Senior Program Associate - Climate Program

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Senior Program Associate – Climate Program

Who we are and what we do?

WRI India, an independent charity legally registered as the India Resources Trust, provides objective information and practical proposals to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable development. WRI India’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. Through research, analysis, and recommendations, WRI India puts ideas into action to build transformative solutions to protect the earth, promote livelihoods, and enhance human well-being.

We are inspired by and associated with World Resources Institute (WRI), a global research organization. Currently, over 250 researchers are working with WRI India in our offices at Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.


Program Overview for Climate

At WRI India’s Climate Program, we focus on integrated solutions that can enable a low-carbon transition in India, while ensuring that the transition is equitable and just for its people and protects natural resources. Through applied research, the use of frameworks and tools, partnerships with key stakeholders and ground-level implementation, we seek to achieve impact at scale.

About your role:

India has submitted its first long-term low-emissions development strategy towards charting a low-carbon development pathway. This is a critical juncture for socio-economic planning that meets development goals, climate mitigation targets as well as strengthens climate resilience in the country. In this context, WRI India’s research and capacity building activities are aimed at generating knowledge and building capacity to inform and strengthen India’s low-carbon, climate resilient planning.

WRI India is looking for Senior Project Associates/ Project Associates for its Climate Program. The selected candidates will contribute to research, modelling, and capacity building activities related to India’s low-carbon development pathways. The positions offer a good opportunity to contribute to shaping the analysis of alternative low-carbon development pathways based on research and energy-economy modelling.

The selected candidates will work with the research team in developing sectoral roadmaps for different sectors (such as power, industry); thematic studies related to just transition/ climate resilience as well as developing/ analysing model scenarios on low-carbon development pathways. The candidates are also expected to contribute to the organisation of multistakeholder dialogues and workshops with diverse stakeholders including the government, industry, academia, civil society organisations, and think tanks. The dialogues and workshops will serve at platforms to identify and prioritise research questions, exchange knowledge and disseminate research findings.

The candidates should have a broad understanding of energy and climate landscape in the country and prior research and writing experience (either energy-economy modelling or quantitative research/ qualitative research on environment/ energy/ climate policy issues).

How you day will unfold:

The senior project associate/ project associate will be responsible for the following tasks.


  • Contribute to research including energy-economy modelling, development of sectoral roadmaps, policy analysis, and thematic studies on topics such as just energy transition, climate resilience, and low-carbon technology impacts.
  • Understand and interpret findings from energy-economy modelling in India in the context of low-carbon development pathways.
  • Contribute to the development and co-creation of alternate climate policy scenarios for India in consultation with relevant stakeholders.
  • Support data collection and analysis for energy-economy modelling initiatives within the team.
  • Coordinate events for engagement with internal and external stakeholders through roundtables, seminars, workshops, policy dialogues, training, and other communication and outreach activities.
  • Contribute to the production of event summary reports and proceedings.
  • Support the development of tools to track and strengthen climate action planning.
  • Publish research publications, thematic studies, low-carbon roadmaps, policy briefs, and blogs on topics related to long-term climate strategies, decarbonization, low-carbon sectoral roadmaps, sectoral transition strategies, and just transitions.
  • Stay updated on the policy landscape, sectoral developments, and industry trends in relation to climate policy and just transitions.

Requirements and skills that we seek:

  • Post graduate degree in environmental/ climate science, economics, public policy, engineering, statistics, urban/ environmental planning, development, or related subject.
  • Minimum 2-7 years of full-time work experience in research roles related to one or more of these topics: energy-economy modelling, environment-development issues, energy sector, climate policy, emissions inventory, or related topics.
  • Proficiency in quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
  • Proficiency in the use MS Office: Excel, Word & Powerpoint.
  • Comfort with quantitative data analysis using tools like R, SPSS, etc.
  • Prior writing experience as demonstrated through published papers/journal articles related to quantitative analysis on climate change mitigation.
  • Familiarity with public data sources related to energy, income and employment.
  • Good oral communication skills.
  • Good understanding of climate/ energy policy issues and ecosystem in India.
  • Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as part of teams.
  • Willingness to travel to project locations and support the organisation of workshops and stakeholder consultations.
  • Knowledge of systems thinking and systems mapping.
  • Prior experience in using Vensim/ STELLA or R or Python.
  • Experience in the use of QGIS/ ArcGIS for spatial analyses.
  • Experience in conducting stakeholder consultations.
  • Proactive and enthusiastic team player with a strong interest in climate/ energy policy issues in India.

Salary and Benefits: 11,00,000 to 13,00,000 CTC PA

Salary shall be commensurate with experience and skills. WRI offers a generous and comprehensive benefits package.

Duration: 1 year (Extendable based on performance and project requirements)

Location: New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, India

List of Documents to be attached:

  • Cover Letter
  • Resume

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interview purpose.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) @WRI India

WRI India values and promotes diversity, equity and inclusion across all areas of our work and workforce. Integrating these values into our actions fosters a progressive and collaborative culture and can also enhance our impact. It is our responsibility to create a welcoming working environment for people of diverse cultures, backgrounds and experience to learn together. We are responsible for fostering a safe and inclusive workplace where questions, concerns and information about diversity, equity and inclusion are part of our ongoing dialogue and development.

Learn more about WRI India’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Click Here

People-centric to the core:

We keep our people at the centre of everything we do - from a welcoming work environment to benefits and a culture that encourages staff to stay healthy, happy, engaged, and growing.

Some of the non-monetary benefits that our staff get:

Health benefits: We cover health insurance for you and your loved ones for up to INR 8 lakhs

Term Insurance: Our term insurance policy covers life coverage of 50 lakhs per staffmember

Employee Assistance program: Promoting mental well-being and supporting staff in achieving a satisfying work-life balance

Health & Nutrition: Personalized diet recommendation from a certified dietitian based on the physical health condition and lifestyle

Flexible work schedule: Alternative work arrangements for all who are eligible by nature of their job

Learning culture: Workshops and trainings to empower staff, encourage new learning opportunities

Rest and Recharge weeks: We encourage staff to take time off to rest, rejuvenate, upskill, and pursue their interests.

Our leave policy: Avail personal time off at 36 per year, along with public holidays, maternity, paternity, and adoption leaves.

Click here to know more about our benefits Careers | WRI INDIA (wri-india.org)

Equal employment @WRI India

We believe in equal employment, it is our policy to recruit, and provide opportunities for advancement in all job classifications without regard to caste, religion, sex, age, marital status, sexual preference, parental status, or disability.