Strategy Consultant

Position: Team Lead (Policy Strategy)

Background

We live in a world of fast-paced innovation today, driven by exponential progress in science and technology (S&T) and the growth of vibrant ecosystems to commercialize research. India must aspire to be a top 3 S&T Nation, where the first two places are occupied by US and China today. To do so, India needs to be at the forefront of research: the creation of new knowledge (research) and its translation to economic and social goods. This is imperative for long-term industry differentiation and competitiveness, National security, and self-reliance to attain our socio-economic goals.

The time for India to revive its S&T agenda is now or never. We have the economic size, the talent pool, a large market size and a vibrant startup ecosystem to both invest in research and be able to translate S&T knowledge into economic value. For India to be a global leader, exponential S&T growth needs to go hand-in-hand with economic growth and social progress.

While the West has traditionally dominated global S&T, many Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan have made rapid progress in the past, and China has dramatically scaled its S&T prowess to become #2 in the world behind USA. Indias Contribution is relatively dwarfed - its high impact research output is ranked 1oth, with US & China being the top 2, no Indian university shows up in top 100 research rankings, with just 1 company in worlds top 50 innovative companies.

Way of Work

The Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology (FAST India) is a non-profit institution of excellence dedicated to catalyse Indias journey to a top 3 S&T Nation. We identify that the major stakeholders for S&T include the government, the research institutions and the industry.

There are systemic challenges with how these actors today work, such as size of ambition, right incentives, resource allocation and efficiency. Our way of working is to identify these challenges, develop and vigorously advocate policy solutions and best practices to address them. We also identify high-leverage projects that can have an outsized impact on the ecosystem, and run programs with stakeholders, where we lend our team of experts, to make sure best practices are used and the program is impactful. At maturity, we see the ecosystem develop the virtuous cycle of research funding, new breakthrough research, translation into economic value, and re-investment. While we build the ecosystem, we also look forward to build a strong narrative of S&T leadership in India and create political salience around it.

In a short period of time, FAST has started engagements with the Office of PSA (Govt of India), Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Capacity Building Commission of India and Banaras Hindu University, among others.

Our projects span easing procurement for scientists, re-envisaging government and industry financing of research, fixing the institutional grant management process, shaping sectoral missions, simplifying government procurement, etc. Our current body of work includes partnerships with Niti Ayog on driving measures for ease of doing science, initiatives on industry academia collaboration, thought leadership on Research Linked Incentives, and operationalising R&D Hub spoke models to accelerate India's R&D impact.

At the Department of Science and Technology, FAST has co-partnered on shaping and operationalising the Anusandhaan National Research Fund and the Research Development and Innovation Fund. FAST has conducted a state-of-the-sector report on Industrial R&D benchmarking, Indian industry players across six sectors, and comparison versus global peers, while highlighting opportunities to increase R&D intensity, patents, and publications outcomes.

FAST's current efforts include understanding the R&D landscape of the pharmaceutical sector in India and highlighting opportunities to accelerate innovation through various policy interventions. FAST is leading efforts to increase industry participation in R&D, and finding pathways to improving the research translation effectiveness at our institutions. We have produced multiple succinct policy briefs for the governmental and institutional sector.

We also run India's largest non-profit science festival in India called the India Science Fest, which has seen an audience of 50,000 people over the last three years. We also support and coordinate a Science Book Fellowship to spur public science books in India.

Leadership

Varun Aggarwal

Ashish Dhawan

Prof.Tarun Khanna

Pre-reading

Varun's talk on his book explaining India's S&T ecosystem and need for change.

Keynote Remarks and Panel Discussion at India Science Fest about why India needs to invigorate its S&T ecosystem

Policy and best practices briefs by FAST

About the Role

The PM/TL will work directly with the AD, Policy, Research & Strategy (PRS) to convert strategic ideas into actionable policy initiatives and frameworks. The role requires strong analytical skills, program management experience, and the ability to bridge research with execution in partnership with government stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

1. Research & Policy Development

• Support the AD, PRS in developing frameworks, white papers, and new policy ideas on science, technology, and innovation.
• Lead analytical work linking R&D investments with macroeconomic outcomes, competitiveness, and fiscal sustainability.
• Contribute to designing sectoral strategies, missions, and investment models aligned with national priorities.

2. Program Design & Execution Support

• Translate strategic concepts into implementable work plans, including milestones, KPIs, and monitoring frameworks.
• Work with FAST's program management teams (PMUs) to ensure smooth handover of mature initiatives from the AD, PRS.
• Track the progress of initiatives incubated under Policy Strategy and provide structured feedback.

3. Stakeholder Engagement

• Assist in building and maintaining relationships with government departments, industry bodies, and knowledge partners.
• Coordinate across FAST teams to align research outputs with programmatic execution.
• Support the preparation of policy briefs, talking points, and external communications for high-level stakeholders.

4. Thought Leadership Support

• Contribute to the dissemination of FAST's ideas in print, media, and policy forums.
• Provide analytical inputs for articles, op-eds, and reports authored by the Head- Strategy.

Qualifications & Experience

• Master's degree in Economics, Public Policy, Management, or related fields.
• For TL: 5-7 years of experience in policy research, program design, or government consulting (experience with central/state government or multilateral agencies preferred).
• For PM: 3-5years of experience in policy research, program design, or government consulting (experience with central/state government or multilateral agencies preferred).
• Strong track record of working on cross-sectoral or innovation-focused initiatives.
• Excellent skills in research, policy writing, and data analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to manage projects and coordinate with multiple stakeholders.

Key Competencies

• Strong conceptual and analytical thinking
• Ability to convert vision into actionable frameworks
• Comfort in working at the interface of government, industry, and academia
• Exceptional writing and communication skills
• Proactive, self-driven, and collaborative mindset