Position: Associate Director, Global Rural Economy & Development.

Team: AI and Digital Transformation.

Level and grade: L6 Associate Director.

Position type: Full time, permanent.

Location: Delhi, India.

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer.

Travel: 20 to 30 percent.

Mandate: Associate Director: quality sign-off, a domain budget and a seat at pricing.

About Us:

APLYD helps governments, multilateral institutions, development finance institutions and foundations use AI in public systems.

Our work is getting it into everyday service delivery and keeping it running once we leave.

Athena Infonomics has done this work for years.

In 2026 we set it up as its own company.

We cover strategy and readiness, field data and last-mile reach, design and build, evaluation and audit, and scale and production.

The Role:

You lead APLYD's work in the rural economy across all the markets we work in, and you bring in the work: agriculture and food systems, livestock, livelihoods, farmer producer organisations, self-help groups, rural digital platforms and Panchayati Raj institutions.

You are responsible for the domain's offer, clients, pricing and quality.

You approve every deliverable, proposal and publication in the domain, manage a ring-fenced domain budget, and review the scope and price of every proposal before it is submitted.

You carry a revenue target, and part of your pay is linked to the revenue you originate.

Core Job Responsibilities:

- Own institutional opportunities end to end.

- Design the AI concept end to end.

- Lead the proposals: scope, technical approach, timeline, risk, commercial model and budget.

- Work the ecosystem.

- Run the pipeline.

- Report progress and risk to the CEO.

- Make sure engagements start well.

- Approve every deliverable, proposal and publication in the domain, manage the domain budget, and review the scope and price of every proposal before submission.

Qualifications And Competencies:

- 12 to 15 or more years in business development, partnerships or institutional growth across government systems, development organisations or major funders.

- You have taken a new institutional relationship to a signed, funded contract more than once.

- You know the rural economy in India as a working system: agriculture and extension, rural livelihoods, farmer producer organisations and self-help groups, livestock, and the enterprise activity around farming.

- Depth in agriculture is preferred.

- You know how public systems and large development institutions work: how decisions are made, how procurement runs, where budgets sit, and what makes an institution adopt something new.

- You can design an AI solution end to end for a problem in this domain: data availability, where AI adds value and where it does not, integration, operating model and running cost.

- Enough technical depth to hold a credible conversation about AI and data systems, digital public infrastructure, feasibility and architecture, with engineers on one side and non-technical institutional leaders on the other.

- You structure and write proposals yourself.

Additional Requirements:

- This position requires successful completion of a reference check and employment verification.

- The successful candidate must not be subject to employment restrictions from a former employer, such as a non-compete, that would prevent performance of the responsibilities described.

- Candidates must declare any current or recent engagement with a government, multilateral or development finance institution that could present a conflict of interest.

APLYD's Work Culture:

At APLYD, we function in an outcomes-based work environment with flexible hours and a high level of autonomy.

Professional development and thought leadership are key elements of our business model.

APLYD is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

AI Proficiency and Responsible Use:

Proficiency in the responsible and sophisticated use of AI is a mandatory requirement for all roles, across all levels and functions at APLYD and Athena Infonomics.