Senior Associate - Policy Engagement

About the Organization

Swaniti Initiative is a social enterprise that works at the intersection of climate, governance and last mile delivery. We believe that while the will and resources exist, there are fundamental gaps in execution within communities that are the biggest crisis in the climate movement. Accordingly, Swaniti works with sub-national governments to conduct micro-planning exercises with consultations with communities and key stakeholders to understand the pathways forward, provide technical assistance to sub-national governments to provide support in program implementation and support in monitoring and delivery of programs.

Swaniti has been working across multiple geographies in the global south to unlock capital. Our three core metrics include unlocking public capital, ensuring last mile communities are directly benefited and creating systemic changes in the public service systems. While we are continuing to focus on impact, it is critical to have a lead who has a deep understanding about monitoring, evaluation and learning. Our intention is to create an institutional capability to measure and document the scale of our impact and look at how learning can be replicated across the institution.

Job Responsibilities

The Senior Associate for Policy Engagement will independently drive strategic outreach to Hon'ble Members of Parliament (MPs) and other relevant stakeholders, taking ownership of research, sectoral insights, and legislative support across Swaniti's core areas, including climate action, social protection, livelihood development, and industrial decarbonization initiatives. The role will focus on engaging stakeholders on diverse policy issues through research, convenings, and the facilitation of knowledge exchange across sectors. The incumbent must have 5 years of demonstrated experience in research and stakeholder outreach related to climate change, environmental regulations, decarbonisation or allied issues.

Key Responsibilities

Research & Legislative Support:

• Independently conduct and strategically design research on policy issues, world affairs, and government schemes based on different sectoral issues for Hon’ble MPs
  

• Develop expert briefings, policy insights, and legislative support documents based on MPs’ specific requests
  

• Contribute to drafting of proposals and budgets
  

• Provide background research for parliamentary interventions, bills, and standing committee meetings
  

• Proactively identify critical policy gaps and independently develop intervention proposals for at constituency and national levels
  

• High level understanding of geopolitics, climate change, social protection systems, livelihood policies, industrial policy frameworks including decarbonization pathways, and their interconnected impacts on development outcomes
  

• Thorough understanding of mandates across multiple domains including social welfare legislation, environmental regulations, industrial policy frameworks and climate legislation.
  

• Take initiative to monitor and analyse parliamentary best practices in key areas of Swaniti's work, particularly climate legislation, social protection frameworks, and industrial policy developments in relevant countries, with specific attention to Global South experiences
  

  
  

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Independently manage and strategically develop outreach to Parliamentarians in India and abroad
  

• Engage with diverse stakeholders including government bodies, think tanks, civil society, corporate CSR wings, industry associations (particularly in sectors relevant to decarbonization such as steel, cement, textiles), grassroots organizations, and climate finance institutions
  

• Contribute to drafting of high-level notes for public events and workshops on strategic topics including social protection, livelihood development, climate adaptation, air quality, and emerging areas such as just transition and industrial decarbonization strategies
  

• Take ownership of and independently coordinate end-to-end public facing events.
  

Documentation & Reporting:

• Independently prepare and strategically develop comprehensive reports, policy briefs, and knowledge products on issues spanning social protection, livelihood development, climate policy, air quality management, and emerging topics including energy transition and industrial sustainability measures
  

• Document policy recommendations, administrative reports, and success stories for larger dissemination
  

• Comply with all the internal reporting requirements
  

• Lead and drive communication initiatives
  

Administrative:

• Independently manage vendor coordination for procurement of goods and services
  

• Negotiate with vendors for maximum value
  

• Manage payment cycle of vendors and stakeholders for timely release of payment
  

• Proactively coordinate and manage cross-vertical project and administrative initiatives
  

• Coordinate across verticals for project and administrative purposes
  

  
  

Requirements

Education:

• Postgraduate degree in Economics, Environmental Law/Science, Public Policy, Political Science, Law, Development Studies or any related field.
  

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of full-time, post-graduate professional experience in research and stakeholder outreach related to climate change, environmental regulations, decarbonization or allied issues.
  

Skills:

• Advanced research and strategic interpretation skills with the ability to work independently
  
• Demonstrated ability to independently analyze and translate complex policy issues into clear, actionable insights for Hon’ble MPs and stakeholders
  
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to engage with a wide range of stakeholders.
  
• Understanding of the structure and functioning of Union and State governments, particularly departments related to development, social protection, environment, energy, and emerging areas such as industrial policy and climate action
  
• Knowledge of parliamentary processes, including standing committee reports across relevant sectors (development, environment, energy, industry), legislative procedures, budget analysis, and parliamentary mechanisms for policy oversight and accountability
  

Mandatory Attributes:

• Proactive drive and strategic thinking to independently address policy related issues.
  

• Availability to cater to public representatives on legislative and policy matters.
  

• Demonstrated understanding of multisectoral policy issues including climate change, sustainability, social protection systems, livelihood development, and complementary areas such as industrial decarbonization and energy transition planning.
  

• Self-directed ability to independently produce high quality work in quick turnaround time while managing multiple priorities.
  

• Understanding and demonstrated ability to use qualitative and quantitative software for policy analysis, including statistical packages, data visualization tools, and emerging analytical tools for climate and energy policy assessment.
  

• Ability to work with large datasets and maintain internal project management tools.
  

• Fundamental understanding of project management.
  

• Advanced level political intelligence across Swaniti's focus areas, including understanding of stakeholder dynamics in social protection and livelihood policies, environmental governance, and emerging areas such as industrial policy and energy transition politics.
  

  
  

Additional Desirable Technical Competencies

• Statistical Analysis & Data Visualization - Excel, Tableau/PowerBI, R/SPSS
  

• Digital Communication Tools - Project management, webinar platforms, collaboration tools
  

• Intermediate understanding of industrial processes and decarbonization pathways in hard-to-abate sectors
  

• Familiarity with climate finance mechanisms and their application to MSMEs
  

• Knowledge of just transition frameworks and their implementation challenges
  

  
  

Please note that the role at times expects availability on weekends and holidays to cater efficiently to the stakeholders as and when required.

If you do not hear from us within 30 days, please consider your application to be unsuccessful, and your application has been retained in our database for future opportunities.