Centre for Rural Development (CRD)

Manager, Product Management, Asha Kiran

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Work Type: Full Time

About our Organization


The/Nudge is an action institute working towards a poverty-free India, within our lifetime. We partner with governments, markets, and civil society to build resilient livelihoods for all. We are a collective of some of India’s best leaders and entrepreneurs from across the industry, academia, government, and development sectors.


Who are we solving for in the Asha Kiran program?

  • women farmers who are landless, marginal, and small landholders

  • they have an average family size of 5-6 members

  • they are dependent on unpredictable wage labor

  • the male members of the families migrate in distress for work

  • they need diversified & sustainable income:

    • to withstand life shocks

    • improve their food & income security

    • improve assets & savings

    • get access to safety nets and financial instruments


What are we solving for in the Asha Kiran program?

The Asha Kiran program aims to catalyze impact at scale by partnering with the private sector and government, to implement livelihood interventions for women in poor households.

This involves building a deeper understanding of the value chain to create incentives for markets to participate and leverage government resources to solve for: 

  • infrastructure (land and assets, Information & Technology) 

  • Standardisation of rearing practices 

  • forward & backward linkages for farmers

  • Collectivisation through community institutions (SHGs)

  • The BYP program currently has 3 modules 

    • Acquisition - Responsible for enrolling/mobilising didis into the program

    • Adoption - Responsible for end-to-end operations which includes training didis, planning & managing field staff. 

    • Market Linkage - Responsible for ensuring the farmer’s produce gets the best price realisation in the shortest time possible. 


What are some of the principles/approaches we use?

  • First principles thinking

  • Human-centred design (thoughtful, action-oriented, experimental & iterative process) with a gender lens (unbiased and reflective approach) 

  • Systems thinking (analytical, stakeholder-oriented and holistic)

  • Strategic planning (result-oriented, logical & coherent with clearly defined outcomes, grounded on the current realities)

  • Being Detail Oriented, Data-centric & Action biased is critical for success in this role.


What will you do?

  • Take ownership of the entire product development process for a module, encompassing the identification and definition of problem statements, the design and development of scalable solutions, and the piloting of these solutions prior to their deployment in the operational environment.

  • Develop the operational framework for the program, delineate roles and responsibilities for each stakeholder in the ops team, establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for the program, and collaboratively manage budgets and annual goals for the program alongside the operations team.

  • Actively engage in gathering user insights both from field observations and data analysis to enhance the user experience consistently.

  • Implement a strategic plan to streamline on-ground operations.

  • Collaborate and align with key program partners and stakeholders to deliver on new launches.


What will help you succeed in this role?

  • Past work experience in developing/ designing Operations (with large field teams) or hands-on work experience in handling large ops teams.

  • Working in a 0-1 environment while building the first leg of growth would be a great plus. 

  • Embracing ambiguity while ensuring clear direction for short-term and medium-term growth strategies.

  • A strong ability to influence stakeholders and get things done

  • A bias for action and collaboration


Who are we looking for in this role?

  • At least 3 years of exclusive work experience in Product development or Strategy roles or Operations Lead role.

  • Overall work experience of 7 - 10 years.

  • The role shall be based out of Lucknow. 

  • Demonstrated ability to learn continuously and collaborate. 

  • Ambiguity and stakeholder

  • Written and spoken fluency in Hindi and English

  • Willingness to stay and travel in deep rural areas

We aspire to be an inclusive and diverse organisation and encourage qualified individuals to apply irrespective of their religion, caste, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, or any other dimension of identity.



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