Microsave Consulting - Consultant/Senior Consultant

The candidate will act as a representative of MSC at the Department of Food and Public Distribution. The primary responsibility of the candidate will be to help and support the initiatives of the Department of Food and Public Distribution in the areas of Public Distribution System (PDS) including ONORC (portability), supply chain reforms, data analytics, NFSA, among others and as finalized between the Department of Food and Public Distribution and MSC from time to time. The candidate will also help MSC to execute projects/requests that MSC may get from the Department of Food and Public Distribution from time to time.

Responsibilities:

1) Work as a single point of contact (representative of MSC) for all interactions with the Department of Food and Public Distribution or the concerned division within the department.

2) Work alongside a team of consultants employed by MSC at the Department of Food and Public Distribution working on aspects of PDS including ONRC (portability), data analytics, supply chain, Monitoring and Evaluation, DBT, NFSA, among others.

3) Provide strategic/ technical support to the Department of Food and Public Distribution to ideate, define, and operationalize the initiatives undertaken by the department from time to time.

4) Provide operational day-to-day support to the Department of Food and Public Distribution to run/ implement the ongoing work in the areas of PDS including ONORC, supply chain, grievance resolution, among others.

5) Lead/facilitate discussions with the Department of Food and Public Distribution, implementing states and union territories, and other stakeholders (such as NITI Aayog, other government departments, states, union territories, among others) to resolve challenges associated with the implementation of the PDS at state and union territory levels.

6) Help the MSC team to organize quarterly/ monthly meetings/ workshops/ seminars including the Department of Food and Public Distribution, state governments, other stakeholders, and external experts on various topics concerning PDS as mentioned above.

7) Work with MSCs colleagues to write blogs, reports, and other publications for external dissemination.

Education Qualification:

- MBA or Masters in Public Policy, Public Health, Economics, Public Administration, Social Work, Rural Development, Agri-Business, or related areas.

Experience:

- 5+ years of experience in the development and social sector with a consulting firm, think tank, donor/development agency, research organization, or government (this is the minimum experience. Candidates with more relevant experience will be preferred).

- Prior experience of working directly with the state/ central government department/ ministry is preferable.

- Excellent communication skills, writing skills, presentation skills, research skills (primary and secondary), intellectual curiosity, and passion for the social and development sector

- Experience in one or more of the following sectors food security, agriculture, rural development, social protection, among others.

- Experience in one or more of the following functional areas

1) Strategy and public policy design for social welfare programs

2) Process reengineering and digitization

3) Social welfare program implementation

4) Financial inclusion

5) Social protection

6) Direct benefit transfer

7) Public finance and expenditure

8) Monitoring and evaluation

9) Human-centered design

10) Project management

11) Social research

12) Existing working relationships with governments, multilateral agencies, donor agencies, think tanks, and industry is preferred