Retainer (On Contract)

Job Description

Position Title: Research Consultant (Retainer)

Employment Type: Contract

Duration: Minimum 6 months (extendable based on project needs)

Role Summary

CRISIL is executing a mandated study on “Social Security for Elderly Persons in India” covering provisions across Central Government, all States/UTs, and private/NGO initiatives. The Research Analyst will support structured secondary research, scheme mapping, data extraction (budgets/coverage), and drafting inputs for state factsheets, annexures and exhibits.

Key Responsibilities

· Scheme/Policy Mapping: Identify and document schemes across each State as well as Central Govt., relevant to elderly social security (financial security, healthcare, physical safety, social inclusion) and populate standard templates with scheme features, eligibility, benefit quantum, delivery mechanism, grievance redressal, digital dependency and convergence.

· Data Extraction & Evidence Building: Extract and compile outlay/expenditure, beneficiary coverage, uptake/utilisation and other performance indicators from budgets (Demand for Grants/Outcome Budgets), annual reports, dashboards and evaluation documents. Identify 5-6 case studies benchmarking best practices and implementable key parameters.

· State Factsheets & Comparative Inputs: Draft 1–2 page State/UT factsheets summarizing key schemes and gaps; support state comparison matrices/heatmaps/exhibit preparation.

· Stakeholder Consultation Support (as needed): Support scheduling/outreach (minimum 20-25 interactions as per need), prepare background notes, and capture structured consultation notes (non-attributable).

· Quality Assurance: Check completeness and consistency of data entries (standardization of units, age cut-offs, scheme naming) and support compilation of annexures and reference lists.

Candidate Profile / Qualifications

· Education: Master’s preferred in Public Policy/Economics/Social Sciences/Development Studies/Public Health/Social Work/Demography/Statistics or related fields (strong relevant bachelor’s + experience may be considered).

· Experience: 3-4 years in research/consulting/policy studies involving government schemes, social sector programmes, social protection, health systems or development research.

Key Skills

· Strong secondary research skills (government portals, GRs/notifications, budgets, annual reports).

· Excellent Excel (structured templates, filters, pivots, basic charts).

· Strong writing and synthesis skills (crisp notes/factsheets).

· High attention to detail, ability to work to weekly targets, and comfort with large documents/datasets.

Preferred (Good to have)

· Prior work on ageing/elderly care, pensions, health financing, social protection, or state scheme mapping.

· Basic data visualization skills (PowerPoint exhibits; Power BI/Tableau is a plus).