Job Description:
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 Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, NCT of Delhi, Assam, and a few Government of India entities like the NITI Aayog and Capacity Building Commission (CBC) across a range of projects and sectors. Through CEGIS flagship offering, the KPI (Key Performance Indicators) Survey, we are helping enable state governments we are working with to collect better quality citizen level data, make informed, evidence-based decisions, and institutionalise this process of securing periodic citizen-level feedback. We are setting up a Financial Analytics Unit (FAU) to enhance analytical capacity and increase the effectiveness of budgetary allocations of the Finance Department in another state. In alignment with our personnel management workstream, we are also working with the HR/Administrative Reforms & Training Department to set up and institutionalise an in-house Capacity Building Unit (CBU) that aids the adoption of competency-based Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Performance Management Systems (PMS) with a few of these entities. Similarly, to improve the value of public money, we are working at the interface of states and markets which encompasses procurement, regulation, and policy formulation. 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 several sectors, including education, nutrition and local governance. From a small group of founding members, we have grown by leaps and bounds to become a team of 150+ members 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.
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.
To explore what the mission of CEGIS is and the impact we hope to have, please take a look at this video of our CEO, Dr Vijay Pingale.
Location - Lucknow (Please note that for training purpose you need to be present in Chennai for first 2 months)
Position Summary
The Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS) aims to help state governments strengthen their capacity and public systems to improve governance, service delivery, and the effectiveness of public expenditure.As CEGIS completes its fifth year, we are looking to hire multiple economic policy analysts to join the Economics and Statistics Unit at CEGIS to conduct economic analysis focused on state-level policy issues in India. In this pivotal role, you will help drive analytical work and conduct impactful research on policies and programmes that can boost the effectiveness of thousands of crores of public spending, and thereby improve the translation of public expenditure into development outcomes for millions of people.
You will work closely with a diverse team of analysts and economists in close collaboration with senior government officials and with technical guidance and inputs from CEGIS Co-Founder and Scientific Director, Prof. Karthik Muralidharan, as well as other leading economists. As a CEGIS Economic Policy Analyst, you will aid and assist the team in the following activities: (a) conducting original research and technical analysis to evaluate new proposed expenditure items; (b) conducting economic analysis of government policies and programs and evaluating key programs; (c) staying abreast of and synthesising relevant research for answering policy questions; and (d) identifying and liaising with academic and other researchers to obtain expert inputs into policy decisions. This position offers an exciting opportunity to apply your analytical skills and communicate impactful ideas, making a tangible impact on governance and public policy in India.
Role and Responsibilities
Economic Research and Technical Analysis
- Conduct comprehensive economic research and analysis on various policy and programmatic issues relevant to state governments.
- Develop data-driven insights and recommendations to support effective policy implementation and governance reforms.
- Support CEGIS field projects, including sampling design, data analytical frameworks, and analytical tools.
- Curate and update datasets (international, national, and state) for rapid analysis.
Policy Development and Collaboration
- Engage with senior government officials to identify research, analysis, and knowledge gaps that can be filled by CEGIS
- Engage with a range of stakeholders, including government officials, researchers, and think-tanks, to foster effective policy dialogues and knowledge sharing across Indian states, and beyond.
- Support CEGIS teams and projects in developing and implementing evidence-based policy solutions, providing critical economic insights and analyses.
- Translate economic research findings into practical policy ideas and reforms that can be presented to state governments for consideration.
Knowledge Creation and Dissemination
- Draft high-quality notes, reports, policy briefs, and academic papers, applying economic concepts and analytical methods effectively.
- Create and present accessible content to communicate complex economic findings and insights to both academic and non-academic audiences.
Education
- A Masters degree in Economics, Public Policy, or a related field is strongly preferred.
- Relevant work experience of at least 3 years related to empirical research in the domain of public policy is an additional asset, although not a strict requirement.
- Applicants without work experience must be able demonstrate requisite skills and inclination through a strong academic record.
Skills
- Proficiency in data science and experience working with large datasets.
- Knowledge of at least one statistical analysis software (STATA, R, etc.) is an essential requirement. Proficiency in these will be a strong advantage.
- Knowledge of other programming languages (like Python), and GIS software packages will provide candidates with a strong advantage.
- Familiarity with major research datasets covering India and experience in compiling and using complex datasets.
- Strong writing and communication skills in English; fluency in any other Indian languages is a plus.
- Capability in preparing high-quality policy briefs, research papers, and notes.
- Demonstrated interest in government functioning improvement and using research and evidence to inform policy.
- Exposure to project design and implementation, particularly in collaboration with government officials or large-scale projects, is advantageous.
Personal Characteristics and Desired Qualities
- Strong quantitative, analytical, and conceptual skills in economics.
- Ability to work effectively across a range of projects at any given time.
- Adaptability to work independently and as part of a small, dynamic team.
- Creative thinking, willingness to experiment with new ideas, and ability to translate ideas into action plans and execute them.
- Intellectual curiosity and commitment to continuous learning.
- Passion for working with governments to enhance state effectiveness.
Location and Compensation
This role will be based out of Chennai. Remuneration will be competitive with Indian academic, and think tank 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.
To learn more about CEGIS, please (1) review the CEGIS website: https://www.cegis.org/ ; (2) Prof. Karthik Muralidharan's podcast episodes (one each on education , healthcare, and especially the one on federalism/state capacity in India), and his webpage. You will also greatly benefit from reading Prof. Muralidharans recent book: Accelerating Indias Development, which lays out the intellectual roadmap for a lot of CEGISs work.