Senior Associate/Lead - Strategic Support Group

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