Senior Higher Education Professional

We are seeking a highly experienced and skilled professional to lead our higher education initiatives. As an Assistant Director, you will be responsible for driving thought leadership and policy advocacy in the field of higher education.

You will work closely with the Higher Education Committee leadership and members to identify key areas for strategic partnerships and collaborations. This includes developing reports, articles, and other materials to inform and influence policy decisions.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in higher education, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to build and maintain relationships with stakeholders across various sectors.

In addition to your technical expertise, you should possess a high level of professionalism, integrity, and a customer-centric approach. You will be expected to work effectively in a fast-paced environment, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines.

• Thought Leadership/Policy Advocacy work in Higher Education:
  • Work with the Higher Education Committee leadership and members to identify key areas for thought leadership papers, reports, articles, etc.
  • Interface regularly with regulatory bodies, Ministry of Education, and other related ministries/state governments to develop FICCI report/inputs on government notifications, policy documents, etc.
  • Develop strategic partnerships with University leaders, multilateral/bilateral organizations, and other important stakeholders in higher education.
• FICCI Higher Education Committee & Taskforces (TF):
  • Conduct periodic committee meetings under the guidance of Committee leadership, developing agendas, preparing minutes, etc.
  • Identify and create small groups of experts/Task Forces to address specific sectoral issues.
  • Work with the identified Task Forces (TFs) in developing papers and executing bespoke projects, including report writing, project implementation, surveys, research, events/webinars/masterclasses, program development, and implementation.
  • Mobilize new members and manage membership engagement/activities.
• Higher Education Summit (HES):
  • Organize and manage the annual global FICCI Higher Education Summit.
  • Work with the Committee leadership to design the conference program and identify national and international partners.
  • Manage masterclasses/workshops and focused closed-door interactions between industry and academic leaders.
  • Generate revenue for the department through sponsorship, delegate participation, etc.
  • Manage social media branding and its effective execution.
  • Coordinate with speakers and delegate mobilization; develop post-show reports.
• Projects:
  • Identify and execute projects in the space of industry-academia engagement, reconnecting with FICCI's NKFH (National Knowledge Functional Hub) partners, and initiating activities based on the NKFH framework.
  • Organize capacity building programs for faculty and Higher Education Leadership.
  • Engage with World Bank and other global agencies to explore joint projects.
  • Identify and explore projects of mutual interest with Central government agencies/state governments.
• Webinars/Workshops/Masterclasses/Delegations:
  • Ideate and execute masterclasses, workshops, webinars on important/relevant topics.
  • Engage Committee leadership and senior government functionaries in some of the identified/select ones.
  • Develop partnerships with external partners and generate revenue for the organization.
• Reports/Recommendations:
  • Monitor recent government announcements (policies, regulations, amendments) and develop FICCI inputs/recommendations for consideration.
  • Work with the Knowledge Partner to provide information through secondary research (wherever required) for the annual FICCI Knowledge report released during the FICCI HE Summit every year.
  • Work closely with Key committee members/task forces to put together position papers/reports on identified areas.
• FICCI Eduwrap:
  • Publish a bi-monthly sectoral newsletter with outreach to all stakeholders (faculty, industry, students, MSMEs, etc) as an outreach initiative.
  • Collate relevant news items/articles for every edition.
  • Strive to generate revenue by identifying and mobilizing potential partners who may take up advertisements for publication in the eduwrap.