Senior Manager, Program Management, the^delta Prize

About the Team the^delta Prize (https://thedelta.org.in/prize/) is a platform to draw talent, capital, and public attention towards the most pressing developmental problems in India. the^delta Prize aims to guide markets where they are needed the most, inducing population-scale solutions and innovations that have disproportionate impact on stagnant livelihood opportunities and ecosystems for underserved segments. We research, design and conduct tech-based scale-up competitions to discover and innovate disruptive solutions, and pull in capital to solve the most complex problems in India, faster.
This role sits within Nanoenterprise Futures, the^delta Prize's vertical dedicated to India's MSME sector, and leads one of four Grand Challenges within the vertical's flagship initiative: four incentive-driven challenges concentrating catalytic capital against persistent MSME bottlenecks — Ease of Business, Building Discoverability for MSMEs, Strengthening MSME Product Quality, and Unlocking Capital & Credit.
Who are we solving for? India's MSMEs — from nano and subsistence enterprises seeking stability and formal visibility, to small and medium firms ready for productivity, quality and growth. The Grand Challenges are designed to reward validated, deployment-ready solutions to the structural barriers that keep this sector from scaling.
What are we solving for? Markets are well-documented instruments for solving large, wicked problems at scale — but their ability to serve underserved populations is limited by the high cost of acquiring customers from fragmented, low-awareness markets, and the longer gestation period before impact and returns become visible for solutions built for the underserved. Incentive competitions are an effective model for deploying philanthropic capital to align economic and prosocial incentives, acting as a powerful orchestrating instrument. the^delta is pioneering this model with a tech-first lens across India's MSME sector, inducing markets to develop and scale solutions in a competitive environment, demonstrate real evidence of impact and growth, and grow within an aligned, mission-mode ecosystem.
At the^delta you will:
- Own the launch and execution of Grand Challenges from problem statement identification, outreach, selections, interventions, MEL to prize completion
- Support with primary and secondary research on India's MSME sector to sharpen problem statements and ground challenge design in real evidence, not assumption
- Set up governance on seamless processes — design, eligibility, evaluation criteria, jury, milestone frameworks — for smooth execution of your challenge
- Identify and onboard partners relevant to the challenge, and maintain those relationships through continuous engagement - as part of ecosystems relevant to the domain
- Interface with the rest of the program team, and functions including marketing, analytics, technology and donor relations on areas critical to challenge success
- Keep a keen eye on Monitoring & Evaluation across the challenge, ensuring progress against identified objectives and goals
- Maintain your data structure for the Challenges track, and support Product in designing a sustainable way to share data, information and insights across stakeholders
- Design interventions and refine them as execution proceeds, in collaboration with other Challenge Leads and the Vertical Head
- Identify collaboration and media engagement avenues to aid amplification and network effects for challenge outcomes
(The actual role might evolve slightly based on your relevant experience and the overlap between organisational requirements and your interests.)
Core Abilities & Transferable Skills:
- Ability to conceptualise and structure ambiguous problems into frameworks
- Ability to translate ambiguity into action
- Ability to think in first principles and understand second- and third-order change or impact
- Exceptional stakeholder and relationship management skills
- Bias for action, paired with humility
- Comfort managing flux and change across challenge timelines
Apply if you have:
- Graduate or postgraduate degree
- Thematic knowledge of India's MSME sector — its structure, players, and the barriers facing nano, micro, small and medium enterprises
- 7–9 years of work experience in high-performing set-ups and intrapreneurial roles
- Strong analytical skills and proficiency in AI powered tools
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Willingness to work in a fast-paced, start-up environment
- Comfort with some degree of ambiguity in the absence of perfect information
- Comfort working with external and internal stakeholder groups
Would be great if you have:
- Work experience in a tech start-up
- A consultancy background
- Prior experience designing programmes in the social or impact sector
- Interest in developmental economics and behavioural fundamentals
- Ability to bring a tech-first lens to programme design
We aspire to be an inclusive and diverse organisation and encourage qualified individuals, irrespective of their religion, caste, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, or any other dimension of identity, to apply.