Product Manager - End Ultra Poverty, Centre For Rural Development

About The/Nudge:

The/Nudge is an action institute working towards a poverty-free India, within our lifetime. We partner with governments, markets, and civil society to build resilient livelihoods for all. We are a collective of some of India’s best leaders and entrepreneurs from across the industry, academia, government, and development sectors, and our work is organized across three impact streams:

• Centre for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (CSDE): exists to enable underprivileged youth to lead flourishing lives
• Centre for Rural Development (CRD): exists to enable families to come out of extreme poverty
• Centre for Social Innovation (CSI): exists to nudge top talent to solve India’s biggest challenges

What are we solving for in the End Ultra Poverty program?

End Ultra Poverty (EUP) program is solving for households in ultra-poverty through a targeted, multi-faceted and sequenced model called the Graduation Approach which has demonstrated that ultra-poverty can be conquered. At The/Nudge we have been piloting this program for the past 3 years and are in the process of catalyzing propagation of the same. Our purpose is to contribute to ending ultra-poverty in India. EUP will:

• continue to implement on its own to iterate the design for impact at scale
• enable more NGOs to adopt technical and capacity-building support
• enable govt to adopt by providing research, design, and implementation support
• continue to generate data on ultra-poverty and evidence on graduation approach to nudge governments to adopt at scale
• build technology solutions for NGOs and governments to adopt and implement at scale & with quality.

About the role:

As the Product Manager for Rural Livelihoods, you will steer the design and execution of programs focusing on rural livelihoods for the impoverished and marginalized families in India. Your deep understanding of rural economies, combined with your passion for social impact, will be instrumental in shaping methodologies, frameworks, and learning principles to amplify our efforts. Livelihoods are a central component of the Graduation Approach, and cracking a scalable livelihoods model will be crucial to the sustainability of our program in India. The rural livelihoods landscape in India is ever-evolving, with nuances that exist at both the village and state levels. This role will prompt you to combine big-picture thinking with on-ground realities to create a livelihoods playbook for scaling the Graduation Approach across multiple contexts.

As the Product Manager for Rural Livelihoods, you will steer the design and execution of programs focusing on rural livelihoods for the impoverished and marginalized families in India. Your deep understanding of rural economies, combined with your passion for social impact, will be instrumental in shaping methodologies, frameworks, and learning principles to amplify our efforts.

Key Responsibilities:

• Program Development & Design: Craft, iterate, and perfect the methodologies and frameworks for rural livelihood programs.
• Learning Design Principles: Construct learning design principles with L&D team focused on the andragogy of rural marginalized communities to ensure effective knowledge transfer
• Livelihood Expertise: Imbue the program with expertise-driven designs specific to different rural livelihoods, ensuring that each program module is contextually relevant.
• Livelihood Planning & Mapping: Design a robust framework for livelihood planning and mapping at the household level, ensuring customization and relevancy.
• Collaboration with Experts: Work closely with experts, consultants, and field teams to continually refine program methodologies and increase the return on investment in livelihood initiatives.
• Continuous Improvement: Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the programs, gather feedback, and iterate for better impact.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Partner with governmental bodies, NGOs, and community leaders to ensure the alignment and scalability of programs.

Required Qualifications & Experience:

• A bachelor’s degree in Rural Development, Social Work, Business, or related fields. A master’s degree would be advantageous.
• A minimum of 8-10 years of experience in designing and executing rural livelihood programs for marginalized communities.
• Strong understanding of the rural Indian landscape, culture, and the specific challenges faced by marginalized families.
• Proven track record of collaborating with multiple stakeholders, including government officials, NGOs, and local communities.