Partnership Associate

About Us:

Good Business Lab (GBL) is a research-to-action nonprofit that advances access to high-quality jobs for low-income workers. We believe a truly good job is more than wages — it creates conditions for workers to thrive. Yet too few workers have access to sustained wage growth, supportive workplaces, and real opportunities for advancement. GBL works to change this by expanding pathways into better-fit, higher-opportunity work and improving job quality within large employers. We study worker needs, partner with workers and employers to co-design interventions that serve both individual and business goals, and evaluate impact through causal methods. Across manufacturing, retail, and food service, our work shows that improving job quality also improves firm performance. Globally, we have directly improved outcomes for over 500,000 workers, with indirect reach across an ecosystem impacting nearly 2 million more.

The founders of the GBL are Ach Adhvaryu – Professor of Economics, Director of 21st Century India Center, School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego, Anant Ahuja – Director of ESG and Sustainability at Shahi Exports Pvt. Ltd. (India’s largest Ready Made Garment firm), and Anant Nyshadham – Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

About the role

Projects at GBL are centred on building the business case for worker wellbeing. Examples include studying the migration experience and mental health of workers and how these are affected by pairing them with experienced workers from their region (through a novel ‘buddy system’), unlocking women’s economic participation, and understanding how an effective grievance redressal system affects workers’ job outcomes. We are also building a portfolio of projects at the intersection of climate action and worker wellbeing, including the clean energy transition through a human lens and extreme heat stress.

To further our mission of advancing good jobs at the intersection of worker wellbeing and business resilience, the Partnerships Associate will service existing project needs, identify new project opportunities across industries and geographies, build key stakeholder relationships with private-sector firms and ecosystem partners, and support GBL’s external engagement strategy, including through delivering events.

We strongly encourage applications from individuals belonging to historically underrepresented and marginalized communities. If comfortable, please share your social location in your application. This information will be limited to the hiring team and will not have any detrimental impact on your candidature.

Location: Delhi/Bangalore

Compensation: 6.5-8 LPA

Type of Engagement: Full Time

Roles and Responsibilities:

Partnership pipeline and outreach

• Run a process-driven outreach pipeline: identify prospects (private sector, CSR, and industry bodies), sequence outreach, and maintain CRM hygiene (records, logs, and status).
• Support GBL’s partnerships strategy by following a systematic approach to partner outreach and relationship management.
• Conduct background research on organisations GBL could partner with, for projects, new opportunities, and otherwise, across industries and geographies.
• Ensure regular documentation of partnerships and opportunities in the form of records and logs.

Relationship management

• Service ongoing partnerships with private-sector firms, manufacturers, implementation agencies, NGOs, consultants, and other partners.
• Develop strong relationships with new and existing partners.
• Support other GBL teams in servicing project-specific partnerships.

Events and external engagement

• Support relevant teams in curating events for GBL, including participant and attendee outreach, event flow, roundtable or panel curation, vendor coordination, and other event-related logistics.
• Support relevant teams in vetting ecosystem events suited to GBL’s participation.
• Represent GBL at forums, conferences, and gatherings, and use them to share GBL’s work and identify new partnership opportunities.
  
  

Research, insights, and communication materials

• Coordinate and prepare policy memos, concept notes, proposals, presentations, and other targeted communication materials for meetings and internal or external stakeholder engagements.
• Proactively monitor policy and business developments that concern GBL’s focus areas, especially in the sustainability space, and share regular updates with the team.
• Build domain depth in evaluation, sustainability/ESG, and social ventures, and translate learning into practical recommendations for the pipeline.
  

Who are you?

Required skills and experience

• A bachelor’s degree in economics, environmental science, political science, international relations, sociology, history, English, communications, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 1–2 years of work experience in the social sector, preferably within sustainability, gender, or livelihoods.
• Advanced writing, communication, and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated administrative and coordination skills.
• Ability to network and build meaningful connections.
• An interest in GBL’s mission and thematic areas of work.
  

Good to have

• Familiarity with, or openness towards, CRM platforms such as Salesforce.
• An understanding of how economic research works, or experience doing economic research.
  

We understand that candidates may not meet every listed requirement exactly. So please avoid the confidence gap, if this role excites you, and go ahead and apply. You don’t have to match all the listed requirements exactly to be considered for this role.

Additional Requirements: (If Any)

• Strong problem-solving and organisational skills, with close attention to detail.
• Ability to prioritise and work under pressure to tight deadlines.
• Ability to work independently and proactively.
• Comfort with a dynamic environment with competing priorities, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued.
• An entrepreneurial spirit and a ‘can-do’ attitude.
• Openness to giving and receiving constructive feedback.
• Empathy and sensitivity towards the wellbeing and growth of fellow coworkers.
• Strong perseverance in high-pressure situations.
  

Recent projects and blog posts:

To acclimatize yourself with some of our work, you can explore our website where you’ll find project insights, podcasts and reports. You can also read our blog posts on Medium, and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram to learn more about our work.

Deadline to Apply: On rolling basis

The process:

We are glad you’re interested in applying for this role! We deeply value your time and effort.

Our interview process for this role includes the following steps:

1. Introductory Conversation
2. Assignment
3. First Round of Interview
4. Second Round of Interview

Depending on the candidate pool, we may add any additional interviews to make a well thought through decision.

The hiring team will review your application after each round and share a timely update on your application status and keep you updated on your progression through the following stages.

Our commitment to diversity:

GBL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, physical disability, or length of time spent unemployed. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We are a young and growing company making us the ideal ground for team members to experiment, take on dynamic roles, and grow with us. We focus on happiness, output, and quality of work.

If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know during the recruiting process.

Background Verification:

Employment with GBL is contingent upon satisfactory background verification. GBL reserves the right to withdraw the offer in the event of any adverse or unsatisfactory findings.