Technical Support Unit (TSU) Lead

About the Position

• Job Title: Technical Support Unit (TSU) Lead
• Number of positions: 1
• Location: Patna
• Grade: F
• Salary Range: Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Type: Project Based (Till 14-Feb-2027)
• Qualification required : The ideal candidate shall have a post-graduate degree/ diploma in management preferably business management, hotel management. Specialization in areas such as Operations Management, Entrepreneurship, or Supply Chain Management is highly desirable.
• Experience required :

1. Minimum 15 years of professional experience in managing large-scale projects related to business management, food enterprises, enterprise development.
2. Proven track record in strategic planning, business modelling, and enterprise growth strategies, especially in the food/FMCG sector.
3. Extensive experience in market linkages, supply chain management, and working with micro and small enterprises.

• Skills and Attributes:
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to develop and implement sustainable business models for food enterprises.
• Strong understanding of value chain development, particularly in the food processing sector.
• Excellent oral and written English skills
• Digital literacy including word processing, database systems, and PowerPoint. Strong command of excel and budget management is a plus.

Application closure date: 15 th February 2025

Position Description:

The Lead, TSU, would be based at the state office and is expected to play a pivotal role in leading operational strategy, implementation management of the project to ensure efficient delivery. S/he will be accountable for successful systemic support to Didi Ki Rasoi, fostering market convergence for PMFME supported enterprise operationalizing convergence strategies for impact. S/he will work closely with JEEViKA state team, relevant government departments, and institutional partners to drive systemic impact, women-led food businesses, and create market linkages.

S/he shall be responsible for building and nurturing government partnerships for enterprise promotion. S/he will be responsible for coordination with the relevant thematic verticals of the SRLM for ensuring smooth implementation of the project. S/he will support in enterprise identification development by ensuring on-ground engagement on regular basis with field team. S/he will ensure continuous information flow with all TSU members and professionals of SRLM, as per the requirement. S/he will lead in providing regular reports to different stakeholders as and when required. S/he will be responsible for organizing programs and activities in accordance with the project strategies at their respective locations. S/he is expected to be in continuous engagement with the stakeholders at the state level to make communication easy and assess risks in advance for ensuring smooth project implementation.

Key Roles and Responsibilities:

Project Planning Management

• Lead studies needs assessments to identify challenges and opportunities for rural women entrepreneurs engaged in food business.
• Develop and ensure implementation of strategies for promoting women-led food enterprises like DKR, privatized food business models, focusing on sustainability and scalability.
• Develop detailed enterprise location specific project implementation plan (PIP).
• Assist in creating market linkages, including access to local, national, and digital markets.
• Promote innovative models for value addition and branding of rural women s enterprises with focus on PMFME.
• Identify and manage specialist partners that would support Women-owned food enterprises to build the required business and technical skills.
• Conduct enterprise support training for nurturing enterprises to enable business success.
• Identify any shortcomings, address, and report to TSU lead to ensure uninterrupted project implementation.
• Ensure efficient budgeting of the project expenditures.
• Organizing and overseeing activities alignment with project strategies expected outcomes.
• Engage with legal professionals experts to support on formalization of DKR Apex body

Business Management Compliance Support

• Design strategic business plans for DKRs and private food enterprises to ensure long-term sustainability and profitability.
• Oversee and guide the team in strategic food products supply chain development for mapping DKRs and private food enterprises to PMFME enterprises for creating a long-term sustainable and profitable solution.
• Define monitoring matrix of DKRs, PMFME enterprises for managing financial performance, including budgeting, cost optimization, and revenue generation for minimum 10 DKRs to set standards of practice.
• Oversee guide team in establishment of at least 10 private food enterprises on different models across few blocks of Bihar.
• Ensure mitigation of risks associated with food enterprise operations, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and quality standards.
• Define operational frameworks and tools to enhance productivity and efficiency across food enterprise units across Bihar.
• Support the team on taking the identified PMFME enterprises to higher scale by facilitating credit-linked subsidies to eligible beneficiaries.
• Ensure systems setting for business efficiency, uniformity of business practices across state for DKR.
• Track and support legal and operational compliance for DKRs Apex Body when formed.

Stakeholder and Partnership Management

• Maintain excellent relationships and association with the state governmental officials to ensure that the technical support provided by the WEE team is valued by them and potential of WEE team is optimally utilised in supporting their work.
• Lead partnership management by conducting regular collaborative meets and extend support through required preparations for the same.
• Oversee branding, digital campaigns, and partnerships with platforms like Swiggy and Zomato.
• Work closely with the state PCI team members in addressing any requirements for the donor and other major stakeholders.

