Associate Manager, Operations, Asha Kiran

About the NudgeThe/Nudge is an action institute working to build resilient livelihoods and end poverty sustainably in India. Through its Centre for Rural Development, The/Nudge works with women, smallholder farmers, tribal communities and youth on agriculture, livestock-based livelihoods, skilling and economic inclusion, in close partnership with State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs), NRLM and state Animal Husbandry Departments.In its goatery portfolio, The/Nudge builds cadres of community entrepreneurs (Pashu Udhyamis) and Field Executives) who serve goat-rearing households, and in the process of aggregating these households into a Farmer Producer Company (FPC) so that they can access markets, inputs, credit and services at scale. The Marketing Manager is the person who turns this collective into a working business.
Position Overview :The Marketing Manager will build and run the commercial engine of the Goat FPC. This means designing a system in which goat-rearing households aggregate their goats and sell to identified institutional buyers at a price at least 30% better than what they realise today, and in which a reliable input supply chain (feed, fodder, health products and other inputs) serves the same households.The role reports to the Development Manager – Goat FPC and works closely with The/Nudge team. The central expectation is a business model in which goat marketing and input supply each demonstrate viability on their own within about a year, so that the FPC trading activities can sustain them without program subsidy.
What will you do?1. Goat Marketing System Design• Study the current goat marketing landscape in the cluster: prevailing prices, trader and middleman margins, market days, weight-based versus visual pricing, seasonality and festival demand.
• Design an aggregation and sale model covering grading, weighing, pricing, payment cycles, transport and quality norms, so that producers realize at least 30% better prices than the baseline.
• Set up and track price-realization metrics for each sale against the baseline, and use them to refine the model.
• Build the unit economics of the marketing business: volumes, margins, working capital, costs and break-even.
2. Producer Mobilization & Aggregation• Mobilize goat-rearing households to participate in collective marketing, building awareness of the benefits of selling through the FPC.
• Work with Pashu Udhyamis to plan aggregation: tracking goats readiness, scheduling collection points and sale cycles, and communicating prices to households.
• Lead Marketing Field Executives in aggregating goats at village or collection-point level, supplying to buyers, and ensuring timely and transparent payment to rearers.
• Maintain household-level records of goats sold, prices received and payments made.
3. Institutional Buyer Development & Partnerships• Identify, approach and onboard institutional buyers such as Goat Mandi aggregators, retailers, hotels and caterers, exporters, aggregators and other bulk buyers.
• Negotiate supply agreements covering volume, quality specifications, pricing mechanisms, delivery schedules and payment terms.
• Manage buyer relationships over time through regular demand planning, feedback loops and issue resolution, to build repeat and growing orders.
• Reduce dependence on any single buyer by building a diversified buyer base.
4. Input Supply Chain Development• Work with the Development Manager – Goat FPC and The/Nudge team to identify priority inputs for goat rearers, such as feed supplements, mineral mixtures, fodder, veterinary medicines, vaccines and deworming products.
• Identify and empanel input suppliers and manufacturers, negotiate bulk-purchase terms, and develop partnerships that deliver quality inputs at better prices than local retail.
• Design the delivery model for inputs (collection-point stocking, Pashu Udhyami-led distribution, advance booking by members) and the credit or payment terms that work for households.
• Build the unit economics of the input business and track sales, margins and member uptake.
5. Business Model & Viability• Develop a business model in which both goat marketing and input supply cover their own costs and demonstrate viability within about a year.
• Prepare business plans, annual targets, budgets and monthly performance reviews for both verticals.
• Manage working capital needs, cash flows and trade-offs between member benefit and business margin, with a view to long-term sustainability.
• Support the FPC in accessing working capital, equity grants and other financial instruments for marketing and input operations, in coordination with the Development Manager.
6. Team Management & Reporting• Recruit, train, manage and set targets for Marketing Field Executives.
• Coordinate with Pashu Udhyamis, ensuring clear roles, incentives and communication between community entrepreneurs and marketing staff.
• Maintain MIS and dashboards on volumes aggregated, prices realized, buyer orders, input sales and financial performance; report regularly to the Development Manager – Goat FPC and The/Nudge.
• Contribute to documentation of the model so that it can be replicated in other clusters.
Who we are looking for?Education• Graduate or Postgraduate in Agribusiness Management, Rural Management, Marketing, Business Administration, Animal Husbandry or a related field.
Experience• 5–8 years of experience in Agri or livestock marketing, supply chain, agri-business or FPO/FPC business development, with demonstrated ownership of sales or procurement targets.
• Experience in livestock, meat, dairy or similar perishable or aggregation-led value chains is strongly preferred; direct experience with goat or small ruminant trade is an added advantage.
• Track record of building and managing relationships with institutional or bulk buyers and with input suppliers or distributors.
• Experience managing field teams and working with community-based cadres or producer collectives.
• Exposure to setting up or running a business unit with its own P&L;, working capital and break-even targets.
Skills & Attributes• Strong commercial and negotiation skills, with the ability to structure deals that work for both buyers and producers.
• Analytical ability: pricing, margins, unit economics, working capital and cash flow.
• Entrepreneurial, self-driven and comfortable owning business targets in a field-based, ambiguous setting.
• Ability to earn the trust of rural and tribal households, especially women goat rearers, and of local traders and suppliers.
• Strong people-management and coordination skills across field staff, community entrepreneurs and partners.
• Proficiency in the local language; working knowledge of Hindi and English for reporting and buyer interactions.
• Willingness to travel extensively within the cluster and to buyer markets.
• Percentage improvement in price realized by goat rearers over baseline (target: at least 30%).
• Number of households and goats aggregated and sold through the FPC channel.
• Number of institutional buyers onboarded, repeat order rate and share of volume under supply agreements.
• Number of input suppliers empaneled, input sales volume and member uptake.
• Gross margin and break-even progress for the marketing and input supply verticals, with both reaching viability within about a year.
• Timeliness of payments to rearers and quality of MIS reporting.
What’s in it for you?• Own your growth: An impact-led learning environment encourages Nudgesters to invest in their learning and capacity building needs through initiatives and policies, including L&D; wallet, individual development plan and internal role change opportunities.
• Find your tribe: Our hiring philosophy emphasises intent, attitude, smarts and skills, in that order, to build a cohesive environment for Nudgesters. The organisation is committed to curating people-centric policies, enhancing how employees experience life at The/Nudge.
• Take big bets: Organisational initiatives are intended to facilitate Nudgesters with a view to the big picture, illustrated by our impact across 50000+ households, 15+ governments, 200+ social enterprises and Charcha: India’s largest social sector convening forum.
• Make it happen: A product-based approach in an action-biased environment empowers Nudgesters to implement audacious plans. Driven to fail fast, we endeavour to optimise resources in favour of programs that align with our scale ambition.
We aspire to be an inclusive and diverse organization and encourage qualified individuals irrespective of their religion, caste, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, or any other dimension of identity, to apply.

Department: Operations
Experience: 5-8 years
Posted: 2026-11-05T06:20:50.54Z