1. POSITION VACANT: Director – India Observatory (Data & Technology for Natural Resource Governance), Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), Anand, Gujarat

2. ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND:

The Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) is committed to strengthening, reviving, and/or restoring the process of ecological succession and the conservation of land, forest and water resources, in ecologically fragile, degraded and marginalised regions in India, through the collective efforts of village communities.

Spread across diverse ecological and social geographies, FES also works towards the conservation of nature and natural resources through the collective action of local communities. The crux of FES efforts lies in locating forests and other natural resources within the prevailing economic, social and ecological dynamics in rural landscapes.

FES presently works with 36,400+ village institutions in 100 districts across 12 states and assists village communities in protecting 11.38 million acres of common lands, including revenue wastelands, degraded forest lands and Panchayat grazing lands, positively impacting 22 million rural people across India.

For more information about FES, please visit: https://fes.org.in/

About The India Observatory Programme

The India Observatory (IO) is an FES initiative to democratize information access, supplement people’s decision-making in village institutions and aid better community stewardship of natural resources. It enables and amplifies FES’s work on restoration of commons, improved land use practices and socio-economic outcomes, and good governance at the local level. Technologically, the IO is a composite of a Data Platform and a set of web and mobile-based tools to guide decision-making at the local, regional and national levels. Programmatically, it is an Observatory on common lands, Forest/ Protected Areas, Dryland Agriculture and on the socio-economic and ecological trends of every village.

The IO programme's core team, which helps in planning and strategy, is interdisciplinary with thematic expertise in socio-ecological dimensions, development planning, geospatial and technology policy, with a firm grounding in rural contexts, and a strong understanding of technological issues and data analytics. The team consists of domain experts in Database Administration and Eco-informatics with specialization in biodiversity informatics, geology and GIS, query systems, database management, web development and automated data processing using open-source tools. The content and documentation teams have expertise in landscape modelling, taxonomy, map visualization and crowd sourcing.

3. JOB DESCRIPTION/ RESPONSIBILITIES:

FES is looking to appoint a strategic and visionary Director to lead the IO Programme. Reporting to the Executive Director (ED), FES, the Director – India Observatory (Data & Technology for Natural Resource Governance) will be responsible to strengthen the programme vision and scope, and translate latest technological, rural development and governance paradigms into devising and operationalizing strategy. Centering FES’ core principles, the DIO will spearhead socio-technical planning and process changes required to scale visibility, reporting to the everyday usability and adoption among village communities, other NGO cadres and block-level government functionaries. S/he will work with other teams at FES to drive strategic partnerships, build networks of communities, other NGOs, government institutions and officials, researchers, experts and donors to leverage their engagement with and through the Observatory.

Primary Duties And Responsibilities (Essential Functions):
(1) Visualize and frame the strategic plan for the IO programme centred around its core objectives in consultation with the ED; Conduct and review analyses to learn about opportunities and constraints, and translate this information into a comprehensive strategy that places village communities and other end-users at the center of any technological intervention;
(2) Understand the user market for the IO programme and develop a plan for reaching different groups of potential users. Create a space for the IO programme at the pan-India level with wider acceptance among various stakeholders. Understand the potential of the IO programme and the wide range of existing and prospective user groups, to devise plans to increase reach and relevance among these different groups. Carve out a niche for the IO programme at the pan-India level, embedding it firmly for use in development practice, with wider acceptance among various stakeholders;
(3) In consultation with the ED, play a lead role in laying out the road map and establishing IO as a separate entity; Amplifying and scaling FES’s and its partners’ core work;
(4) Keep abreast of the contemporary advancement in research and development scenarios in different sectors like environment conservation, social development, dry land agriculture, protected area and reserved forest, biodiversity, poverty alleviation, rural livelihoods, planning with Panchayati Raj Institutions and disciplines such as digital technology, Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System etc., so as to seize opportunities and position the IO programme suitably;
(5) Develop a big picture understanding of the practical action steps and workflow process changes necessary to translate the objective of IO into reality. Create a series of quantifiable, actionable goals and communicate these goals to the team. Analyze the IO programme portfolio and leverage team strengths to ensure that work aligns to strategic decisions. Devise hiring and/or other strategies to bring suitable talent into the team, as required;
(6) Evaluate and adapt the articulated direction, as the IO programme and its environment evolves. Enable the organization to prioritize its work by evaluating project flow and conducting review meetings and keeping the IO programme on track;
(7) Any other work that may be assigned by the ED from time to time.

4. QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES:

Qualification

(1) Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in Science/ Development/ Technology/ Management/ Technology or relevant fields with good understanding of rural systems and business functions. A sound understanding on ecological dimensions would be an added advantage.

Experience

(1) 18–20 years of overall experience, including significant exposure to leading socio-technical programmes, digital/ data platforms, or technology-enabled development initiatives, at scale. Exceptional candidates with strong and directly relevant but lesser experience may be considered;
(2) Candidates from the corporate sector with relevant experience in digital platforms, data systems, or enterprise technology solutions who demonstrate a strong commitment to transitioning to the development sector are also encouraged to apply.

(3) Demonstrated experience in strategic planning, outreach to different actors (village communities, NGOs, government functionaries in rural areas) business analytics and programme/ project management in a multi-location, multi-project scenario;
(4) Experience with nature-based technological solutions targeted at a diverse user base, including stakeholders at the village level on open-source technologies;
(5) Good understanding of GIS and Remote Sensing technologies, open-source technologies, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning and their applications in the social sector;
(6) Experience in planning programs/ projects from start to completion involving deadlines, milestones and processes;
(7) Experience in designing, developing and managing Enterprise IT solutions (Web-GIS and mobile) and software products in captive and outsourced environments; Ability to manage SDLC and implementation of industry best practices like CMMI, Agile Methodologies, DevOps, etc. and familiarity with vendor management and management of software development in distributed environments are desirable and will be added advantages;
(8) Team player, with experience in managing multi-skill teams, diverse subject matter experts, diverse user groups and internal stakeholders; Performance management, evaluation and monitoring and determination of need for improvements.

Critical Skills and Expertise

(1) Proven leadership skills with demonstrated ability to articulate the vision and translate that into effective strategic initiatives and operational plans;

(2) Strong strategic acumen supported by sound judgment with well-developed conceptual, analytical and problem-solving skills;

(3) Entrepreneurial skills to identify and seize opportunities for new products, services, and markets;

(4) Technical skills with an understanding of relevant technologies, and associated development, deployment and upgrade processes;

(5) Mobilizing skills to proactively build and align stakeholders, capabilities, and resources for getting things done quickly and achieving complex objectives. An innate interest in building collaborations with different organizations and individuals with an aim of promoting sharing of data, analytics and tools for improving the rigour, visibility and use of IO;

(6) Ability to create an environment that embraces change; Ability to focus on continuous improvement and always challenge the status quo, to identify ideas for change and become the force that drives the change home.

5. COMPENSATION OFFERED:
(1) The gross salary and benefits package budgeted for the position ranges from Rs.24 to Rs.30 lacs per annum plus performance based incentives. The offer made to the selected candidate shall be commensurate with qualifications, experience and salary history;
(2) FES provides renewable contractual employment and compensation levels and other monetary/ non-monetary benefits at FES are considered good within the development sector.

6. LOCATION: Preferably Anand, Gujarat. Candidates based in nearby locations with reasonable proximity to Anand may also be considered.

7. REFERENCE: DIO-FES

8. CONTACT INFORMATION:

Team SAMS
Strategic Alliance Management Services P Ltd.
1/1B, Choudhary Hetram House, Bharat Nagar 
New Friends Colony, New Delhi 110 025
Phone Nos.: 011-4081 9900; 4165 3612

9. APPLICATION PROCESS:

Eligible candidates interested in the position are requested to apply by or before April 05, 2026.

FES is an equal opportunity organization and women candidates are encouraged to apply.