Entrepreneurship and Innovation Consultant – India

Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization working in more than 70 countries around the world. Habitat’s vision is of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Habitat works toward its vision by building strength, stability, and self-reliance in partnership with families in need of decent and affordable housing.

Habitat for Humanity formally launched the Terwilliger Centre for Innovation in Shelter in 2016 consolidating more than a decade of experience in developing market-based solutions for housing. The Terwilliger Centre works with housing market actors to expand innovative and client-responsive services, products and financing so that households can improve their shelter more effectively and efficiently. The goal of The Terwilliger Centre is to make housing markets work more effectively for people in need of decent, affordable shelter, thereby improving the quality of life for low-income households. One such initiative is ShelterTech, the world’s leading platform for affordable housing innovation, to bring together entrepreneurs, corporations, investors and development partners in mapping out and supporting innovations with the potential to disrupt the affordable housing sector. To date, ShelterTech has supported over 120 innovations enter the market or scale their solutions in 20+ countries.

Start-ups at growth stage are funded through our Shelter Venture Fund, a venture capital fund targeting companies disrupting the housing market to improve housing affordability and quality. Crucially, these entrepreneurs show how it is possible to think beyond concrete and mortar to the many ways shelter can be reimagined and improved, particularly for low-income families.

Sustainability is a cross-cutting theme across all the initiatives at The Terwilliger Centre and we believe our approach of promotion of sustainable innovations, models, and enterprises, in the housing and construction space, directly supports the theme of ‘Sustainable Innovation for the Built Environment’– to help families afford a better life and protect the planet.

Objectives and scope of work

Objective: TCIS India is looking for an individual contractor (consultant) to provide coordination and support services to Entrepreneurship and Innovation(E&I) India program.

Scope of work: The contractor (consultant) will perform the following activities:

– Assist the Entrepreneurship and Innovation lead in India to coordinate with all relevant partners comprising of startups, investors, incubators, accelerators and other relevant stakeholders across the programs.
– Provide comprehensive program management support by tracking schedules, milestones, reports, and other key details to ensure successful execution.
– Provide support in the program’s communication and dissemination activities.
– Coordinate events and meetings (virtual or in person) as needed.
– Oversee end-to-end coordination of startup events such as hackathons, demo days, bootcamps, and similar activities.
– Ensure appropriate process and learnings documentation, coordinating with internal and external teams.
– Support all communication related activities for the Entrepreneurship and Innovation program team.
– Support the monitoring and evaluation of Entrepreneurship and Innovation work against the articulated objectives.
– Support with periodic data capture, analysis and prepare reports as needed.
– Maintain communication and coordination with all TCIS global teams as required.

Deliverables: The contractor (consultant) will provide a monthly status report, indicating the main activities and accomplishments achieved, in accordance with Entrepreneurship and Innovation India work plan.

Timeframe and location

The assignment will take place over 12 months (November24 – October 2025). The contractor is expected to be in Chennai, India.

Qualifications and experience

• University degree in any field.
• At least 5-6 years of experience in activities related to the scope of work. (startups, project management, coordination)
• Highly desirable – experience in startup incubation, acceleration, impact investment or other entrepreneurship and innovation support activities.
• A strong ability to adapt quickly and think on your feet, paired with excellent stakeholder management skills, is essential.
• Proficient in English – written and spoken.
• Willingness to travel (expected around 30%)

How to apply: Please send a CV detailing qualification and experience to [email protected] with the subject line E&I India Consultant (India) no later than Oct 31st 2024.

ONLY CANDIDATES WHO FOLLOW APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR THE ROLE.