About the School of Economic Development
The IIHS School of Economic Development (SED) takes a heterodox approach towards fostering sustainable and equitable economic transitions across different scales of human settlements, and prioritises enquiries from the Indian and the Global South perspectives. The research, applied research, teaching and training undertaken by the School is interdisciplinary in approach and based on the ethos that economic transitions need to be understood alongside social, political and ecological relationships. The School encourages economic enquiries that, both methodologically and conceptually, engage with space/ place, people, institutions, infrastructure, and scale.
The School’s core focus areas are:
- Urban and regional economic development;
- Urban employment, including employment geography, decent work and social protection;
- Land- based economies and urban finance;
- Enterprises and Economic Systems; and
- Knowledge systems.
Job Description
The Manager – SED Office will be part of a small, core team which will assist in building out the School’s portfolio of research, applied research and teaching over the coming years. The core responsibility of this position will be to assist in the development and implementation of the School’s strategy through a rigorous process of grant writing and research management, with support for the delivery of the Masters and PhD programs, which the School is involved with delivering.
The Manager – SED Office will work closely with the Associate Deans – School of Economic Development on a range of institutional and grant- writing and project-based responsibilities spanning the delivery of IIHS’ teaching programmes, as well as research and practice projects within the SED.
We are looking for a dynamic, motivated individual who is capable of managing multiple processes, has experience with grant-writing, bid management and research management, along with coordinating with different teams within the institution, such as Finance, HR, Operations, and is interested in leveraging their domain knowledge of economic development projects, with a focus on institution-building and administration.
The incumbent will support governance, strategic and operational planning, School build- out, management of resources (people, physical and financial), development and delivery of external engagement, relationship building with key partners and collaborators, knowledge management, outreach and delivery of School-specific academic courses. They will act as one of the primary links between SED and various programmes, labs, and other schools at IIHS. Along with individual faculty and other team members, they will need to ensure coordination and timely management of School activities and delivery of outcomes.
Activities and Tasks
Responsibilities would include, but not be limited to, the following:
- Strategy and Planning:
- Supporting School build-out and management through grant-writing, operational, intellectual and strategic planning, governance, budgeting, resource management and faculty management;
- Coordinating various initiatives of the School, including overall programme management as well as budgeting;
- Planning, overseeing and implementing school-wide systems and processes for activities as needed;
- Generating School development strategies across research, practice and teaching, and identifying opportunities and initiatives in partnership with faculty / staff and in line with the strategic objectives of the School;
- Relationship Management and Communications:
- Assisting in the development and management of external relationships and collaboration opportunities with key domestic and international partners, and collaborators;
- Ensuring effective communication across the School and with the wider institution, and positive working relations with other schools and programmes;
- Representing the School on committees or other forums, where required, and advocating for the interests of the School as well as those of the institution;
- Collaboration with the communication and design team, developing and supporting in execution of communication strategy;
- Research and Teaching:
- Supporting and coordinating the outreach, development and delivery of specialised School-specific degree/ diploma, PhD, as well as any other academic courses/ programmes taken up by the School;
- The selected candidate will have the opportunity to be part of research and practice projects at the School;
- The selected candidate will have the opportunity to teach and train in IIHS’ academic offerings as well as capacity building and training programmes;
- Operations:
- Assisting in setting up and ensuring continuous improvement in the infrastructure, and administrative systems and procedures for the School’s activities;
- Managing the interface among various programmes, labs, schools, administration, procurement, finance and legal;
- Monitoring resources, processes and deliverables of projects delivered by the programmes within the School;
- Supporting and coordinating the outreach, development and delivery of specialised School-specific degree/ diploma, PhD, as well as any other academic courses/ programmes taken up by the School, including preparatory activities, content delivery, internships and placements, stakeholder management, and reporting;
- Managing and monitoring recruitment, staff progress, and learning and development for the School in consultation with the Associate Deans and the People Function;
- Assisting in regular reporting to the Associate Dean on key milestones and highlighting critical concerns and risks;
- Coordinating the preparation of the School’s Annual Report and contributing towards the preparation of the institution’s Annual Report;
- Providing support to other IIHS activities including academics, research, training, practice, operations and others;
- Participating in all activities of institution building at IIHS; carrying out tasks as assigned by IIHS; and travelling on IIHS work within or outside the country as and when needed.
Structure and Reporting
The Manager will report to the Associate Dean – School of Economic Development at IIHS and will be required to collaborate effectively with a diverse group of internal teams and external individuals/organizations, and students.
Person Specification
The applicant should have:
- A PhD in a relevant field including but not limited to Economics / Planning / Public Policy / Development Studies / Geography / Management, or across the Social Sciences and Humanities, or a related field;
- Candidates with Master’s degrees and significant experience in grant-writing, academic strategy and administration, or in research development and management in the themes of the School, will be considered on a case-by-case basis;
- For candidates with a PhD, at least 2 years of relevant professional post-PhD experience; for candidates with Master’s degrees, 7-10 years of relevant professional experience, ideally in the urban or development sector; some prior experience in academic administration would be preferred;
- Experience of working in inter-disciplinary teams, preferably across practice and research;
- Strong writing, analytical and numerical skills;
- A high level of organisational capability, including the ability to establish and maintain effective systems, procedures and processes and manage competing demands and deadlines without compromising quality;
- A high level of communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to consult and collaborate with inter-disciplinary and diverse teams; analyse and present information and produce well researched high-quality reports, submissions, and other documents; negotiate complex issues and manage change;
- The ability to think strategically, contribute effectively to strategic planning processes and to operationalise strategy with the administrative operations of the School;
- Effective working knowledge of at least one Indian language in addition to English.
This offer is on an exclusive basis, which implies that other professional assignments (whether compensated or not) that bear a potential conflict of interest with IIHS cannot be undertaken.
The search will remain open until the position is filled.
Location
This position is based in Bengaluru and may entail travel to other locations in India.
Review and Assessment
The role and performance of the incumbent shall be subject to normal review and assessment systems at IIHS.
Diversity Policy
IIHS is an equal opportunity employer that encourages women, people with disabilities and those from economically and socially excluded communities with the requisite skills and qualifications to apply for positions.
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Contact
Please write to us at hr@iihs.co.in if you need any clarifications while filling the online application form.
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