Business Associate – WESS

SEWA Bharat is a federation of women-led institutions providing economic and social support to women in the informal economy. SEWA Bharat is part of the national SEWA movement and was established in 1984. SEWA Bharat emerged out of the need to address the SEWA movement’s challenges with geographical expansion and coordination. SEWA Bharat is a family of SEWA organizations to further informal women workers’ rights, livelihoods, financial independence, education, health, and social security.

Women Enterprise Support System (WESS) is a program at SEWA Bharat, designed to support grassroots women-owned collective enterprises run by women in the informal economy in India. The intervention provides in-depth support to collective enterprises in the areas of access to finance, strategic planning, compliance, and marketing to make these enterprises profitable and sustainable in the long run. WESS has a small yet enthusiastic team of professionals who are passionate about promoting women’s economic empowerment with a network of industry mentors, working under the guidance of an advisory board of SEWA leaders and professionals. The WESS team works closely with the enterprises to identify their needs and develop strategies to address them. So far, WESS is working with enterprises in 3 sectors – financial services, agribusiness, artisan producer companies; with plans to expand further into other sectors as well. WESS aims to promote, strengthen and grow collective enterprises by providing evidence-backed, replicable methods of empowering women, the women’s collective enterprises being a pathway for women’s economic empowerment.

WESS is looking for a Business Associate who will assist all collective enterprises in developing business plans, getting access to capital to enable business growth, and providing support as per need on strengthening the business development & planning team. Additionally, the candidate will be expected to work closely with the enterprises in the WESS cohort & support their capacity building and business planning efforts. This position is based in New Delhi.

Tasks & Deliverables will include:

1. Linking Cohort enterprises to Capital

• Identify the need for capital and potential sources of capital (private, bank, government)
• Assist enterprises end-to-end in the process of getting capital
• Monitor usage of capital and assess the impact of investment
• Assist the enterprise in timely planning & calculation for working capital. The business associate will be expected to lead this exercise for the enterprise

2. Assist enterprises in developing business plans

• Support cohort enterprises in developing business plans for current and future years
• Consult with sector experts in the process of developing business plans; either existing ones or if needed look for new ones.
• Monitor effectiveness & implementation of business plans. Maintain reports and share them on a monthly & quarterly basis with the relevant stakeholders.

3. Assist in developing the business vertical at WESS

• Assist enterprises as per need in developing pitch decks for investors/partners
• Arrange quarterly business reviews with all enterprises
• Develop templates and SOPs as required
• Assist in the evaluation of enterprises in coordination with other teams
• Assist the WESS lead in all business planning & development requirements
• Work closely with other teams in the Collective Social Enterprises Programme that includes but is not limited to the finance team, communications team, program and MEL teams, and state teams

4. Reporting

• Maintain reports for all enterprises in the context of revenue, shareholders, sales & purchase, etc.
• Data analysis to be shared with the WESS Lead WESS Board, CSE Program team, and other stakeholders as and when required
• Report to WESS lead for all developments, internally in WESS and regarding enterprises being supported
• Travel to enterprise locations and do field visits as and when required

• Minimum experience of 6-8 years, with at least 5 years in business-facing roles
• Prefer candidates with CFA Level-1 cleared or more; or MBA in business
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Excel
• Trained in reading financial statements, balance sheets, reading and preparing cash flow statements
• Understands the basics of banking and finance
• Understands the basics of running a business as a whole
• Experience working with grassroots organizations will be preferred but is not mandatory
• Should be open to extensive travel

This position is based in New Delhi.

INR 45,000 – 60,000 per month depending on the candidate’s experience.

Interested applicants with the required attributes are requested to send, in English, a detailed CV and a cover letter by email to [email protected]. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Female candidates will be given preference.