Director-Operations (Livelihood Portfolio)

Position Summary

Indus Action is looking for a Director - Operations (RTL Portfolio) to drive the national execution of Right to Livelihood (RTL) systems reforms across multiple states, in partnership with Labour Departments, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, and ecosystem stakeholders. This role will be responsible for translating policy into on-ground execution, ensuring that worker-facing systems are implemented, scaled, and institutionalised. The Director will act as the central execution anchor, ensuring alignment across State teams, Government stakeholders, Product . tech teams and Policy and partnerships. This role requires extensive national travel.

• Role and Responsibilities

• National Operations Leadership (RTL Portfolio)

• Drive execution of RTL portfolio across multiple states with clear output and outcome targets

• Build and manage a national operating rhythm

• Ensure time-bound delivery of key platforms: DLC, Cess Portal, Worker Interfaces, Interoperability pilots

• Lead state prioritisation and sequencing strategy

• Long-term goal execution:

Provide strategic direction, manage cross-functional teams, and foster collaboration across government and industry to operationalise the Right to Labour architecture at scale.

• Worker Interface (Phygital Front-End):

Lead the rollout of Worker Facilitation Centres (WFCs) and digital platforms across states, ensuring a unified worker journey and consistent UX standards across welfare, skilling, and grievance systems.

• Validation Protocols . Registration Systems:

Expand the DLC Chowk model nationwide with a QR-based registration architecture and standardised validation protocols to ensure low-exclusion, high-quality worker onboarding.

• Portable Benefits . Interoperability:

Develop inter-state portability for worker entitlements, employer-led registration channels, and destination-state activation workflows, in collaboration with MoLE, state governments, and private sector partners.

• Cess Mobilisation . Financial Integrity:

Institutionalise standard cess calculators, address leakages in mobilisation and utilisation, and align cess flows with worker coverage and benefit delivery for transparency and accountability.

• Cross-Sector Data Integration:

Drive data linkages between labour, education, CRS, MGNREGA, and NCS systems to enable life-cycle-based benefits and interoperable data governance frameworks.

• Government . Stakeholder Management: Engage with senior bureaucrats across Labour, Planning, IT, and Finance departments, act as a trusted execution partner to the government, and drive multi-stakeholder alignment.

• Program Management . Systems Building: Build execution systems, SOPs, and dashboards for national scale, institutionalise review mechanisms and feedback loops across states, and track core metrics.

• Team Leadership . Capacity Building: Lead a decentralised, multi-state operations team, build leadership capacity across teams, and strengthen internal capabilities in government engagement, programme management, and data-driven decision-making.

• Risk Management . Problem Solving: Identify delivery risks across states and design mitigation strategies, navigate ambiguity, policy shifts, and administrative bottlenecks, and ensure continuity of execution through political and administrative transitions.

Requirements

• Requirements

• Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree required

• Master's preferred (Public Policy, Management, Engineering, or related fields)

• 10–15 years of experience with at least 5-7 years of total experience in government-facing roles/ public systems, managing multi-state or national programs and leading large teams and complex projects

• Knowledge and Technical Skills

• Proven experience in large-scale program execution across multiple geographies

• Strong understanding of Public systems (labour, welfare, social protection) and Government processes and stakeholder management

• Experience in digital/public tech system implementation (GovTech preferred)

• Strong analytical skills (data interpretation, dashboards, decision-making)

• Behavioural Competencies and Values

• Citizen-Centricity – Keeps worker outcomes at the core of decisions

• Execution Intensity – Strong bias for action and delivery under timelines

• Systems Thinking – Ability to connect policy, tech, and operations

• Dealing with Ambiguity – Thrives in complex, evolving environments

• Collaboration – Works effectively across government and internal teams

Ownership Mindset – Takes end-to-end responsibility for outcomes

Benefits

Benefits

• Compensation: Competitive, benchmarked to leadership roles within Indus Action, based on experience, fit, and leadership capability

• Opportunity to lead one of India’s most ambitious labour system transformation efforts, a high ownership role with national visibility and work closely with the state and central governments