Senior Project Manager

ABOUT THE TEAM:

The Strategy and Policy Division (SPD) of the Quality Council of India (QCI) is a team of young professionals working to augment the capacity of government bodies in policy making and to formulate high-level strategies for projects that address national priorities. We function as a high-impact consulting group within QCI: a fast-paced, mission-driven unit whose work sits at the intersection of policy, research and project management.

Our work spans strategic transformation of service lines across QCI's boards and divisions, conceptualisation and launch of new projects and proposals aligned to national priorities, strategic research and advisory on current and emerging policies, quality assurance, and technology-led transformations, and comprehensive research and assessment studies for central and state government bodies.

ROLE SUMMARY:

As Legal Expert within the Project Management Unit, you provide legal and PPP advisory, draft and review contracts, and ensure compliance with government-procurement frameworks across the engagement. You support transaction structuring and partnership agreements, identify the amendments to powers, guidelines and instruments that the transformation requires, and secure the necessary authority in advance, so that every structure and agreement is sound, compliant and protective of the public interest. You bring a legal practitioner's rigour to a national institutional and commercial transformation.

The role blends legal advisory, contract drafting, and government-procurement compliance on a high-visibility national programme.

WHY THIS ROLE IS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY:

You will be at the epicentre of policy and execution, translating the Viksit Bharat @ 2047 vision into actionable, on-the-ground projects that affect millions of lives, rather than producing reports and opinion pieces alone.

We are looking for individuals who want to look back at their careers and point to a specific national programme and say, I helped build that. If you have intellectual rigour, a strong commitment to public service, and the resilience to navigate complex challenges, this is the place for you.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

The role carries clearly defined ownership across the following areas, applied to the engagements to which you are assigned:

• Legal & PPP Advisory: Provide legal and PPP advisory across investment structuring, partnerships and institutional reform, holding the engagement's interest paramount at all times.
• Contract Drafting & Review: Draft and review contracts, MoUs, concession and partnership agreements, and bid-process documentation, ensuring clarity, enforceability and protection of the public and beneficiary interest.
• Government-Procurement Compliance: Ensure compliance with government-procurement frameworks (including GFR/CVC), and advise on regulatory and statutory requirements relevant to the engagement.
• Transaction Structuring Support: Support transaction structuring and partnership agreements, with express safeguards embedded in every structure.
• Statutory & Instrument Change: Identify measures requiring amendment to powers, guidelines, bye-laws or instruments, and the approving authority for each, so the transformation is backed by the necessary legal authority.
• Risk & Policy Inputs: Provide legal inputs to the risk register and the policy-support framework, and flag legal and compliance risks early.
• Quality Assurance & Delivery Governance: Own the quality of legal deliverables and compliance with confidentiality, data-ownership and Government of India data-governance requirements.
• Stakeholder Management: Engage with legal, procurement and leadership counterparts, and present advice clearly and with calibrated confidence.

REQUIRED CAPABILITIES:

We expect an ideal candidate to demonstrate the following capabilities. Technical capabilities are transferable across SPD engagements; behavioural capabilities are common to all SPD roles.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA & REQUIREMENTS:

• Education: LL.B. or LL.M. is required. A specialisation in commercial, procurement, infrastructure or PPP law is an advantage.
• Experience: 8 to 12 years of professional experience in legal and PPP advisory, contract drafting, and government-procurement frameworks, including work for central/state government, PSUs or their related entities.
• Preferred: Prior experience with government-procurement frameworks (GFR/CVC), PPP/concession agreements, transaction structuring, and public-sector institutional or regulatory reform. Proficiency in a relevant regional language is an advantage for state-level engagements.