Role Title : Senior Program Officer
Location : New Delhi
Reporting To :Lead-Gender Equity
Core / Term :Term
ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND:
Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3), is a not for profit organization that improves the lives of women and girls in India. Through local partnerships and programs, C3’s proven approach to development gives women, young girls and boys the tools they need to improve their lives, as well as that of their families and communities. Our programs focus on increasing educational and livelihood opportunities for adolescent girls, ensuring access to lifesaving reproductive health information and services, and strengthening ability to become leaders in their communities.
C3 is leading initiatives on diverse aspects of women’s empowerment, combined with systems support, and technical assistance to concerned departments of government.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Senior Program Officer – Gender Equity will support the effective implementation and management of the Gender Equity Program across multiple states. The role will work closely with State Teams to ensure timely implementation of project activities, monitor program progress and budgets, coordinate reporting requirements, and facilitate communication between the National Office and State Offices. The position will contribute to strengthening program quality, accountability, and learning while ensuring compliance with organizational and donor requirements.
KEY ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Program Coordination and Implementation Support
• Coordinate implementation of multiple Gender Equity projects across states, ensuring timely execution of approved workplans.
• Develop and monitor annual, quarterly and monthly implementation plans in collaboration with state teams.
• Track project milestones, deliverables and contractual commitments, and proactively identify implementation bottlenecks.
• Provide technical and operational guidance to state teams to ensure quality implementation aligned with organisational standards.
• Coordinate with thematic, finance, HR, procurement, communications and M&E teams to facilitate seamless programme delivery.
• Support preparation of implementation calendars, review meetings and periodic planning workshops.
• Monitor project risks and recommend mitigation strategies to ensure timely achievement of outputs and outcomes.
• Undertake periodic field visits to review implementation quality, provide mentoring and document good practices.
2. Monitoring, Reporting and Documentation
• Develop and maintain programme monitoring systems aligned with donor and organisational requirements.
• Consolidate monthly, quarterly and annual progress reports from multiple states.
• Review reports for quality, completeness and consistency before donor submission.
• Track project indicators, milestones and deliverables against approved log frames and work plans.
• Coordinate documentation of case studies, success stories, lessons learned and promising practices.
• Support preparation of reports, donor presentations, program briefs.
• Maintain programme documentation, approvals and reporting records.
• Ensure timely submission of donor reports in accordance with contractual timelines.
3. Budget Monitoring and Compliance
• Monitor project expenditures against approved budgets and work plans.
• Prepare periodic budget utilisation analyses and variance reports.
• Coordinate with Finance to monitor burn rates and expenditure forecasts.
• Review state-level financial reports for consistency with programme activities.
• Identify risks related to underspending, overspending or delayed utilisation and recommend corrective actions.
• Ensure compliance with organisational financial policies and donor regulations.
• Support annual budgeting, budget revisions and financial planning exercises.
• Assist during internal and external financial audits by providing programme documentation.
4. Data Management and Analysis
• Oversee collection, validation and consolidation of programme data from multiple states.
• Monitor completeness, accuracy and quality of programme databases and MIS.
• Support in analysing programme data to identify implementation trends, gaps and opportunities for course correction.
• Support dashboard inputs and management reports for programme review meetings.
• Coordinate periodic data quality assessments and validation exercises.
• Promote data-driven programme planning and adaptive management.
5. Stakeholder Coordination
• Support state teams in maintaining effective coordination with partners and stakeholders.
• Serve as the key liaison between national office and state offices for programme coordination.
• Organise review meetings, consultations, workshops and partner engagements.
• Prepare briefing notes, meeting agendas, minutes and action trackers.
• Support relationship management with implementing partners, consultants and external experts.
• Represent C3 in relevant technical forums, consultations and programme review meetings, as appropriate.
6. Quality Assurance and Learning
• Conduct regular programme quality reviews and implementation assessments.
• Support development and implementation of quality assurance frameworks and programme standards.
