Associate/Senior Associate - Partnerships & Business Development

Role Overview:

We are looking for an Associate/Senior Associate to support Partnerships in building and managing relationships across the energy sector and with government/private stakeholders. The role sits close to where deals and partnerships actually get shaped - in ministry corridors, at industry conferences, and in boardrooms - and requires someone who can spot an opening early and turn it into a well-prepared conversation.

Location: Gurugram

Key Responsibilities:

- Support the Partnerships lead in identifying, tracking, and prioritizing new partnership and funding opportunities across government, private-sector, and philanthropic stakeholders.

- Prepare and refine investment-ready materials - briefing notes, partnership decks, and one-pagers - that translate programme work into a clear, compelling case for partners and funders.

- Represent the team at conferences, industry forums, and government meetings, picking up early signals on where new partnerships could form and feeding them back into the pipeline.

- Maintain and keep current a live partnership and funding pipeline tracker - stage of engagement, internal owner, and next actions for each lead.

- Coordinate scheduling, preparation, and follow-through for senior-level meetings with government offices, private-sector leaders, and philanthropic partners.

- Build and polish presentations ahead of high-stakes meetings, ensuring the business case for a given initiative comes through clearly and confidently.

- Conduct rapid research and landscape scans on prospective partners, funding trends, and sector developments to inform ongoing strategy conversations.

- Support the drafting of concept notes, proposals, and partner-specific materials, working closely with programme and finance colleagues to keep them accurate and current.

- Coordinate with internal programme, impact, and communications teams to gather the inputs needed to keep partnership materials and impact narratives up to date.

Requirements, Qualifications & Skills:

Experience & Sector Profile:

- 3 to 6 years of experience in partnerships, business development, strategy, or external engagement roles. The preferred and leading profile is a background in the energy sector or in private-sector commercial/business-development work.

- Candidates from an international development or multilateral background will be considered as an exception rather than the default - provided they can clearly demonstrate a commercial, private-sector-oriented approach to partnerships rather than a purely grant-making or advisory lens.

- Genuine familiarity with how India's power and renewable energy sector works - policy, market structure, and key institutions - is a strong plus, even if not gained in a formal energy-sector role.

- Comfort operating in and around government processes, engaging respectfully and effectively with policy and ministry-level offices without needing extensive hand-holding.

Skills & Capabilities:

- Presentation skills are non-negotiable: the ability to build a clean, compelling deck and deliver it confidently and clearly in front of senior government officials and private-sector leaders.

- Strong research and synthesis skills - able to turn a room full of conversations, or a stack of sector reports, into a sharp two-page brief a leader can act on.

- Excellent written English and comfort producing polished, client- or government-ready materials under time pressure.

- High EQ and stakeholder-reading instincts - equally comfortable in a ministry office and a corporate boardroom, and able to adjust register accordingly.

- Willingness and ability to travel and spend meaningful time at conferences, industry events, and in-person government meetings; this is not a desk-bound research role.

Qualifications:

- Bachelor's degree required; a master's degree in economics, public policy, management, or a related field is an advantage but not mandatory.