Job Description

Position Summary:

The key role of this position is to assist the senior management team in identifying the policy priorities that are critical to achieving the vision of the organisation and lead government engagement for improved policy initiatives. S/he will ensure that the intended policy and programmatic audience is engaged and utilize the research evidence generated. S/he will be responsible for engaging the government, regulators, and other stakeholders on policies that will enable to accomplish organisation strategic goals. S/he will use a range of policy engagement and communication tools to engage the relevant stakeholders through working groups, policy dialogues, and one-on-one meetings among others using traditional and online communication channels. This position will closely work with programmatic heads of MHT, research agencies, think tanks, financial institutions, technology firms, media groups and community action groups (women collectives), to gather information about and keep track of key policy matters that need to be addressed, modified, and added to the existing policies and regulations to create an enabling environment to achieve the goals of the organisation.

The organisation has been established since 1994 and has a strong grassroots technical team. The learnings and policy engagement will primarily emerge from their work. Hence the incumbent shall have to learn to co-exist with them and respect their grassroots knowledge.

Eligibility Criteria

Main Responsibilities:

·       Review and understand existing policy engagement approach at MHT on various urban development issues.

·       Develop & implement research, policy & partnership development agenda in line with strategic & operational plans.

·       Conduct research and oversee development of research activities in support of the organisations policy and government engagement work.

·       Develop key relationships with governments, civil society, NGOs, private sector, think-tanks, media groups, etc. Engage them in a constructive dialogue and identifying opportunities for MHT to support broader policy objectives/priorities

·       Prepare the policy papers, briefings and position papers and support the Senior Management Team to fulfil their role of representing the organisation at conferences, meetings and other forums.

·       Lead the process of consolidating research findings for evidence-based policy making and dissemination of learnings in coordination with other teams at MHT.

·       Work with different stakeholders in the policy space to continuously identify opportunities for intervention and collaboration with different state departments and central ministries.

·       Coordinate with the communication in-charge to provide inputs for social media handles and other channels for policy advocacy. Oversee the development of policy briefs and engage in policy dialogues on a frequent basis.

Remuneration will be based on the qualifications & experience of the applicant.

Last day to apply is 10th January, 2022. Interested candidates can email their CVs, statement of interest detailing why you want to work with MHT (max. one page) to info@mahilahsg.org. Please mention “Research & Partnership Officer” in subject line. 

Desired Candidate Profile

Post Graduation - MBA/PGDM

 Qualifications

·       A Master’s degree in Public Policy, Economics, Development Studies or a related field

·       Good understanding of the urban development policy space in India focusing on issues like housing, energy, climate change, water & sanitation etc.

·       At least 5 years of relevant work experience in social research, public policy or related field

·       High networking skills and demonstrated ability to interact with a varied set of stakeholders including Government officials and departments

·       Strong written/oral communication skills: prior demonstrated research and report generation from which action, policy or system change was an outcome; comfortable with public speaking and meeting facilitation; and ability to present/write technical details in simple language.

Organization Details

• Organization Name:Gujarat Mahila Housing Sewa Trust
• About Organization:Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) was founded in 1994 based out of Ahmedabad with the mission of building housing and living environments for poor women and girls. MHT’s programs address basic civic and housing infrastructure needs, including water, sanitation, drainage, solid waste management, roads, electricity/energy, low-income housing and secured land tenure. MHT facilitates access to information along with financial, legal and technical services in housing, water and sanitation, and energy sectors with a focus on improving the quality of lives and livelihoods of poor women and girls.
  
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