Program Design and Strategy - Lead

at  Quicksand

ABOUT US

Quicksand is a design strategy & innovation practice headquartered in India, and working in emerging markets. Our entrepreneurial journey started in 2004 with our New Delhi studio. In 2007, we opened in Bengaluru, and then in Goa in 2017.
We are a multi-disciplinary team of over forty full-time practitioners across strategy, research, design, art and technology. The team represents a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds.
Quicksand works on innovation mandates across a range of sectors - financial inclusion, public health, education, humanitarian aid, water and sanitation, environment, technology, consumer goods, retail, culture, food and beverage amongst others.
We work with global corporations to envisage new business opportunities.
We work with international development partners to drive social impact through innovation.
We explore and incubate new social, business and cultural ventures.
Quicksand has worked in over 30 countries across the globe with several hundred clients. Design is the foundation of our practice, applied across all aspects of our cross-sectoral consulting and independent work. We take pride in the plurality of disciplines, sectors, and approaches that our practice straddles.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Benefits of Working at Quicksand
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A compensation package commensurate with your skills and experience will be designed for you.
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Quicksand additionally offers a performance-linked bonus on your annual base salary, depending on a review of your performance and achievement of overall studio targets.
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The studio offers 48 days of total paid leaves per calendar year. This includes ~8 public holidays, 15 days of summer and winter vacation when the firm closes across all its locations (Delhi, Bangalore & Goa), as well as 25 days of paid annual leave, across vacation, casual, and sick leaves.
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All full-time employees at Quicksand are covered under annual medical insurance (including spouse and children) for a value of Rs. 5 lakhs annually.
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Employees are provided necessary infrastructure, including laptops.
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Employees are provided a learning & development budget for upskilling
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All our studio locations have an in-house kitchen, offering lunch and snacks across the day
Quicksand is seeking an individual in program design and strategy (development sector) in our Delhi studio, who can work with a multi-disciplinary team of designers, researchers, managers & technologists. We are looking for someone who will inspire both teams and clients to research, strategise, design & implement programs that can deliver impact outcomes across a variety of sectors including public health, education, financial services, climate, gender et al. . The ideal candidate should bring with them a deep understanding and experience of working with development sector stakeholders (funders, implementers, governments and academia). That said, we are looking for individuals who also understand design methods and processes, and the unique value design has to offer towards social impact.
Some specific responsibilities of this role include being able to:
Project Management
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Anchor all project management related activities for the projects that you steer and anchor - managing client expectations, communication, project deliverables, timely delivery, project scope, and financial discipline in terms of adherence to budgets & timelines
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Guiding the client through the various stages of the design process, ensuring that the values and principles of human centered design remain front and center in all program design mandates
Research
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Collaborate with design researchers in the team to gather and evaluate user requirements through ethnographic and other primary research methods
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Take the lead in supporting Quicksand’s research mandate through other methods such as evidence analysis, systematic reviews, and more generally desk research
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Assist in ensuring that research plans are in line with the program objectives to be achieved (including monitoring, learning and evaluation needs that most development sector programs have)
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Work with the research teams in synthesizing and writing up the recommendations. Candidate should bring exceptional skills in project reporting and documentation
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Prepare and present research findings and potential solutions to internal and external teams
Strategy
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Candidate should leverage their understanding of the social sector to help the team translate research insights into potential programmatic solutions and strategies
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Lead stakeholder consultations to help assess the viability and feasibility of solutions and build consensus for program ideas to be taken forward
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Help build potential theories of change and implementation frameworks that can tether solutions to needed impact goals
Program Design & Implementation
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Work with internal and external design teams, to support in transforming ideas and recommendations to actual interventions that can be piloted and tested
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Build the necessary evaluation frameworks that any new program needs to be measured against
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Work with government, civil society and other stakeholders to develop a robust implementation plan
Business Development
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Researching, evaluating, and informing colleagues and other stakeholders about emerging trends in areas of public policy innovation, research methods and even sector specific innovations
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Contributing to thought leadership at Quicksand in these areas by writing blog posts, articles, and social media bytes that summarise your experiences from various projects and independent inquiries
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Actively participate in business development, taking the lead in identifying areas of interest for the studio, conducting extensive research, and managing a pipeline of potential opportunities, including development of proposals and building partnerships
What we are looking for
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Extensive portfolio of work that demonstrates a specialisation in and a passion for social innovation and design
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Excellent written and oral communication skills in English with clear history of publishing articles, op-eds, reports et al. Knowledge of any other languages (including Hindi) would be a definite plus but not mandatory
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Ability to think critically and have exceptional attention to detail
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A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Economics, Public Policy, International Relations or related fields from a leading program in India or abroad
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8-12 years of professional work experience in the social sector, being part of or leading program design, strategy and research
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Experience in professional consulting services (design, management or development sector consulting) will be an advantage though not mandatory
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Evidence of an interest, awareness and applied knowledge of human centered design, design thinking and allied fields
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Some evidence of creative work (independent or commissioned) would be viewed very positively
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A roll-up-your-sleeves attitude towards your work
We are looking for people who are curious, rigorous, resourceful and entrepreneurial, who have a strong work ethic and the ability to thrive in a collaborative, cross-cultural, multidisciplinary, creative environment with minimal supervision. There will be times when you are asked to take on responsibilities that may fall outside of those specified in the job description, and at other times you’ll be expected to lead the team around a skill or a domain you specialise in. You will have the freedom to explore, create, and push-the-envelope.
Location
The position will be based in Delhi, India. You will work with colleagues across our studio locations. The job will also involve meeting and working with diverse people and communities for projects, as well as travel to workshops, client meetings, and the occasional company offsite.
Compensation
A compensation package commensurate with your skills and experience will be designed for you.

Please refer the Job description for details