Job description

About IDinsight

We amplify social impact by partnering with leaders to develop tailored solutions. Our mission is to use data and evidence to help leaders combat poverty worldwide.

IDinsight is a mission-driven global advisory, data analytics, and research organisation that helps global development leaders maximize their social impact. They tailor a wide range of data and evidence tools, including randomized evaluations and machine learning, to help decision-makers design effective programs and rigorously test what works to support communities. They work with governments, multilateral agencies, foundations, and innovative non-profit organisations in Asia and Africa. Their work, primarily executed within a client services, project-based model, spans a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, education, health, governance, sanitation, financial inclusion, and other areas. While IDinsight is designed as a global organisation, each of the entities, including the India regional office, has significant levels of autonomy within a decentralized structure.

They have expertise in a variety of rigorous approaches and methodologies, which they tailor to each client depending on their needs and constraints. To achieve a positive social impact they:

• Support clients’ use of data and evidence for routine and major decision-making.
• Inform funding decisions – toward high-impact initiatives and away from less effective programs or approaches.
• Create and share tools, knowledge, and ideas that expand the use of data and evidence for social good.

Their diverse, growing team of roughly 180 outstanding colleagues operate in nearly two dozen countries around the world. Learn more about their mission and values at www.IDinsight.org.  

 About the Role

The India Regional Director (IRD) role will be supported by the CEO and IDinsight India’s Directors and will assume critical responsibility for driving large pieces of IDinsight’s work and strategy in India. Further, the IRD will be supported by high-quality research teams, an excellent operations team that ensures a well-functioning organisation, and a communications team. A portion of the IRD’s time will be safeguarded for research, thought leadership, professional development, and optional leadership coaching. The IRD will also work closely with a 1-2 member executive team to execute their responsibilities. Finally, the IRD will be provided with bi-annual performance reviews (including feedback from peers and direct reports) to help them continuously grow and learn as professionals. 

The IRD will be provided significant autonomy to leverage IDinsight as a platform to drive social impact (in consonance with our mission and strategy), while also being held accountable to clear goals that they will set for themselves in consultation with the CEO and other leaders at IDinsight India. 

The IRD’s role will be unique and tailored to their strengths and interests. However, at a high level, the role will include the following:

• Lead IDinsight India towards social impact: The IRD’s primary responsibility is to drive and increase IDinsight India’s social impact using their experience, expertise, and networks. Toward this goal, the IRD will help conceptualize, secure, fundraise, and execute high-impact initiatives that use data and evidence to drive change. In addition, the IRD is expected to repeatedly set the north star of social impact for the region, including all project teams, and drive all aspects of the organisation towards this goal.
• Envision and execute IDinsight’s India strategy within a context of growth: The IRD will be responsible for working closely with India and global leadership teams to envision, craft, refine and execute IDinsight’s strategy in India, within the framework of legal and regulatory compliance. They expect growing resources and opportunities for impact to animate strategy development. 
• Lead and represent IDinsight India externally: The IRD will represent the organisation both within India and globally. They will be expected to apply their considerable experience, expertise, and skills to shape evidence-informed action within one or multiple sectors, regions, or specializations. This includes writing in leading newspapers and journals, speaking at important conferences, harnessing relationships and networks within the impact community to develop trusted advisory positions with senior leaders, and participating in consultative councils within governments, foundations, and/or nonprofits.
• Lead, mentor and guide a team of talented and mission-driven colleagues: The IRD will create the conditions for a rewarding professional experience for colleagues at varying points in their careers. This includes establishing a shared vision and effective organisational priority-setting based that fosters broad ownership; recruiting and mentoring both senior and junior colleagues and supporting their career development; and consistently modeling inclusive leadership. The ideal candidate will exemplify IDinsight values, be seen as a trusted advisor, and work well with others across all levels of the organisation.
• Lead project teams: The IRD will also directly lead a small number of projects. Project leadership involves liaising with senior clients regularly, ensuring the highest standards of research quality and ethics, overseeing and mentoring teams (usually 1-2 Managers, with 3-6 members in total), ensuring a safe and enabling atmosphere for colleagues, and keeping within project budgets.
• Contribute to IDinsight’s global activities and influence: The IRD will be a member of the global IDinsight leadership team, and will be expected to provide intellectual contributions to strategy development and implementation across the larger organisation. Because global leadership and support functions are designed to facilitate context-centered impact, input from regional leadership is highly influential in IDinsight’s global direction.
• Support organisational development: The IRD will contribute to global and regional operations such as recruitment, onboarding and performance reviews. They will be expected to support IDinsight to remain an impact-first, values-based, and nimble organisation as they grow.
• Exemplify IDinsight’s mission and values: Ensuring a strong alignment between incoming IRD and IDinsight’s values will be an important priority for them. The IRD is the face of IDinsight both externally and internally and will be expected to always and unambiguously exemplify their mission and values. 

This position is based in New Delhi with offices in Hauz Khas Village and will likely include domestic and international travel to fulfill the responsibilities mentioned above. While IDinsight recognizes the value of liberal “work from home” policies, significant in-office presence is desired.

Required Experience 

 They are looking for leaders who demonstrate: 

• Deep passion for development and social impact, and strong alignment with IDinsight’s vision and mission;
• Record of building strong stakeholder and client relationships, especially with governments and/or nongovernmental organisations in India;
• Record of influential thought leadership around important social and/or technical issues;
• Fluency in the role of data and evidence tools – such as impact evaluations, representative surveys, monitoring systems, and/or the application of data science – to create insights and impact;
• Demonstrated ability to be an inspiring, inclusive, and collaborative leader in a dynamic, multicultural, and values-based environment;
• Attitude to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial setting, and able to adapt to dynamic growth and change;
• Eagerness to be a lifelong learner with keen intellectual curiosity and sense of humor;
• Willingness to travel as needed and to work remotely with colleagues in other locations and time zones;
• Experience of 10+ years using data and evidence to improve social impact, ideally in India;
• Track record of developing high-impact projects and strong funder relationships;
• An advanced degree (Master’s or Doctoral), preferably in public policy, economics, public administration, business, or public health.

They understand that no candidate will excel in all these attributes. Instead, they are looking for leaders who have a significant strength in certain attributes, while meeting a minimum threshold in all attributes.