Technical Consultant - Aparajita

Job Description

Technical Consultant-Aparajita

Duration: June 2025 - May 2027

Location: New Delhi

About the Role

J-PAL South Asia seeks to hire a Technical Consultant to support our collaboration with NGO Aparajita, Aparajita, a non-profit initiative dedicated to preventing sexual harassment through education, advocacy and systemic change; founded by Pramod Bhasin (Founder-Genpact and Chairperson-ICRIER). Aparajita will be focusing on multi-pronged strategies to tackle the pervasive problem of sexual harassment and violence against women in India and will support organizations working in this field. J-PAL SA is working with Aparajita to -  

  1. Conduct a 3-city survey on sexual harassment,
  2. Engage with ecosystem partners to deepen our understanding of current work and gaps in our approaches to solving the problem, and
  3. Launching randomized impact evaluations with selected partners to find effective solutions to tackle sexual violence and harassment.

The technical consultant will play a pivotal role in working alongside the J-PAL South Asia gender policy team and the Aparajita team and leadership, to support this joint collaboration.

Roles and Responsibilities

  1. Program Management: The technical consultant will oversee the timely and high-quality completion of all activities associated with the collaboration between J-PAL SA and Aparajita. A key area of focus for the consultant will be overall project management for the J-PAL SA – Aparajita collaboration. Roles and responsibilities include:
  • Ensure regular communication to the Aparajita leadership  on J-PAL’s ongoing work across the key workstreams (described below). Developing pitch decks, update materials and reports to share with the Aparajita team to report on progress on the various workstreams outlined below.
  • Developing a communications strategy for J-PAL and Aprajita’s joint work, particularly to bring attention and focus on this issue, and to engage with experts in this field via roundtable convenings, newsletters, organizing events, and developing other knowledge products and outputs. 
  • Support the development of the communications collaterals for this joint initiative, including website content and wireframes.
  • Grant and Financial Management: Track project finances, spending, and modifications as needed.

  1. In addition to the above project management activities the consultant will also oversee the following key workstreams which are a part of J-PAL’s collaboration with Aparajita:
  1. Identifying Promising Innovations: 
  • Manage the ongoing “Open Funding Call” underway as part of J-PAL SA’s collaboration with Aparajita. The consultant will also set up a reporting system and cadence for organisations for the receiving funding.
  • The technical consultant will also work with J-PAL’s policy team to conduct coaching calls with potential awardees and work on the “Evaluation Incubator” where J-PAL will support funded organizations in develop randomized evaluation ideas.
  • The consultant will be responsible for end-to-end management of the funding call, including setting up a review board, coordinating the review processes and communication to applicants and review board members.
  • The consultant will also set up a reporting system and cadence for organisations for the receiving funding.
  • Some of the awarded organizations will be matched with J-PAL affiliated researchers to conduct rigorous evaluations of their program. The consultant will also oversee reporting from these evaluations back to Aparajita.
  1. Landscaping the Problem
  • Organise roundtables and other events to engage with experts across the domain of law, research, programming and advocacy to help build a coalition that is working to tackle the issue. The consultant will be responsible for overseeing all events and convenings organized as part of  J-PAL SA and Aparajita’s joint work.
  • Develop collaterals and reviews using secondary literature and desk research that can feed into programs and plans for Aparajita and this joint initiative.
  1. Measuring Prevalence
  • J-PAL SA is currently completing a 3-city survey on the prevalence of sexual harassment and violence across 3 cities, led by researchers Seema Jayachandran, Lori Beaman and Anisha Sharma. The consultant will also help organize an event where the final results from the survey will be shared along with announcements regarding the awardees of the open funding call.
  • The consultant will also organize meetings and sessions with Aparajita to share results and updates from the surveys.
  1. Fundraising:  A key goal of the technical consultant will be to develop materials and fundraising collaterals which can be utilized to bring on board additional donors to this mission. The consultant will develop a fundraising plan, identify potential donors, and develop designed collaterals and materials that can support J-PAL SA in raising further funding to continue this work. 



Desired Qualifications

  • Education: Master's degree (preferably in international development, public policy or gender studies). 
  • Experience: This position requires 8-10 years of professional experience, with demonstrated capacities in managing external stakeholders and knowledge and understanding of issues related to gender-based violence and sexual harassment in India.



Skills and Competencies

  • Communication: Attention to detail and excellent writing and presentation skills for communicating updates, research results and strategic plans in a clear manner. This requires clear, precise, non-technical writing, and creativity in presentation.
  • Strategic Thinking and Problem Solving: Ability to think on your feet, take ownership of outcomes, and develop solutions to complex problems.  
  • Proven ability to handle several different projects/tasks at one time, successfully complete tasks assigned, and meet deadlines; 
  • High Adaptability: You can thrive in challenging environments where you have to build projects from scratch, and are able to pivot based on new information.
  • High level of attention to detail; 
  • Grant and financial management experience;
  • Strong interest and prior experience in Gender and issues of gender-based violence. 
  • Language: Fluency in English (written and oral). 
  • Understanding Randomized Evaluations: Demonstrate a keen understanding of the value of randomized evaluations and their usefulness for policy decisions