About The/Nudge Institute:
The/Nudge is an action institute building resilient livelihoods to alleviate poverty. We work with women, farmers, tribals, and youth across rural development, agriculture, skilling, and economic inclusion, in partnership with 15+ central and state governments.
Our economic inclusion journey towards serving 25 million Indians spans 10 states and currently reaches over 1.5 million people. Through our incubator, accelerator, and grand challenges, we have supported 200+ social entrepreneurs, including Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees, Earthshot Prize winners, and nationally recognized changemakers.
Founded with the support of 130+ eminent philanthropists, 40+ corporates, and 15+ foundations, The/Nudge is working towards a poverty-free India, within our lifetime.
What will you do ?
Key Responsibilities:
1. Strategic Research & Analysis
- Conduct comprehensive research on state government structures, funding mechanisms (Single Nodal Agencies, State Rural Livelihoods Missions, ministry-specific processes), and institutional frameworks
- Analyze state budgets, policy documents, government schemes, and research papers to identify partnership opportunities and potential barriers
- Track and synthesize policy developments at both the central and state levels that impact our flagship programs
- Map institutional relationships, power structures, and decision-making hierarchies within target state governments
- Monitor comparable organizations and best practices in government partnerships for poverty alleviation programs
2. Strategic Planning & Pre-Engagement Preparation
- Develop detailed state partnership strategies with clear targeting rationale, institutional entry points, and risk mitigation plans
- Create comprehensive briefing documents for engagement with senior bureaucrats, including background research, meeting agenda, and strategic recommendations
- Identify and analyze potential bureaucratic champions and key decision-makers in target departments
- Develop evidence-based proposals aligned with state priorities and existing policy frameworks
3. Internal Coordination & Department Liaison
- Steer coordination across all internal departments
- Facilitate information flow between program teams, the central government partnerships team, and the state partnerships strategy
- Coordinate with program delivery teams to gather implementation insights and technical requirements for state proposals
- Liaise with communications, finance, and operations teams to ensure alignment on partnership initiatives
- Ensure timely coordination for cross-functional requirements supporting state government engagements
4. Marketing Content & External Communication Support
- Provide raw research and background information for all marketing content related to government partnerships
- Develop comprehensive briefs for online and offline panel discussions, roundtables, and state-level convenings
- Support the preparation of materials for the 4 annual state roundtables with secretaries on the economic inclusion agenda
- Provide research inputs and fact-checking for opinion pieces co-authored with bureaucrats
- Ensure accuracy and strategic alignment of all external communications about state partnerships
- Compile relevant data, case studies, and evidence for presentations to government stakeholders
5. Document Analysis & Knowledge Management
- Navigate and extract insights from complex government documents including annual reports, scheme guidelines, budget speeches, and administrative orders
- Maintain organized repositories of research findings, state profiles, and institutional intelligence
- Synthesize complex policy and budgetary information into clear, actionable intelligence for leadership and program teams
- Track MoU structures, partnership models, and implementation frameworks across existing collaborations
6. Analytics & Performance Tracking
- Analyze success patterns across existing partnerships to inform future strategy
- Provide data-driven recommendations for partnership prioritization and resource allocation
What will you do ?
- 9+ years of professional experience in policy research, government relations, or strategic planning
- Demonstrated experience navigating government documents, budgets, and policy frameworks
- Proven ability to coordinate across multiple teams and manage cross-functional initiatives
- Experience developing content briefs for events, panels, or public communications
- Prior work with state governments, multilateral agencies, think tanks, or development organizations preferred
- Experience in poverty alleviation, rural development, or social sector programs is a strong advantage
Who are we looking for in this role ?
- Deep Research Skills: Ability to extract insights from dense government documents, academic papers, and policy reports
- Analytical Thinking: Strong capacity to synthesize complex information and identify strategic implications
- Cross-functional Coordination: Proven ability to steer multiple departments and ensure smooth information flow
- Content Development: Experience creating research-backed briefs, presentations, and communication materials
- Systems Understanding: Knowledge of federal governance structures, centre-state coordination, and institutional frameworks
- Budget Literacy: Comfort analyzing government budgets, funding mechanisms, and financial flows
- Strategic Planning: Demonstrated ability to develop comprehensive strategies with clear logic and actionable steps
- Written Communication: Excellent writing skills for creating clear, concise briefing documents and strategic plans
- Detail Orientation: Meticulous attention to detail in research and documentation
- Self-Direction: Ability to work independently with minimal supervision in a desk-based environment
What’s in it for you?
- Own your growth: An impact-led learning environment encourages Nudgesters to invest in their learning and capacity building needs through initiatives and policies, including L&D wallet, individual development plan and internal role change opportunities.
- Find your tribe: Our hiring philosophy emphasises intent, attitude, smarts and skills, in that order, to build a cohesive environment for Nudgesters. The organisation is committed to curating people-centric policies, enhancing how employees experience life at The/Nudge.
- Take big bets: Organisational initiatives are intended to facilitate Nudgesters with a view to the big picture, illustrated by our impact across 50000+ households, 15+ governments, 200+ social enterprises and Charcha: India’s largest social sector convening forum.
- Make it happen: A product-based approach in an action-biased environment empowers Nudgesters to implement audacious plans. Driven to fail fast, we endeavour to optimise resources in favour of programs that align with our scale ambition.
You can learn more about what we do and how we do it through this deck. We aspire to be an inclusive and diverse organization and encourage qualified individuals irrespective of their religion, caste, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, or any other dimension of identity, to apply.
