The Programme Lead will run the day-to-day delivery of ICPP's States, Cities and Digital Government Programme, working with the Senior Visiting Fellow, faculty co-lead, research associate, consultants and external partners. The role combines policy delivery, programme management and technical literacy, with responsibility for turning research into high-quality policy outputs. In the first six months, success will mean reliable delivery against plan, advancing state partnerships and convenings, and publishable programme outputs.

Roles and Responsibilities

- Own the programme's delivery calendar, flagship annual report, working papers and policy briefs from commissioning through to publication and dissemination.
- Design and run the mid-career practitioners' roundtable and subsequent convenings end to end, from participant curation to published output.
- Build and manage state-government partnerships at the operational level, including scheduling, data-sharing agreements, workshop logistics and follow-through on commitments.
- Manage the research associate and any consultants or fellows by scoping technical work, supervising delivery and quality-checking outputs before publication.
- Maintain working-level relationships with partner institutions, including state administrative training institutes and research partners.
- Track budgets, deliverables and programme performance against plan, and prepare periodic reporting for ICPP.
- Draft and edit programme outputs to a publishable standard, commissioning specialist input where needed. About Isaac Centre for Public Policy (ICPP)

Supported by a generous endowment and building on Ashoka University's esteemed reputation, the Isaac Centre for Public Policy (ICPP) aspires to become India's premier public policy centre,



dedicated to generating ground-breaking ideas and research on key public policy issues. The ICPP is committed to fostering accelerated, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth in India. ICPP believes that transformative economic policies cannot simply be transplanted from other contexts; they require careful, strategic efforts tailored to the unique challenges and conditions in India.

ICPP's current research verticals include Macroeconomics, International Trade, Agriculture and Rural Economy, Employment and Labour, Financial Markets and Public Policy, Tax Policy and Indian Regulators.

What We Are Looking For

Qualifications

- 6 - 12 years of experience in public policy, development, research management, or a closely related field.
- Demonstrated ability to build and manage working relationships with senior officials in state and national government on urban development, city and municipal, land, and digital or geospatial issues; existing relationships across relevant government institutions are an advantage
- Demonstrated ability to run a programme or substantial workstream independently, to deadline and with minimal supervision.
- Solid policy-writing and editing ability, with the ability to translate technical analysis into working papers, model procurement clauses and briefings for officials.
- Technical literacy sufficient to assess data analysis, evaluate whether methods fit the policy question,



assess the suitability of spatial or administrative datasets, and interrogate technical or vendor performance claims.
- Working familiarity with geospatial data and GIS concepts, sufficient to scope parcel-level or service-mapping tasks, brief and supervise research associates, and sense-check outputs.
- Working command of the programme's subject matter, including government procurement and governance of algorithmic and digital systems, municipal finance and property-tax data, and the distinction between delivery of a system and its effective functioning.
- Experience operating credibly across academic, technical and government settings, including with senior government officials.

Who You Are

- You take ownership of delivery and build systems that keep the programme running to a high standard without depending on any one individual.
- You build trust quickly with government, academic and research stakeholders and understand how to sustain working relationships across institutional settings.
- You hold outputs to a high standard and remain focused on whether policy interventions work in practice, not only whether they are delivered.
- You are intellectually curious about subnational governance, state capability, and digital and AI systems in the public sector.
- You bring sound judgement to ambiguous, multi-stakeholder work, balancing strategic priorities with the operational follow-through needed to turn ideas into credible policy outputs.

Disclaimer: This job posting has been aggregated from external source. Role details, content, and availability are subject to change. Applicants are advised to confirm the latest information directly on the company website before applying.

📌 Programme Lead - Isaac Centre For Public Policy (New Delhi)
🏢 Ashoka University
📍 New Delhi