JOB DESCRIPTION
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Position:
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Project Lead
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Function:
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Livelihood
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Location:
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Mumbai
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Reporting Relationship:
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PD, Livelihoods
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Nature of Employment:
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FTC (30th June 2026) Extendable
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Number of Positions:
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1
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ABOUT THE TEAM LEASE FOUNDATION
TeamLease Foundation operates at the intersection of the 3Es - Education, Employability, and Employment, with a mission to enable the skilling of the underserved. The Foundation works with corporates to ensure efficient use of CSR funds in the areas of education, skilling, and employment. Join with our journey of helping society with initiatives undertaken by companies with CSR." (For more details, please visit our website - https://teamleasefoundation.org/)
JOB SUMMARY
The Project Lead will drive the strengthening of SHG women led community livelihoods and enterprise ecosystems, with a strong focus on enterprise development, market integration, and scale. The role will anchor end-to-end enterprise development—from production to market realization, including market research, buyer engagement, partnership development, and digital commerce integration (including ONDC). The Project Lead will enable community institutions and collectives to evolve into market-ready, business-oriented entities, with strong backward and forward linkages. While aligned with broader livelihoods principles, the role will emphasize enterprise viability, revenue generation, and sustainable market systems, leveraging both community institutions and partnerships.
Roles & Responsibilities
Project Planning & Implementation
- Develop annual and operational plans focused on enterprise growth, market access, and income enhancement.
- Lead implementation of enterprise and value chain interventions, ensuring alignment with business plans of community groups and collectives.
- Strengthen community institutions as aggregation and business platforms.
- Drive cluster-based and collective enterprise models.
- Identify risks related to enterprise viability, production-market mismatch, and demand fluctuations, and implement mitigation strategies.
Market Linkages, Partnerships & Business Development
- Lead market research and scoping to identify demand trends, pricing benchmarks, and emerging opportunities.
Identify, negotiate, and onboard market partners, including:
- Bulk buyers
- Retailers and aggregators
- E-commerce and digital platforms
- Develop and manage long-term market linkage partnerships, including volume commitments and structured procurement agreements.
- Enable access to B2B, B2C, and B2G markets, including institutional buyers.
- Facilitate forward linkages through buyer-seller meets, trade fairs, and exhibitions.
- Work closely with production teams to align supply with market demand and projections.
- Strengthen systems for aggregation, quality control, packaging, and logistics.
Enterprise Development & Value Chain Strengthening
Support community groups in:
- Product development and diversification
- Pricing strategies and cost optimization
- Branding, packaging, and quality standardization
- Promote value addition and processing to enhance margins.
- Enable development of scalable enterprise models and producer collectives.
Financial Management & Enterprise Financing
- Manage project budgets with a focus on enterprise investments and returns.
- Facilitate credit linkages, working capital access, and financial planning for enterprises.
- Monitor enterprise-level financial performance, including revenues, margins, and cash flows.
- Ensure compliance with financial systems and audit norms.
Monitoring, Reporting & Performance Management
Track performance across:
- Market linkages and sales volumes
- Enterprise revenue and profitability
- Income enhancement outcomes
- Institutional performance as business entities
- Develop MIS and dashboards focused on business and market indicators.
- Produce periodic reports with insights on market performance and scalability.
Promotion, Branding & Visibility
- Support development of regional and product-level branding strategies.
- Facilitate participation of community groups in:
- Trade fairs
- Exhibitions
- Buyer-seller meets
- Conduct ongoing research on product trends, consumer preferences, and new markets.
- Strengthen visibility of SHG enterprises and products.
Stakeholder Engagement & Coordination
- Build strong relationships with:
- Market actors and buyers
- Financial institutions
- Government stakeholders
- Technical and enterprise partners
- Ensure coordination between production, enterprise, and market functions.
- Facilitate regular planning and review meetings with community institutions.
Technology & Digital Enablement
- Digital commerce platforms (including ONDC)
- Digital payments and bookkeeping systems
- Product cataloguing and inventory tools
- Enable collectives to participate in digital and online marketplaces.
Evaluations, Learning & Documentation
- Enterprise viability and market competitiveness
- Effectiveness of market linkages
- Document successful business models, partnerships, and case studies.
- Capture best practices in enterprise-led and market-driven models.
Government & Ecosystem Engagement
- Engage with relevant government departments and ecosystem stakeholders for convergence and alignment.
- Participate in review forums and represent the project in ecosystem platforms.
- Leverage schemes and programs for enterprise and market support.
Donor Engagement & Fundraising
- donor reporting with a focus on impact, scale, and sustainability.
- Contribute to proposals emphasizing enterprise growth and market systems development.
Administration & Field Management
- Oversee procurement, vendor management, and logistics.
- Conduct regular field visits to monitor enterprise and market linkage activities.
- Ensure effective on-ground implementation and coordination.
Organizational Ambassadorship
- Demonstrate ownership, integrity, and entrepreneurial thinking.
- Align with the organization’s vision of SHG women led enterprise development and market integration.
Key Skills & Competencies
- Post-graduation in Rural Management, Business Administration, Marketing, Development Studies, Economics, or related field preferred.
- 6–10 years of experience in enterprise development, market linkages, or value chain development.
- Strong experience working with community institutions, producer groups, or collectives.
- Proven experience in:
- Market linkage development
- B2B/B2C marketing
- Buyer engagement and partnership management
- Exposure to products branding, and packaging preferred.
- Experience in digital commerce, e-commerce, or ONDC integration is an advantage.
- Strong financial and business acumen (pricing, margins, cost structures).
- Excellent stakeholder management and negotiation skills.
- Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making ability.
- Proficiency in MS Office tools.
- Willingness to travel extensively (50–75%).
Application Process
Interested candidates are invited to submit their CV and a cover letter explaining how they meet the requirements for this role.
Deadline: [21 April 2026]
Position Availability: Immediately
Salary and Benefits: Competitive, commensurate with experience