Hiring for: Program Lead (1 Position)

Location: Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, India (with frequent travel to project districts)

A little bit about who we are Established in 1993, WOTR is a nationally recognized development organization working at the intersection of climate resilience, natural resource management, sustainable agriculture, livelihoods, women's empowerment, and institutional development. WOTR collaborates with communities, government agencies, research institutions, civil society organizations, and private-sector partners to enhance the resilience and prosperity of vulnerable rural communities. Over the past three decades, WOTR has implemented and supported large-scale development programmes across India, contributing significantly to climate adaptation, watershed development, farmer institution strengthening, and sustainable livelihood enhancement.

ProRISE Phase II is a strategic initiative focused on strengthening Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) as climate-resilient, market-oriented agribusiness enterprises that enhance farmer incomes, promote sustainable agriculture, empower women, and strengthen rural economies.

Position Overview The Program Lead will provide overall strategic, managerial, and technical leadership to ProRISE Phase II. The position will be responsible for ensuring successful implementation of the project across participating FPOs, achievement of project outcomes, donor compliance, team performance, stakeholder engagement, and institutional partnerships.

The Program Lead will serve as the principal liaison between WOTR, the donor agency, participating FPOs, government agencies, financial institutions, market actors, and other ecosystem partners. The role requires robust leadership, programme management, agribusiness understanding, and experience in managing large-scale rural development and FPO strengthening initiatives.

Key ResponsibilitiesStrategic Leadership and Programme Management

- Provide overall leadership and direction for planning, implementation, monitoring, and successful completion of ProRISE Phase II.
- Ensure alignment of project activities with approved objectives, logframe, KPIs, budgets, and donor commitments.
- Lead preparation of quarterly and annual implementation plans, work plans, budgets, and performance reviews.
- Ensure effective coordination between PMU, DPMUs, FPOs, consultants, and partner institutions.
- Guide adaptive management and strategic decision-making based on implementation learnings and emerging opportunities.





FPO and Agribusiness Development

- Provide strategic oversight for FPO strengthening, governance improvement, business planning, market integration, and enterprise development.
- Guide development of sustainable and scalable business models for participating FPOs.
- Support expansion of input businesses, aggregation systems, value-addition enterprises, and market-led production systems.
- Monitor business performance indicators including turnover, profitability, member participation, and market outreach.

Climate-Resilient Agriculture and Sustainability

- Provide strategic guidance on climate-resilient agriculture, residue-free production systems, certification initiatives, and sustainable value chains.
- Ensure integration of climate resilience, natural resource management, and ecological sustainability within FPO business plans.
- Promote adoption of innovative technologies and market-linked sustainability standards.

Donor Management and Compliance

- Serve as the primary point of contact with Walmart Foundation and other funding partners.
- Ensure timely submission of technical reports, financial reports, impact assessments, and donor communication materials.
- Maintain compliance with donor requirements, grant conditions, reporting standards, and visibility guidelines.
- Lead project review meetings, donor visits, evaluations, and learning events.

Team Leadership and Capacity Building

- Lead and mentor PMU experts, district teams, consultants, and project staff.
- Establish performance management systems and provide regular guidance to team members.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous learning.
- Identify capacity-building needs and support the professional development of project personnel.

Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement

- Develop and strengthen partnerships with:
- Farmer Producer Organizations
- Government departments
- Financial institutions
- Private sector companies
- Research organizations and universities
- NGOs and development partners

- Represent WOTR in strategic forums, policy dialogues, conferences,



and stakeholder consultations related to FPOs, climate resilience, and rural livelihoods.

Monitoring, Learning and Knowledge Management

- Ensure robust monitoring systems and effective use of project data for decision-making.
- Oversee implementation of KPI tracking, outcome measurement, and impact assessment frameworks.
- Guide documentation of best practices, case studies, success stories, and research outputs.
- Promote dissemination of project learnings and evidence to wider FPO and development ecosystems.

Desired Qualifications

- Master's Degree or higher in Agriculture, Agribusiness Management, Rural Management, Development Studies, Rural Development, Economics, Management or related disciplines.
- MBA in Rural Management, Development Management or equivalent qualification will be preferred.
- Additional training in project management, leadership, climate resilience, value chain development or institutional development will be an advantage.
- Women candidate preferred.

Experience Required

- Minimum 15 years of progressive professional experience in rural development, agribusiness, FPO/FPC promotion, livelihoods, climate resilience, gender inclusion or agricultural value chain development.
- Minimum 8 years of experience in leading large-scale multi-location development programmes.
- Demonstrated experience working with Farmer Producer Organizations, producer collectives, cooperatives, or rural enterprises.
- Experience in managing donor-funded projects and working with national or international development agencies.
- Strong understanding of agricultural markets, value chains, institutional development, and sustainable agriculture.
- Proven experience in stakeholder engagement, partnership building, and team leadership.

Essential Competencies

- Strategic leadership and programme management
- Strong understanding of FPO and agribusiness ecosystems
- Financial and budget management
- Partnership and stakeholder engagement
- Team leadership and mentoring
- Results-based management and monitoring
- Communication, negotiation, and influencing skills
- Report writing and donor management
- Problem-solving and decision-making abilities
- Ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder programmes
- Willingness to travel extensively across project locations

How to Apply: Send your application to [email protected] with the subject line 'Program Lead' and fill the application form.

📌 Program Lead (PMU) - Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra (India)
🏢 WOTR
📍 India