Program Management (Agro and livestock innovation)

About the program and the roles

The Program Management Unit manages a portfolio of 30–40 high-impact agricultural R&D projects across seeds and crop improvement, livestock health and productivity, data and advisory systems, and agriculture for health and nutrition. 

The Venture Center team acts as the Program Management Unit, responsible for:

• Monitoring project execution and commercialization readiness

• Supporting startups with business, regulatory, IP, and go-to-market strategy

• Coordinating with government bodies, researchers, investors, and industry experts

• Driving impact tracking, reporting, and national visibility of the Mission

These roles offer a rare opportunity to work at the intersection of science, startups, public policy, and national missions, helping transform promising research into scalable healthcare solutions.

Job Description

• Lead call promotion and program outreach activities

• Act as the primary interface between grantees, grantors, reviewers, and ecosystem partners

• Drive project planning, milestone tracking, and execution monitoring

• Conduct and coordinate project reviews, site visits, and expert evaluations

• Support mentoring, commercialization guidance, and go-to-market readiness of startups

• Oversee data collection, dashboards, presentations, and impact reports

• Support workshops, mentoring clinics, and stakeholder reviews

• Ensure high-quality documentation, compliance tracking, and reporting

Candidate Profile

• There are openings at different levels -
  • Director (Relevant Exp 8+ years)
  • Manager (Relevant Exp 4+ years)
  • Associate (Relevant Exp 2+ years)
• PhD/ MTech/ MBA with relevant Science UGs will be suitable(agricultural science, life sciences, biotechnology, social sciences, development studies, management, or related discipline).  Ideal candidates should have awareness of emerging issues in agro and livestock-related domains.

• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills

• Comfortable with data, reporting, and leadership presentations

• Ability to work independently and manage multi-stakeholder programs

General requirements and expectations from Venture Center employees:

• Venture Center is a non‐profit organization with aim to benefit society by promoting entrepreneurs and start‐ups. Thus, Venture Center seeks employees and consultants with a strong interest and passion in seeing technology innovators, entrepreneurs, and start‐ups succeed, and a strong "service" ethos.
• A strong feature of Venture Center jobs is the rich learning environment and opportunity provided to employees to experiment, take initiative and be creative. The work of most employees has visible impact which can be satisfying. All employees benefit from access to high quality facilities and work environments. Compensation packages can be flexible but are often conservative due to Venture Center’s non‐profit status.
• General requirements include: a) strong ethical standards and work ethics, b) comfort with computers, computer applications and internet, c) strong communication skills – spoken and written.
• Venture Center’s working hours are 9.30 AM – 5.30 PM (Monday to Saturday) and are designed to keep operations of Venture Center convenient for the start‐ups, entrepreneurs, inventors and others that the organization serves. Managers in certain functions are provided the opportunity to avail of flexible hours. All jobs are located at Pune, Maharashtra, India
• Our Company is an equal-opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant based on age, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation or parental status.