• Facilitate periodic programme review meetings to identify challenges and corrective actions.
• Document and disseminate implementation learnings across projects and states.
• Promote adaptive management through continuous learning and evidence use.
• Support development of standard operating procedures, implementation guidelines and knowledge products.
• Facilitate cross-state knowledge exchange and peer learning.
• Contribute to strengthening institutional knowledge management systems.
7. Business Development Support
• Support identification of funding opportunities aligned with C3's strategic priorities.
• Contribute to development of concept notes, technical proposals and donor presentations.
• Coordinate inputs from programme, finance and technical teams during proposal development.
• Support development of programme budgets and implementation plans for new proposals.
• Assist in preparing capability statements, organisational profiles and partnership documents.
Required Qualifications and Experience:
• Master's degree in Social Work, Gender Studies, Development Studies, Public Policy, Social Sciences, or a related field.
• 10-12 years of relevant experience in program management, coordination, monitoring, and reporting within the development sector.
• Experience working on gender, women’s empowerment, social inclusion, or related thematic areas will be preferred, with demonstrated strong understanding of these areas.
• Excellent knowledge of national and state gender policies and relevant international frameworks.
• Experience coordinating multi-state or multi-location projects is desirable.
• Willingness to travel frequently within project states.
• Proficiency in English and Hindi; knowledge of Assamese or regional languages is a plus.
Skills and Competencies:
1. Programme Management
• Strong programme planning, coordination and execution skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously across diverse geographies.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills.
• Strong attention to detail and quality assurance.
• Ability to anticipate risks and proactively solve implementation challenges
2. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
• Experience developing and tracking logical frameworks, KPIs and programme indicators.
• Ability to interpret quantitative and qualitative programme data.
• Familiarity with MIS, dashboards and programme monitoring tools.
• Experience documenting programme learning and evidence generation.
3. Financial Management
• Budget planning and expenditure monitoring.
• Financial analysis and variance reporting.
• Understanding of donor financial compliance.
• Experience working with finance teams on forecasting and budget revisions.
4. Technical Competencies
• Strong understanding of gender equality, women's empowerment and gender-transformative programming.
• Knowledge of India's gender ecosystem, including flagship government programmes and institutional mechanisms.
• Understanding of safeguarding, social inclusion and intersectionality.
• Familiarity with national gender policies and international frameworks
5. Communication Skills
• Excellent report writing and analytical writing skills.
• Strong presentation and facilitation skills.
• Ability to prepare policy briefs, donor reports and technical documentation.
• Excellent verbal communication in English and Hindi.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
6. Stakeholder Management
• Strong relationship-building skills.
• Ability to work effectively with government multiple stakeholders
• Experience facilitating multi-stakeholder coordination.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills.
7. Leadership Competencies
• Ability to mentor and support geographically dispersed teams.
• Strong collaboration and team-building skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• High accountability and ownership of deliverables.
• Sound judgement and decision-making under competing priorities.
8. Digital Competencies
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Experience using project management and collaboration platforms.
• Ability to prepare dashboards, data visualisations and presentations.
• Familiarity with online collaboration tools and virtual meeting platforms.
9. Behavioural Competencies
• Strategic thinking.
• Results orientation.
• Problem solving and critical thinking.
• Adaptability and resilience.
• Learning orientation.
• Integrity and professionalism.
• Cultural sensitivity.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and safeguarding.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion.
Note: The roles and responsibilities mentioned above are not exhaustive. Role holder will be guided to perform different tasks as necessitated by changing role within the organization and the overall objectives.
OTHER DETAILS
• The offer made to the selected candidate shall be commensurate with qualifications, experience and salary history.
• Application Link: https://mitr2.c3india.org/Career/Home/Application?Code=JOBID-104
• Only Short-listed candidates will be intimated.
C3 aims to be an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability status. Women candidates are encouraged to apply.