Manager - Challenges (Hackathons & Open Innovation)

JOB DESCRIPTION

Manager, Challenges (Hackathons & Open Innovation)

Location:
RTIH Hub – Amaravati (Onsite; extensive state travel required)

Reports to:
Head - Incubation

Entity:
Ratan Tata Innovation Hub (RTIH)

1. Role Summary

The Manager – Challenges will lead the design, execution, and scaling of all
hackathons, open innovation challenges, GovTech challenges, sectoral problem statements, and statewide competitions
conducted by RTIH.

This role will serve as RTIH's central engine for
innovation challenge design
, coordinating with multiple government departments, industry partners, academia, startups, and grassroots innovators to source high-quality problem statements and run structured, high-impact challenges.

The Manager will be responsible for creating annual challenge calendars, ensuring strong participation from students, startups, innovators, district-level talent, and building pathways for winners into prototyping, incubation, or pilot deployment.

Key Responsibilities

A. Statewide Hackathons & Innovation Challenges (Primary Mandate)

• Design and implement RTIH's
  annual calendar of hackathons and open innovation challenges
  .
• Run sector-focused challenges in:
• Agriculture
• Health
• Education
• Climate & sustainability
• MSME
• Rural development
• Transport & logistics
• Skilling & digital governance (GovTech)
• Any emerging technology areas
• Develop challenge formats hour hackathons, multi-week open challenges, thematic sprints).

B. Government Department & Partner Coordination

• Work with
  line departments
  (ITE&C, Health, Agriculture, Transport, Energy, Panchayat Raj, etc.) to source real-world problem statements.
• Develop partnership structures with:
• Private-sector tech firms
• Industry associations
• Academic institutions
• Research parks & CoEs
• Structure official MoUs or challenge collaborations (with Branding & Legal support).

C. Challenge Design, Management & Execution

• Develop challenge briefs, guidelines, judging rubrics, evaluation frameworks.
• Lead participant management, jury onboarding, mentor assignment, and event logistics.
• Structure scoring systems for:
• Idea evaluation
• Prototype validation
• Pitch rounds
• Impact feasibility
• Ensure inclusivity by enabling participation from:
• Students
• Startups
• Grassroots innovators
• District-level talent
• Women innovators
• Tier-2 & tier-3 colleges

D. GovTech & Public Problem Solving

• Develop
  GovTech problem statements
  focused on improving public service delivery.
• Build channels for pilot deployments of top solutions with relevant departments.
• Track progress of PoC implementation and integration into:
• RTIH incubation
• APIS support
• State-level innovation missions
• Tech deployments within departments

E. Coordination with Hub Functions & Spokes

• Work closely with:
• Manager – Youth Outreach (for college participation)
• Manager – Branding & Comms (for challenge publicity)
• Manager – Grassroots Innovations (for rural problem statements)
• All
  Spoke CEOs
  for district-level challenge rollouts
• Facilitate Spoke-led or district-hosted hackathons with central oversight.
• Create toolkits for Spokes: challenge templates, judging rubrics, schedules, decks, branding guidelines.

F. Post-Challenge Support & Talent Pipeline

• Ensure winners move into:
• RTIH incubation
• Prototyping support (FabLabs, CoEs)
• Partner-led programmes
• Pilot deployments with government
• Create performance dashboards tracking:
• Winner progress
• Prototype development
• Field validation
• Grants/incentives accessed

G. Logistics, Operations & Vendor Coordination

• Manage:
• Event planning
• Venue finalisation
• Technical infrastructure (internet, power, equipment)
• Developer tools & cloud credits with partners
• Catering, travel, printing, merchandise
• Ensure cost-efficient execution within DoA and Finance & Procurement Policy.

H. Documentation, Reporting & Impact Tracking

• Maintain a statewide
  challenge registry
  documenting:
• Themes
• Participation numbers
• District coverage
• Diversity indicators
• Outcomes & pilots
• Create quarterly and annual reports for:
• Group CEO
• APIS
• RTIH Board
• Capture stories of impact, top teams, successful deployments.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Management, Public Policy, Data Science, or related areas.
• 3–6 years experience in:
• Hackathon design & execution
• Startup programmes
• Innovation challenges
• Technology programme management
• Developer communities / tech evangelism
• Strong familiarity with Andhra Pradesh's innovation & college ecosystem.

Preferred

• Experience in GovTech, e-governance, or innovation policy.
• Exposure to corporate innovation programmes, accelerators, or CSR innovation challenges.
• Ability to work with government officials and technical partners.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong programme design & execution skills.
• Excellent stakeholder management (govt, industry, academia).
• Understanding of technology domains & product prototyping.
• Creativity in challenge framing and problem statement development.
• Ability to manage fast-paced, large-scale events.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• High ownership, agility, and execution focus.
• Comfort with travel and high-energy environments.

KPIs (First 12 Months)

• At least
  8–10 statewide hackathons/challenges
  executed.
• Participation from
  10,000+ students, startups, and innovators
  across AP.
• Problem statements sourced from
  10+ government departments
  .
• 50+ winners
  moved into incubation or pilot stage.
• District-level challenges conducted in
  all 5 Spoke regions
  .
• At least
  3 high-value GovTech solutions
  deployed as pilots.
• Impact dashboards published quarterly.

Compensation

₹10-12 LPA CTC
based on interview & experience. This is inclusive of a
performance-linked max 15% annual bonus.