Senior Program Manager

Role - Senior Program Manager (Government Programs)

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), NITI Aayog, Capacity Building Commission of India, Ministry of Electronics Information Technology, Department of Telecom, Department of Science and Technology, Banaras Hindu University, among others. Our projects span easing procurement for scientists, re-envisaging government and industry financing of research, fixing institutional grant management process, etc. We have produced multiple succinct policy briefs for the governmental and institutional sector. We also run Indias 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 recently launched a Science Book

Fellowship to spur public science books in India.

Leadership

FAST India is founded by Varun Aggarwal, who is a successful entrepreneur and researcher, and Ashish Dhawan, a private equity investor turned philanthropist. Varun built and sold Indias largest job assessment company, Aspiring Minds and wrote a book on the science ecosystem of India. Ashish Dhawan is the chairperson of Ashoka University, a leading liberal arts university in India, and Central Square Foundation, and is passionate about promoting science in India.

FASTs advisory board is chaired by Prof. Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School and consists of Dr K VijayRaghavan, formerly Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India ; Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former Chief Scientist at the World Health Organisation; Dr Thomas Barlow, author, former Adviser to the Australian Government, and Financial Times columnist; Shantanu Rastogi, Managing Director at General Atlantic.

FAST India receives guidance from its panel of advisors that comprises Ajay C Mehta, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Dr. Swaminathan Sivaram, Dr Samir K. Brahmachari, Dr Sanjay Sarma, Vijay Chandru, Abhishek Goel, Dr Venkatesh Narayanamurti and Dr Gagandeep Kang.

FAST India is led by Sheel Kapoor as its Chief Executive Officer, a senior professional with many years of leadership experience in General Electric & Regal Rexnord Corporation in India and around the world. At Regal Rexnord, Sheel was the India Regional President & the CEO of its India and Middle East Climate Business.

Pre-reading

Varuns talk on his book explaining Indias S&T ecosystem and the 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

Role Introduction

FAST-India is seeking a Senior Program Manager (SPM) for its Government Programs team. The selected candidate will contribute to an exciting time of organisational growth and development, even as they are involved in a transformative time for S&T in the country.

FAST-India has executed engagements with important government and public stakeholders, including the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Capacity Building Commission, Department of Science and Technology, Anusandhan National Research Foundation, NITI Aayog, and various academic institutions.

A SPM (Government Programs) at FAST-India is expected to digest strategy from the leadership/management and spearhead solution design and delivery. They will be entrusted with ensuring the alignment of FAST's external/government-facing interventions with the broader objectives of both the organisation and the concerned government partner(s). The selected candidate is expected to:

• possess deep understanding of public policy and institutional reform,
• lead FAST's engagement with vital government stakeholders,
• provide policy expertise,
• be proficient at programme management and stakeholder management, and
• support in implementing FAST-India's strategy to liberalise the Indian S&T ecosystem.

This is a high-energy, entrepreneurial role, and a great opportunity for those who enjoy working in a start-up environment and care deeply about the impact sector. This role offers a unique opportunity to influence systemic change at scale, working closely with senior public officials, donors, and implementation partners to shape the future of science and technology policy in India. It is an ideal opportunity for someone passionate about combining strategic foresight with hands-on leadership and seeking to create measurable, lasting impact in public service delivery.

Key responsibilities

A. Policy research

• Lead analytical work, including developing policy proposals and guidelines, for government engagements, in alignment with FAST's strategic imperatives.
• Develop concept notes and present to external stakeholders on various subjects related to science and technology policy, particularly for public-funded R&D.

B. Programme management

• Lead end-to-end engagement design and delivery with government and other related partners by formulating precise problem statements, goals, and project plans.
• Oversee and leads the team towards execution of assigned projects, ensuring adherence to quality standards, timelines, and interdependencies.
• Monitor project progress, risks, and dependencies, and implements timely course corrections.
• Manage relationships with key stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement is an important aspect of the team's remit. A successful applicant is expected to assist in building and maintaining relationships with government departments, academic institutions, other public sector partners, and on occasion, with industry leaders.
• Coordinate across FAST's verticals and multiple external stakeholders to bring concepts to operationalisation.

C. Organisational development

• Identify strategic opportunities for Government Programs team and build strategic engagement plans. Demonstrate ability to engage government partners in an agile and sensitive manner, approaching new assignments as possibilities to build value propositions that serve both FAST-India's and government partners interests.
• Work closely with and provide inputs to the Strategy team at FAST-India ensure joined up thinking and development of current proposals for strategy deliverables.

D. Thought leadership

• Develop deep expertise in certain areas of science and tech policy, e.g. health policy, tech policy, regulations, institutional reforms, etc., and contribute to dissemination of FAST's ideas in print, media, and policy forums.
• Independently develop knowledge products, author and/or provide analytical inputs for articles, Op-Eds, and reports authored by FAST, and participate in seminars/webinars, symposia, panel discussions, industry dialogues, etc., for FAST-India.
• Guide and mentor junior colleagues in the Government Programs team.
• Stays abreast of emerging trends in technology, public policy and government affairs.

Qualifications and Experience

• Master's degree or equivalent in Economics, Law, Public Policy, Political Science, Management, or related fields.
• 8–10 years of experience in policy research, programme design, or government consulting (experience with central government or multilateral agencies preferred).
• Strong track record of working on cross-sectoral or innovation-focused initiatives.
• Excellent communication skills are a critical requirement for this position.
• Strong research, policy writing, and data analysis skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage projects and coordinate with stakeholders.