Senior Program Associate, AI Access Initiative (EAII Advisors)

This position is with EAII Advisors, Evidence Action’s technical partner in India.

About EAII

EAII Advisors, Evidence Action’s technical partner in India, supports state governments in delivering evidence-based public health programs, including safe drinking water initiatives and school and Anganwadi-based National Deworming Day and iron and folic acid supplementation. Operating across 10 states, EAII Advisors provides technical assistance to ministries of health, education, water, and women and child development, reducing health burdens in impoverished communities and improving the long-term wellbeing of children and families.

For more information, read about our work here: About Evidence Action and EAII

About the AI Access Initiative (Incubated at Evidence Action)

The AI Access Initiative is a new program being incubated at Evidence Action  to scale AI-enabled “big bets” that can improve the lives of tens or hundreds of millions of people living in poverty across low- and middle-income countries. Operating at the intersection of governments, AI labs, researchers, and funders, the Initiative focuses on translating rapid advances in AI into practical, scalable public systems.

Initial work focuses on two priority sectors:

• Agriculture: Scaling AI-enabled weather forecasting systems to improve smallholder farmer decision-making, resilience, and incomes.
• Health: Transforming primary healthcare quality and access through AI-enabled clinical decision support systems (CDSS) integrated into public platforms, as well as direct-to-consumer AI triage tools to reduce delays in care-seeking.

The AI Access Initiative is led by Kanika Bahl, CEO of Evidence Action and founding member of Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust, with advisors including Nobel Laureate Michael Kremer, Dario Amodei (CEO, Anthropic), and Kent Walker (President, Global Affairs, Alphabet). This work builds on Evidence Action’s track record reaching 530M+ people with cost-effective, evidence-based programs across 9 countries in Africa and Asia, with a focus on last-mile delivery.

About the Weather Forecasting Program

The AI Access Initiative is launching a new, entrepreneurial initiative to design, test, and scale AI-enabled weather forecasting systems for smallholder farmers. The program will focus on translating recent advances in artificial intelligence into high-impact public systems that deliver timely, localized, and actionable weather information to farmers at scale.

More than 500 million smallholder households worldwide depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, yet many lack access to accurate and usable forecasts. Advances in AI offer a step-change opportunity to deliver faster, more accurate forecasts that are cheaper to run, easier to localize, and better suited to farmer decision-making. With targeted investment, AI-enabled forecasting systems could materially improve the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of farmers.

To advance this program in India, the Initiative, through Evidence Action’s technical partner EAII Advisors, aims to work with state governments and other partners to explore new models for deploying AI-enabled forecasts and farmer outreach systems. Initial efforts are expected to focus on a state-level implementation in India, with Telangana identified as a potential early partner, subject to finalization. The program aims to:

• Deploy more accurate, timely, and localized weather forecasts relevant to smallholder farmer decisions
• Translate technical forecasts into clear, actionable farmer-facing guidance
• Deliver forecasts at scale through government systems and digital channels
• Generate operational and impact evidence to inform future state- and national-scale adoption

This work is intended to serve as a proof point for scalable, government-led adoption of AI-enabled weather forecasting, with learnings informing expansion to additional states and countries over time.

About the Position
EAII Advisors is seeking a Senior Program Associate to support the day-to-day operations of the Program Management Unit (PMU) for the AI-enabled weather forecasting program in Telangana. Reporting to the Senior Manager – PMU, the Senior Program Associate will be primarily based in Hyderabad and will play a key role in program coordination, data management, documentation, and reporting. 

The Senior Program Associate will support the Senior Manager across a range of PMU functions, including maintaining program trackers, consolidating data and reports, coordinating with government and partner stakeholders, and managing documentation and institutional records. This is an early-career role suited to a detail-oriented and motivated individual looking to build experience in program management at the intersection of technology, government systems, and development impact.

The role is primarily office-based in Hyderabad, with occasional field visits within Telangana as required.