Reporting Documentation

• Finalise captured learnings, project activities and best practices for dissemination at different online offline platforms for upkeeping projects visibility.
• Lead the designing and finalising of state indicators MIS and ensure timely reporting.
• Work closely with PCI team members to produce knowledge and learning products for knowledge sharing, aiming to communicate with government, donor, partners, development agencies and civil society
• Finalise meeting notes, draft articles, speeches, briefings, presentations, reports, documents and collated information as and when required for the national and state office

Donor Management and Compliance

• Develop and submit the progress reports to and attend briefing meetings and discussions with the donor representatives
• Support in quality and timely completion of final deliverables.
• Assist the donor-facing presentation and dissemination of all final products, as required

Team Management

• Provide strategic directions to the team for project delivery.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to the team, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.

Other responsibilities

• To carry out any other relevant duties as required and assigned by Sr.Director-Strategic Partnerships WEE.

Note: This job description is intended to provide a general overview of the position and may not cover every aspect of the role. Additional responsibilities and duties may be assigned as needed to support organizational goals

• Reporting to:- : Sr. Director-Strategic Partnerships WEE

About the Project

PCI aims to support Bihar SRLM in transforming the livelihoods of Self-Help Group (SHG) women across Bihar through innovations, systems strengthening, capacity building forging partnerships within the non-farm sector. This ambitious initiative will deploy a comprehensive strategy that operates across systemic community level to ensure sustainable and scalable economic growth. The project is centred around two key initiatives: Didi Ki Rasoi and PMFME Entrepreneurs.

Didi Ki Rasoi (DKR), an initiative by JEEViKA, aims to establish community-based canteens across Bihar for providing quality and hygienic food to institutions like hospitals, schools, government offices, and individual customers. Fully owned and operated by women, DKR empowers rural communities while ensuring homely, hygienic meals.

The PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme, launched under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, is a centrally sponsored initiative aimed at enhancing the competitiveness and formalization of India s unorganized food processing sector. Under this scheme JEEViKA is promoting individual micro-enterprises, self-help groups (SHGs), farmer producer organizations (FPOs), to set up enterprises by leveraging on the benefits the scheme provides.

To ensure dedicated support to the above initiatives of JEEViKA, PCI would establish a Technical Support Unit (TSU), which will play a pivotal role in supporting the Didi Ki Rasoi initiative of JEEViKA women entrepreneurs promoted under PMFME, across Bihar. The TSU will play a central role in driving the initiative forward by providing specialized technical assistance and real-time solutions tailored to the unique challenges of the program. The TSU will actively collaborate with stakeholders at all levels, including government departments and community organizations, while placing field teams for supporting PMFME entrepreneurs for piloting new privatized business models on food enterprises (such as cloud kitchens/restaurants/Dhaba s/food trucks etc.) to facilitate systemic uniformity in operations across Bihar. Additionally, TSU will prioritize the institutionalization of business solution tools for DKR and foster partnerships to create a robust ecosystem of support for the initiative to thrive.

What can you expect in PCI

• A warm, inclusive and happy work environment.
• Performance driven reward mechanism.
• Best of class benefits with competitive remunerations.
• Health Insurance coverage for self, spouse Children.
• Group Terms Life Insurance and Group Accident Insurance for Self.
• All other statutory benefits.
• Regular Recognition of performance and PCI Value display in work
• An empowering organisation structure which values individual s skills, competencies and potential.
• Opportunities to operate in cross functional role.
• Higher responsibilities and larger roles are merit based.
• Young Talent Programs for developing future leaders.
• Leadership roles for women is encouraged and given preference in selection and training.

Recruitment Process

1. Applications will be shortlisted based on the specified criteria mentioned in the Job Description.
2. The process could also include presentation of the assignment.
3. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend one or more rounds of panel interview/s.

The complete process usually takes 2 to 3 weeks. Those moving to the final round of interviews will be hearing from the People Culture team. We prefer in person meetings but in case of location distances, we are happy to meet you virtually.

After the final round, if you are not selected for the position advertised, we will inform you over a mail. However, we invite you to apply to other open positions. We always look forward to engaging with talent that add value to our endeavours in various capacities.

PCI is committed to prevent any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct.