Project Associate (Care Infrastructure: Koosina Mane) — School of Human Development (SHD)

About the School of Human Development (SHD)

The School of Human Development (SHD) at IIHS focuses on social transformation. The School understands social transformation as a set of processes that are rooted in, and seek to directly address:

The School’s core focus areas are:

• Decent work;
• Affordable housing;
• Social inequality;
• Social protection;
• Urban health;
• Community mobilization;
• Care Infrastructure.

About the CARE vertical nested under SHD
The IIHS Care vertical has several programmes cutting across research and practice which conceptualise and explore feasible care models to address deficits in care, especially in childcare and care for the elderly. Some of the current projects include research to understand experiences across a series of interventions aimed at strengthening the ecosystem of actors involved in building care infrastructure.

About ‘Rapid Study of Childcare Models in Karnataka’

In this project, IIHS is undertaking a learning study of the Koosina Mane program run by the Government of Karnataka to understand the existing models of childcare for women workers. The study will focus on both direct and indirect pathways that are known to improve and enhance child nutrition outcomes. It will also seek to understand the experiences and perceptions of mothers, households and communities that access and use the program along with those who are currently not accessing the program.

The focus here is on the implications of access to childcare and nutrition security on maternal stress, well-being and time-use, household and community childcare arrangements, perception and redistribution of gendered care responsibility, childcare, and female labour force participation. The study will also document key operational factors, processes, and decisions involved in initiating and running the model(s). This is necessary for future scaling and replication in urban areas and other states of the country.

Job Description

The position will be primarily under the project, A Rapid Study of the Child Care Model and the Pathways for Multi-Dimensional Outcomes on Nutrition, Gender Norms, Time Use and Early Childhood Development in Karnataka. It will involve supporting the project in the execution of administrative, financial, and technical activities.

This will be a contractual position for an initial term of 11 months, renewable on mutual consent.

Activities and Tasks

Responsibilities would include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Project Management:
  • Supporting the coordination of functions and overall project management;
  • Supporting the monitoring of programmatic activities and routine updates to communicate with the project stakeholders;
  • Coordinating with external partners in the project, helping them integrate with the IIHS administrative system;
  • Supporting the drafting of contracts, MOUs, and necessary administrative documentation;

• Field Management:
  • Overseeing fieldwork logistics, including site visits, data collection processes, and community engagements;
  • Ensuring adherence to ethical protocols and quality standards in data collection;
  • Supporting workshops organized as part of the project, as well as other events such as training sessions for enumerators and interviewers;

• Data Collection and Analysis:
  • Supporting data collection which includes interviewing, transcribing and coding;
  • Supporting data analysis;

• Budget and Financial Management:
  • Tracking budget expenses on the project with the internal IIHS team;
  • Supporting the internal IIHS team on contract, invoice, and vendor management;

• Institutional Support:
  • Providing support for other IIHS activities including academics, research, training, practice, operations and others;
  • Participating in all activities of Institution-building at IIHS; carrying out tasks as assigned by IIHS; and travelling on IIHS work within or outside the country as and when needed.

Structure and Reporting

The project associate will be an External Consultant coordinating with the Lead – SHD at IIHS, and will be required to collaborate effectively with a diverse group of internal teams and external individuals/ organisations, and government stakeholders.

Person Specification

The ideal candidate should have:

• A graduate or postgraduate degree in any discipline;
• 3-6 years of work experience in research, in an academic or policy studies institution, with a prior history of managing project stakeholders and government institutions;
• Prior experience in managing field operations and partnerships;
• A strong understanding of research management and/ or operations;
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills;
• Mandatory proficiency in Kannada (both spoken and written) and English;
• Basic proficiency in data management and analysis tools.

This is a contractual engagement for an initial term of 11 months, renewable on mutual consent. This offer is on an exclusive basis, which implies that other professional assignments (whether compensated or not) that bear a potential conflict of interest with IIHS cannot be undertaken.

The search will remain open until the position is filled.

Location

This position is based in Bengaluru, with required travel across various locations in Karnataka.

Review and Assessment

The role and performance of the incumbent shall be subject to normal review and assessment systems at IIHS.

Diversity Policy

IIHS is an equal opportunity employer that encourages women, people with disabilities and those from economically and socially excluded communities with the requisite skills and qualifications to apply for positions.