Senior Associate (Academic Administration and Teaching/ Research Support) – School of Environment and Sustainability

About the IIHS School of Environment and Sustainability

The School of Environment & Sustainability (SES) at the IIHS (Institution Deemed to be) University examines and answers questions around sustainable development, socio-ecological and food systems, environmental and biodiversity conservation, ecological restoration, adaptation to climate change impacts and risks, and nature-based solutions. With an emphasis on human settlements and socio-ecological systems, the SES works across a continuum from semi-natural ecosystems to mega-cities in India and the Global South. The SES is developing innovative, evidence-based solutions to significant environmental and climatic changes, and socio-economic and cultural transitions in these geographies, linked to multi-scalar adaptive governance and urban transformations.

Job Description

We are looking for a versatile and motivated individual for a role that blends responsibilities of academic administration with those of a teaching/ research associate. The role offers the opportunity to work across teaching, research, and school/ program-level strategy, coordination and communication. It is ideal for someone who thrives in dynamic interdisciplinary environments, can multitask and has strong organisational and communication skills. The incumbent will have an opportunity to contribute to both the intellectual and operational life at the institution. This is a contractual engagement for an initial term of 11 months, renewable on mutual consent, and with the potential to turn into a regular position over time.

Activities and Tasks

Responsibilities would include, but not be limited to, the following:

Academic administration:

• Managing administrative processes for postgraduate programmes, including electives and dissertation terms, in collaboration with students and faculty;
• Managing day-to-day academic operations, including management, coordination with faculty, students and IIHS teams; data management; managing multiple calendars for academic classes, curricular and extracurricular activities, and IIHS events, ensuring timely updates and effective communication of any changes;
• Providing logistical support for field visits, labs, guest lectures, and workshops, as required for the academic programmes;
• Coordinating extracurricular activities and alumni engagement with university teams;
• Liaising with the University placement/ internship cell to support student career development;

Documentation, reporting, and maintaining internal records:

• Student records and progress tracking;
• Faculty data;
• Curriculum tracking and feedback collection;
• Rankings and accreditation data;
• Reports/ documentation of University events/meetings and any other documents for functioning and quality compliance;
• Coordinating with University teams to effectively manage academic infrastructure and people resources;
• Assisting in institutional branding initiatives website updates, newsletters, marketing/ academic collaterals;
• Overseeing programme budgets; routine financial matters including vendor management; basic book-keeping functions, which may involve billing, creating purchase requests, responding to invoices and cash receipt and payment processes on the ERP;
• Liaising between the Programme Office, other IIHS teams (e.g., Career Development, Communications), and external partners; assisting with timely submission of materials to central teams (Communications, HR, IT, etc.).

Teaching/ Research support:

• Assisting in the preparation of teaching materials, including readings, presentations, handouts, and assignments;
• Supporting classroom and course coordination: scheduling, logistics, communication with students, and on-ground facilitation;
• Helping to organise and run tutorials, field-based sessions, or lab activities, under the guidance of faculty;
• Assisting in monitoring and reviewing student submissions, grading, and providing structured feedback;
• Assisting in developing research outputs such as reports, case studies, policy briefs, or academic papers;
• Assisting in preparing research/ practice proposals, grant applications, and ethics approvals;
• Maintaining and updating bibliographic databases, research records, and course repositories;
• Contributing to the design and documentation of new courses or knowledge products.

Institutional:

• Providing support to other IIHS activities, including academics, research, training, practice, operations and others;
• Participating in all activities of Institution-building at IIHS; carrying out tasks as assigned by IIHS; and travelling on IIHS work within or outside the country as needed.

Structure and Reporting

The senior associate will be an external consultant coordinating with the Associate Academic Programme Director for the relevant Postgraduate Programme at IIHS and will be required to collaborate effectively with a diverse group of internal teams and external individuals/organizations, and students.

Person Specification

The ideal candidate should have:

• A Master’s degree in Environmental/ Sustainability Science, Climate Change, Planning, Development Studies, Public Policy, or a related field, with 5+ years of relevant experience; candidates with a Bachelor’s degree and 7-8 years of relevant experience may also be considered;
• A background and interest in climate science, mitigation, adaptation, resilience-building action, climate governance, policy, or finance would be an added advantage;
• Experience in academic operations: student/ faculty administration, event coordination, and institutional compliance (rankings, accreditation, etc.) in a higher education institution is desirable;
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with students, faculty, and administrative staff;
• Experience and proficiency in project management — ability to plan, track, and follow through on tasks and timelines across multiple stakeholders, basic financial management, and data management;
• Prior experience in supporting communication and outreach activities, including preparing materials and coordinating dissemination, which will be a further advantage;
• Experience in event coordination and logistics will be useful;
• The willingness to travel, including to field sites with students, and the ability to adapt to dynamic institutional needs.

This is a contractual engagement for an initial term of 11 months, renewable on mutual consent, and with the potential to turn into a regular position over time. This offer is on an exclusive basis, which implies that other professional assignments (whether compensated or not) that bear a potential conflict of interest with IIHS cannot be undertaken.

The search will remain open until the position is filled.

Location

This position is based in Bengaluru and may entail travel to other locations in India.

Review and Assessment

The role and performance of the incumbent shall be subject to normal review and assessment systems at IIHS.

Diversity Policy

IIHS is an equal opportunity employer that encourages women, people with disabilities and those from economically and socially excluded communities with the requisite skills and qualifications to apply for positions.

Contact

Please write to us at hr@iihs.co.in if you need any clarifications while filling the online application form.

Key skills/competency

• Academic Administration
• Teaching Support
• Research Support
• Project Management
• Event Coordination
• Data Management
• Financial Management
• Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Sustainability Science