State Lead - Partnerships & Growth (Consultant)

Location: Tamil Nadu

Who we are

CivicDataLab (CDL) is a multidisciplinary research lab working to strengthen data and AI for public good and enable change makers. We work across domains including climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, governance, public finance, justice, public health, gender and inclusion, and Indian language ecosystems. Over the last decade, CDL has developed and contributed to a range of open data, civic-tech, and AI initiatives aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability, participation, and resilience across India and the Asia-Pacific region.

About the role

We are looking for a mission-driven State Lead - Partnerships & Growth to lead CDL’s institutional presence, partnerships, and strategic growth efforts. 

This role combines ecosystem building, government engagement, institutional partnerships, regional strategy, and public-interest program development. The selected candidate will serve as CDL’s primary representative in the state, working closely with government departments, local institutions, universities, civil society organisations, funding partners, and ecosystem actors to build trusted relationships, identify strategic opportunities, and strengthen CDL’s long-term regional presence across CDL’s initiatives, with a primary focus on advancing the organisation's climate action and coastal & ocean resilience work. 

The role requires someone who can bridge:

• government engagement and institutional partnerships
  

• regional ecosystem building and strategic growth,
  

• portfolio growth with specific focus on climate action, resilience, amongst other public-interest programming
  

• and relationship management with long-term program and collaboration development.
  

Roles & Responsibilities

Strategic Partnerships & Ecosystem Building

• Serve as CivicDataLab’s lead representative in the state.
  

• Build and manage long-term relationships with government departments, development partners, universities, research institutions, civil society organizations, philanthropies, and ecosystem stakeholders.
  

• Identify and develop strategic collaboration opportunities across multiple priority sectors like climate resilience, coastal & ocean resilience, disaster risk reduction, public finance, digital public infrastructure, open governance, and related public-interest domains.
  

• Represent CDL in consultations, conferences, workshops, policy discussions, and ecosystem forums.
  

• Contribute to strengthening state-level ecosystems around data, technology, AI, and public-interest innovation.
  

Institutional Development

• Identify and support opportunities for government engagement, grants, consortiums, institutional partnerships, and long-term collaborative initiatives.
  

• Support proposal development, stakeholder outreach, partnership strategy, and institutional engagement efforts.
  

• Track developments across governance, climate, coastal & ocean resilience, technology, disaster resilience, and public policy ecosystems relevant to CDL’s work.
  

• Contribute strategic inputs toward CDL’s long-term regional growth and engagement strategy in the state.
  

• Help identify sustainable pathways for institutional expansion and ecosystem strengthening in the state.
  

Public Systems & Stakeholder Coordination

• Work closely with government stakeholders, researchers, implementation partners, and internal teams to support collaborative initiatives.
  

• Facilitate coordination across multidisciplinary teams spanning research, partnerships, data, technology, design, and programme implementation.
  

• Translate stakeholder needs, field learnings, and ecosystem insights into actionable strategic inputs.
  

• Maintain a strong contextual understanding of governance priorities, institutional ecosystems, and emerging public-interest opportunities.
  

Organisational & Ecosystem Capacity Building

• Strengthen CDL’s institutional presence and long-term ecosystem relationships across the state.
  

• Support stakeholder mapping, partnership management, institutional documentation, and knowledge continuity practices.
  

• Contribute to collaborative and interdisciplinary ways of working across teams and partners.
  

• Support local institutions and ecosystem actors in leveraging data, digital systems, and public-interest technologies more effectively.
  

Project Management & Coordination

• Support planning, execution, and monitoring of coastal & resilience and other cross-cutting projects.
  

• Coordinate across multidisciplinary teams spanning research, data, technology, design, and implementation.
  

• Track deliverables, risks, timelines, and stakeholder commitments.
  

• Facilitate communication across partners and internal teams.
  

Required Skills & Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant professional experience in climate action, coastal & ocean resilience, public policy, sustainability, development, partnerships, programme management, or related domains.
  

• Demonstrated experience engaging with government departments, development partners, academic institutions, civil society organisations, and other ecosystem stakeholders.
  

• Experience in business development, including familiarity with government procurement, tendering, and proposal development processes.
  

• Strong partnership-building and relationship-management skills, with the ability to identify and develop strategic collaboration opportunities.
  

• Exposure to one or more domains such as climate action, coastal & ocean resilience, climate resilience, climate finance, disaster risk reduction (DRR), public policy, governance, data and AI for public good, or related sectors. Candidates should demonstrate openness to working across interdisciplinary domains and an ability to quickly build contextual understanding of emerging thematic areas.
  

• Experience managing multi-stakeholder projects and programmes, including planning, coordination, implementation, and stakeholder management.
  

• Strong interpersonal, communication, and facilitation skills, including the ability to engage effectively with senior government officials and institutional leaders.
  

• Ability to work collaboratively across multidisciplinary teams spanning research, policy, data, technology, design, and implementation.
  

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and translate emerging opportunities into actionable initiatives.
  

Educational Background