Senior Associate/Lead - Strategic Support Group

Job Description

Role Summary

Bhumi's Education vertical runs at scale — Fellowship, STEM, Scholarships, Bhumi Clubs - but scale makes it hard to test new ideas without disrupting what's already running. This role is Bhumi's internal think tank: one person whose job is to research sharply, pilot fast, and hand off only what actually works. You'll work directly with the ED on questions that don't have answers yet. We measure this role by how fast you kill a bad idea, not by how many decks you make.

● Research & Insight Generation: Investigate problems and opportunities across the Education vertical, and translate field data, policy shifts, and sector practice into sharp, decision-ready briefs for the ED.

● Pilot Design & Execution: Design and run small, fast, low-cost pilots end-to-end, coordinating with field teams and adapting design as each pilot reveals what actually works.

● Evaluation & Iteration: Build lightweight evaluation frameworks, then iterate or kill pilots based on evidence, not sunk cost — documenting failures as rigorously as successes.

● Scale-Readiness & Handoff: For pilots that work, build the case and playbook to hand off to the relevant vertical lead, defining resourcing, risks, and sequencing so they aren't starting from zero.

● Strategic Thought Partnership to the ED: Serve as a sounding board on emerging strategic questions, bringing outside-in thinking to what Bhumi may not see from inside its own system.

What Success Looks Like in Year 1

• At least 2-3 pilots designed and run to completion, with clear go/no-go recommendations backed by evidence.
  
• At least 1 pilot successfully handed off to a vertical team with a scale-readiness playbook they can actually use.
  
• A research/insight cadence the ED relies on - briefs that shape real decisions, not shelf documents.
  
• Demonstrated judgment in killing at least one idea early, before it consumed disproportionate time or resources.
  

Required Skills & Experience

Must-have

• 2–5 years of experience in strategy, consulting, program design, or a research-heavy role - nonprofit experience not required, but comfort with ambiguity is.
  
• Strong written communication - able to turn messy findings into a clear, persuasive one-pager.
  
• Demonstrated ability to run something end-to-end with minimal oversight - a project, a pilot, a research study, a startup experiment.
  
• Comfort influencing and coordinating with teams who don't report to you - getting field or vertical leads to say yes to a pilot without formal authority to make them.
  

Nice-to-have

• Prior exposure to India's education sector or public systems (government schools, policy, ed-tech)
  
• Experience designing or evaluating pilots/experiments in a resource-constrained setting.
  
• Familiarity with Theory of Change or logframe-style strategic thinking.
  

Others

• Reports to - Executive Director
  
• Scope - Full Time
  
• Location - Chennai
  
• Salary range - 4.5 LPA - 6.5 LPA (Based on candidate profile)
  
• Expected Joining Date: Immediate
  

Requirements
Program Design, Strategy, Consulting