Senior Technology Consultant

This is a re-advertisement. Those who had applied to the prior vacancy announcement do not need to re-apply.

Title: Senior Technology Consultant

Location: New Delhi, India, with current and ongoing work authorization

Salary: Competitive

Position: Full-time - until end of December, 2025

Posted on: 23 July 2024

Application deadline: 3 September 2024, 6 pm IST (applications will be reviewed as they are submitted)

About PxD 

PxD is a global non-profit that harnesses the power of technology, data science, and behavioral economics to provide targeted information to farmers in low and middle-income countries. Providing the right information to the right people, in the right way and at the right time, increases incomes, protects the environment and improves well-being. We are evidence-based: we test our interventions with randomized controlled trials to prove our impact and cost-effectiveness, to simultaneously learn from and improve our service, and to demonstrate our value to funders and partners. There are few programmes in international development that are as demonstrably cost-effective as ours. 

PxD’s activities in India are implemented in partnership with Behaviour Change Advisory Services (BCAS) LLP.

Background: We are looking for a Senior Technology Consultant to support a critical project focused on supporting digital agricultural innovation in India. The person will act as a bridge between innovators of new technologies (e.g., generative AI, natural language processing), smallholder farmers, and several government, architecture, and technical stakeholders. The person will be responsible for driving increased technical convergence amongst various stakeholders and facilitating progress towards agreed upon outcomes. The role is to be a champion of the digital stack - iterative development, continuous improvement, system integration, interoperability, and data analytics - keeping with user-centered design principles while remaining cognisant of data security and privacy, integrity, ownership, accuracy, and availability. 

Key Deliverables

Stakeholder Management And Communication

1. Demystify technical jargon and act as the bridge between project implementation, technology innovators, farmers, extension workers, state/government groups.

2. Lead conversations with technical counterparts within partner organizations and facilitate progress towards the roadmap which could include but is not limited to supporting use case deployment, promoting the principles of interoperability and sustainability, making recommendations for integration, among others

3. Prepare summaries and presentations for non-technical audiences to make decisions related to technology policy, eg: when choosing a service provider or a back-end technology. Work closely with other technical experts and steering committee members.

4. Stay abreast of, and summarize existing (and new) technology solutions, projects, interventions, and activities disaggregated by partner, geography, and level of investment.

5. Share learnings, tools, challenges, and successes from implementation activities with stakeholders including solution providers, other state government partners, and the Ministry to drive increased integration.

6. Facilitate communication, follow-ups, negotiation, and sustained engagement with all ecosystem players and respond to Government needs as and when they arise.

Technology Consulting including but not limited to:

Identifying gaps in functionality and the ability of the current landscape of solutions to address users’ needs and identify key innovations or solutions that could address these gaps, and how they might integrate within the initiative.

1. Supporting plans for the creation of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) with input from the Steering Committee.

2. Conducting one-on-one consultations with solution providers and government (national and state) to inform vision, identify challenges, socialize the concept of roadmaps and DPI, and build on existing structures.

3. Assembling panels or individuals with expertise in technical areas (eg: technology, generative AI).

4. Be an advocate and positive force for data standards development and adoption.

5. Ensuring solutions focus on the User Perspective, including ease of use, barriers to adoption, information needs, ability to reach underserved groups

6. Lay out parameters for technology selection that include alignment with government goals, vulnerabilities, interoperability, complementarities or conflicts across solutions, and commitment to building digital public goods

Requirements: 

• Prior experience as a CTO, technology consultant, or technology evangelist

• Familiarity with large-scale consumer architecture or enterprise architecture

• Capable of mapping a digital transformation and bringing stakeholders on the journey

• Able to project manage multiple interrelated programs and projects

• Aware of the technological and scientific state of the art, theory vs practice, and the ability to articulate the art of the possible (in spaces such as Earth Observation, AI/ML, Mobile Digital Technologies, User Experience, Enterprise Integration, etc)

• Understanding of and promoting strong product design and development processes

• Experience with the integration of disparate tools and technologies into coherent systems

• Some exposure to the digital agriculture vertical is desirable

• Exposure to public digital infrastructure would be useful

• Understanding of regulations and laws pertaining to digital public interfaces

Responsibilities (including but not limited to):

• Engage with senior stakeholders at the government and technical experts at enterprise level and assess the feasibility and viability of proposed technology solutions and their integration into digital public infrastructure

• Provide technical expertise and guidance to government clients throughout the project lifecycle

• Assist with advising teams on the best use of project management disciplines and approaches and act as the first point of contact for any program management queries

• Prepare and deliver technical reports, presentations, and documentation to government clients and internal teams

• Stay up-to-date on the latest industry trends, best practices, and government regulations to ensure the solutions are compliant and effective.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (developers, engineers, project managers)

Qualifications:

• Strongly relevant Scientific, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematical (STEM) qualifications

How to apply:

To apply, please visit the PxD website and use the online application form to submit a CV, cover letter, and brief responses to the screening questions. The job position may be reviewed on a rolling basis until the application deadline of 3 September 2024, 6 pm IST.

PxD is committed to building an inclusive and diverse organization. We don’t make decisions based on gender, gender identity, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other personal characteristics that are unrelated to the role. We understand that everyone has different lifestyles and we accommodate flexible working to make sure you are as productive and happy as you can be.

We will use any personal data you provide for recruitment purposes only.