MSSRF is building a multi-year platform on women’s leadership, innovation and gender-just rural transformation under its women in agri-food and rural systems initiative. The work is focused on advancing the national Women in Agriculture and Rural Systems Awards, supporting strategic field-linked initiatives, and shaping an emerging observatory-style platform on women-centred design, knowledge, partnerships and future pathways. The initiative spans research, coordination, communications, convening and implementation support across national and state-level work, and involves working across multiple stakeholders and workstreams in a dynamic, collaborative environment.
The Programme Coordinator will support the Women in Agriculture Program at MSSRF in coordinating, implementing and operationalising multiple workstreams under the women in agriculture and rural systems mandate. These may include women’s economic empowerment, women-centred design, policy and programme frameworks, knowledge products, strategic convenings, field-based initiatives, institutional partnerships and the Women in Agriculture and Rural Systems Observatory.
The role will provide coordination, implementation and operational support to the WiA Chair by managing timelines, follow-up systems, partner coordination, documentation, logistics and internal processes. The Programme Coordinator will also be part of the Secretariat for MSSRF’s national awards platform for women in agriculture and rural systems, a high-prestige national initiative involving awardees, jury members, partners, senior dignitaries and public-facing institutional coordination.
The position will report to the JSW Chair for Women in Agriculture & Rural Systems.
Key responsibilities include:
- Provide day-to-day coordination and operational support across assigned workstreams under the women in agriculture and rural systems mandate.
- Maintain workplans, calendars, trackers, meeting notes, decision logs, follow-up lists, databases and shared documentation systems.
- Coordinate with MSSRF programme teams, regional teams, field teams and grassroots/community-facing partners to support implementation across Maharashtra, Odisha and other states as required.
- Support field-linked activities related to women’s economic empowerment, women-led enterprises, rural livelihoods, value chains, women-centred design and gender-responsive programme approaches.
- Coordinate meetings, consultations, workshops, field visits, partner discussions and strategic convenings, including agendas, background notes, minutes and follow-up actions.
- Assist in preparing donor-facing and management-facing documents, including concept notes, briefs, presentations, progress updates, meeting notes and reports.
- Support the Women in Agriculture and Rural Systems Observatory, knowledge products and publications by coordinating meetings, contributors, partner inputs, draft timelines, documentation and dissemination requirements.
- Support the national awards secretariat, including nomination outreach, application tracking, jury coordination, awardee communication, documentation, logistics, event preparation and partner follow-up.
- Coordinate with internal MSSRF teams, including administration, finance, HR, procurement, communications, MEL, gender and programme teams, and liaise with external partners including JSW Foundation, CSOs, NGOs, academic institutions, government departments, consultants and vendors.
- Support travel, accommodation, event logistics, vendor coordination, procurement documentation, invoice follow-up and other operational requirements in consultation with relevant MSSRF teams.
- Help ensure that assigned activities are implemented with attention to timelines, quality, inclusion, ethics, confidentiality and institutional protocols, and undertake any other relevant responsibilities assigned by the JSW Chair.
Skill & Competencies
- Strong programme implementation, coordination and follow-up skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, timelines and stakeholders simultaneously.
- Field orientation and comfort working with grassroots communities, women’s collectives, field teams, rural institutions and partner organisations.
- Understanding of gender, women’s economic empowerment, rural livelihoods, agriculture/allied livelihoods, SHGs, FPOs, enterprise development or value chains.
- Ability to coordinate effectively with both community-facing teams and senior institutional leadership.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare clear notes, briefs, presentations, reports and donor/management-facing documents.
- Strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and ability to maintain trackers, databases, shared folders and documentation systems.
- Self-driven, proactive and solution-oriented, with an entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to build systems from scratch.
- Good people skills and maturity to coordinate with partners, awardees, jury members, senior dignitaries, vendors and internal teams.
- Event-facing or convening experience will be an advantage.
- Comfort with MS Office, Excel/Sheets, Google Workspace and collaborative digital platforms.
- High standards of ethics, integrity, confidentiality and professionalism.
- Willingness to travel to field and event locations as required.
Qualification
- Master’s degree or Ph.D with 5+ significant experience in a relevant field such as Rural Development, Social Work, Fisheries, or Development Studies.
Experience
- At least 6–8 years of relevant experience in programme coordination, implementation, rural livelihoods, women’s economic empowerment, enterprise development, agriculture and allied livelihoods, value chains, SHGs/FPOs, community mobilisation, stakeholder engagement, documentation or donor-supported development programmes.
- Candidates with strong implementation experience, field orientation, and the ability to work across grassroots communities, field teams, senior management, donors and external partners will be preferred. Experience in women’s livelihoods, women’s entrepreneurship, value chains, self-help groups, farmer producer organisations, social enterprises, gender-responsive programming or rural development will be an advantage.
- Candidates with entrepreneurial experience, start-up/social enterprise experience, or demonstrated ability to build and manage programmes from scratch are also encouraged to apply.
Job Code: PC-WIA-07-2026
Period: Aug-Mar 2027 and extendable beyond based on performance and program funding
