Senior Fellow, Centre for Economic Growth (CEG)

Last date to apply: September 15, 2026 (position will remain open until filled). Duration: initially for three years, with a provision for renewal.

About the role

The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) invites applications for a Senior Fellow in its Centre for Economic Growth (CEG). The Senior Fellow will provide intellectual leadership across the Centre’s research agenda, spanning six interconnected themes:

• the investment climate and firm dynamics;
• jobs, labour markets, and skills;
• trade, industrial policy, and global competitiveness;
• innovation and enterprise upgrading;
• city-regions and transformational urban development; and
• state capacity for public financial management and economic reforms.

The role is intended for a scholar-practitioner with a strong record of applied research and demonstrated ability to engage senior policymakers and external partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead independent and collaborative research on one or more of CEG’s core research themes.
• Provide expert input into state growth diagnostics, sectoral and thematic studies, and policy engagement with state governments, central ministries, and partner institutions.
• Help translate the Centre’s strategic priorities into a coherent multi-year pipeline of research, policy engagement, partnerships, and funding opportunities.
• Serve as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on projects, including project design, methodological oversight, quality assurance, and client interaction.
• Produce and supervise high-quality outputs, including working papers, journal articles, policy reports, policy briefs, and externally publishable research.
• Foster collaboration among economists, social scientists, data scientists, policymakers, and the private sector to strengthen NCAER’s reputation and influence and identify opportunities for attracting research grants.
• Mentor junior researchers and help strengthen technical quality, writing, and project execution across the Centre.
• Contribute to NCAER’s visibility through seminars, policy roundtables, media engagement, and relationship-building with scholars, practitioners, funders, and policymakers.

Requirements

• PhD in Economics or a closely related field, with a strong applied economics orientation.
• Typically 12 or more years of relevant professional experience in research, policy, or advisory work, together with a strong publication and policy-engagement record.
• Deep expertise in at least one domain central to the CEG agenda and the ability to work across adjacent growth-related themes.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex research projects and managing teams or junior researchers.
• Excellent writing, presentation, and stakeholder-engagement skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with policymakers and non-academic audiences.
• A strong commitment to policy-relevant research of high analytical quality.

Desirable attributes

• Familiarity with large survey or administrative datasets or policy modelling.
• Experience working on Indian state-level policy issues.

About NCAER

NCAER is India’s oldest and largest national, non-profit, independent economic research institute. Since 1956, NCAER has contributed high-quality research to shape policy decisions in India. It is among the few think tanks globally that have strong field data collection capabilities for national surveys; its research covers a spectrum of policy-focused applied research in economics, from macroeconomics to poverty and infrastructure. NCAER offers a vibrant, dynamic academic environment with both world-class faculty and physical infrastructure.