Responsibilities

Program Coordination & PMU Operations

• Support the Senior Manager in tracking and maintaining program workplans, activity schedules, and implementation timelines across PMU functions.
• Coordinate with government departments, technical partners, and community stakeholders on behalf of the PMU to support smooth program operations.
•  Support the preparation of materials for government meetings, stakeholder reviews, and working group sessions, including agendas, presentations, and follow-up notes.
• Maintain up-to-date program records, filing systems, and institutional documentation in line with EAII Advisors’ knowledge management guidelines.
• Support the logistical and administrative arrangements for internal team meetings, government reviews, and partner visits, including scheduling, note-taking, and action tracking.
  

 Program Coordination & Reporting

• Assist the Senior Manager in tracking program work-plans, timelines, and activity logs.
• Prepare regular activity summaries and supporting inputs for monthly, quarterly, and annual program reports for review by the Senior Manager.
• Consolidate data from field activities and partner interactions to support accurate and timely reporting to the Senior Manager.
• Support the preparation of materials for stakeholder meetings and government reviews as directed.
• Maintain up-to-date program documentation, filing, and institutional records in line with EAII Advisors' knowledge management guidelines.
  

 Monitoring, Learning & Evidence

• Support monitoring and evaluation activities, including data entry, collation, basic verification, and maintenance of MIS trackers.
• Assist in consolidating monitoring data and program updates from partners and field teams for review by the Senior Manager.
• Contribute to internal learning products, including program case studies, success stories, and process notes.
• Flag emerging implementation challenges or data gaps to the Senior Manager on an ongoing basis.

 Government & Stakeholder Coordination

• Support the Senior Manager in coordinating with state and district-level government departments, including Agriculture, Horticulture, and allied departments, through timely communication and follow-up.
• Assist in the preparation of materials for government meetings, reviews, and working group sessions.
• Build constructive working relationships with government counterparts, technical partners, and program stakeholders as directed.
  

 Knowledge Management

• Document program success stories, best practices, and lessons learned for institutional knowledge and external sharing.
• Ensure program documentation is complete, well-organised, and accessible to the broader team.
• Support the preparation of knowledge products and learning briefs for internal and external audiences.

• Graduate or post-graduate degree in social sciences, rural development, agriculture, public health, or related disciplines
• Minimum of 3-4 years of experience in development sector program implementation, with exposure to field-based roles engaging community-level stakeholders and local government functionaries
• Experience in program documentation, report writing, and data entry or management
• Demonstrated ability to work with or alongside block or district-level government departments in Telangana
• Good verbal communication skills in Telugu and working knowledge of English for documentation and reporting purposes
• Strong attention to detail, organisational skills, and commitment to deadlines
• Willingness to undertake occasional field visits within Telangana as required
• Proficiency in MS Office and Google Workspace tools

Preferred / Bonus Experience:

• Experience in agriculture, rural livelihoods, digital agriculture services, or climate-resilience programming
• Familiarity with agricultural extension systems, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, or farmer outreach programs
• Exposure to technology-enabled programs in government or development sector contexts
• Strong interest in data-driven and evidence-based program implementation
• Highly motivated self-starter with ability to work with minimal supervision in a field-intensive role

Position Location

The position is based at Hyderabad, Telangana. This is a 6-month fixed-term employment role, with the possibility of extension based on MoU finalisation, scope clarity, and individual performance).

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in India. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas at this time.

Disclaimer: The duties and responsibilities described are not a comprehensive list and that additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time.

All contracting arrangements will be made through EAII Advisors Private Limited. EAII is an equal opportunity employer. Employment at EAII is based solely on an individual's merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. EAII does not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, caste, creed, colour, religion, gender, origin, disability, marital status, or any other basis protected by law.

All candidates applying for the position should upload a resume along with a cover letter mentioning current and expected salary.  NOTE: This role will be open for applications until April 30th, 2026. Please apply at your earliest convenience. We may end this search process earlier than the specified close date in case of exceptional candidates. Due to resource constraints, we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates. 

EAII provides a comprehensive benefits package for employees. Benefits include:

• Comprehensive health insurance with IPD and OPD provisions,
• Life and Accidental insurance
• PF, ESIC and Gratuity as per statutory requirements
• Mental and physical well-being benefits
• Learning and Development benefit
• Generous leave
• Avenues for engagement and recognition