Manager - Grassroots Innovations

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1.          Role Summary

The Manager – Grassroots Innovations will build, strengthen, and manage RTIH’s outreach to grassroots innovators, rural entrepreneurs, NGOs, livelihoods organisations, and community-based institutions across Andhra Pradesh. The role aims to identify promising frugal innovations, enable their validation and growth, and integrate grassroots innovators into RTIH’s incubation, prototyping, and challenge programmes.

The role will serve as RTIH’s primary interface with the grassroots innovation ecosystem and ensure equitable, inclusive participation from rural and tribal communities across the state.

2.          Key Responsibilities

A. Grassroots Innovator Identification & Scouting

·        Design and run statewide scouting programmes across villages, mandals, districts, and tribal regions.

·        Work with universities, ITIs, polytechnics, rural makerspaces, FabLabs, and community institutions to identify frugal solutions and local innovations.

·        Conduct field visits to validate innovations and document use-cases and impact stories.

B. Partnership Development

·        Build partnerships with NGOs and institutions working in:

o   Grassroots innovation (e.g., Palle Srujana, NIF partners)

o   Livelihoods & rural enterprise development

o   Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs)

o   Tribal development organisations

·        Create structured collaboration frameworks for scouting, co-hosted programmes, and local capacity building.

·        Coordinate with district administrations (DRDA, ITDA, Collectorates).

C. Programme Design & Execution

·        Design grassroots-focused programmes:

o   Innovation scouting drives

o   Rural innovation camps

o   Village-level demo days

o   Thematic challenges in agriculture, crafts, climate, livelihoods, and rural problems

·        Facilitate the onboarding of grassroots innovators into RTIH’s incubation channels and RTIH Spoke programmes.

·        Work with Hackathons Manager to create “rural problem statements.”

D. Support for Innovators

·        Facilitate prototyping support through:

o   FabLabs

o   Technical universities

o   Mentors

o   Domain experts

·        Assist with:

o   Technology refinement

o   Pilot deployments in villages

o   Field testing with relevant govt. departments

·        Guide innovators on accessing schemes, financial incentives, and market linkages.

E. Coordination with Hub & Spokes

·        Work closely with Spoke CEOs/ Teams to ensure their regional scouting programmes are active.

·        Build district-wise yearly outreach plans and impact dashboards.

·        Conduct training sessions for Spoke teams to work with grassroots innovators.

F. Monitoring, Documentation & Reporting

·        Maintain a statewide pipeline of grassroots innovators with progress stages.

·        Document case studies, field learning, challenges, and impact metrics.

·        Submit monthly progress reports and quarterly dashboards to Strategic Initiatives Lead.

3.          Qualifications & Experience

Essential

·        Bachelor’s degree in any field; preference for social sciences, rural development, engineering, or equivalent.

·        3–6 years of experience in:

o   Grassroots innovation

o   Rural livelihoods

o   NGO partnerships

o   CSR implementation

o   Community development programmes

·        Strong familiarity with Andhra Pradesh’s rural and tribal contexts.

Preferred

·        Experience with frugal innovation or social enterprise ecosystems.

·        Work experience with government departments (ITDA, DRDA, SERP, NREGS, MSME, Agriculture, Panchayat Raj).

·        Telugu fluency; ability to travel extensively.

4.          Skills & Competencies

·        Strong relationship-building with NGOs, community institutions, and line departments.

·        Comfort with fieldwork: village visits, community interactions, field testing.

·        Ability to identify, evaluate, and nurture grassroots innovations.

·        Programme design and execution skills.

·        Good documentation and storytelling ability.

·        Empathy, cultural sensitivity, and on-ground problem solving.

·        Ability to independently manage statewide work with minimal supervision.

5.          KPIs (First 12 Months)

·        200+ grassroots innovations scouted across districts.

·        40–60 innovations technically validated/documented.

·        20+ innovators enrolled into incubation or challenge programmes.

·        10+ partnerships with NGOs and livelihoods organisations.

·        3–5 rural innovation events (district-level demo days, camps).

·        Consistent monthly dashboards and case stories from the field.

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