaluate, hire and manage resources needed to support the project
  • Create and manage budgets, and track progress against budgets
• Partner Relationship Management
  • Act as primary contact for the implementing partners
  • Proactively recognize and address concerns/ issues and use set communication protocols and methods to maintain an open, transparent and trusting relationship
  • Prepare reporting documentation and lead regular stakeholder discussions with the partners, including but not limited to Monthly Updates and Quarterly Reports. Ensure partners are involved throughout the process to create shared ownership of deliverables.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Deep commitment to eradication of poverty and alignment with Grameen Foundation’s mission
• Outstanding project management skills with proven track record of achievement under a range of challenging situations and multi-stakeholder arrangements
• Experience of working on Agri entrepreneurs, smallholder farmers, Digital Agriculture, Financial linkage and Market linkage
• Hands on experience of working on Project management tools
• Ability to act as a representative of the project in public forums
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, Telugu, and Hindi

Education and Experience

• At least 7-10 years of relevant professional experience
• Master’s degree in Agriculture and allied fields or MBA with specialization preferably in Agri Business Management/Rural Management from a reputed Institute/University.

Additional Comment: The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made in appropriate circumstances. GFI offers a competitive compensation package.

How to apply: Interested candidates may apply by sending their updated resumes and letter of motivation to ssingh1@grameenfoundation.in mentioning “Sr. Project Manager – GROW” project in the subject line and confirming the current and expected compensation and earliest joining date.

Grameen Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and encourages female candidates to apply.