Program Associate – Market Development for MSME, Northeast India ( Contract to Hire )

Market Linkages for Feed, Food, and Fiber Enterprises

• Develop end-to-end market linkages for decentralized enterprises across feed, food, and fiber value chains, including eri silk, garments, and processed food products.
• Map and engage with local, regional, and national buyers, including wholesalers, retailers, aggregators, institutional buyers, exporters, and social enterprises.
• Identify product-wise market opportunities based on volume, quality, pricing, and delivery timelines suitable for decentralized production models.

Eri Silk & Fiber-based Products (Garments, Textiles, Handloom)

• Build market connections for eri silk yarn, fabric, stoles, shawls, garments, and home textile products produced at community and cluster levels.
• Engage with handloom buyers, designers, boutiques, cooperatives, government emporiums, and ethical fashion brands.
• Support enterprises in product development aligned with market trends, including design inputs, sizing, color palettes, and seasonal demand.
• Facilitate order aggregation across multiple decentralized units to meet buyer volume requirements.
• Support pricing strategies that balance fair producer margins and market competitiveness.

 Food Processing & Value-added Food Products

• Establish market linkages for locally processed food products such as spices, millets, pulses, fruits and vegetable products, bakery items, and traditional foods.
• Identify channels including local markets, retail stores, hotels, restaurants, institutional buyers, exhibitions, and online platforms.
• Ensure enterprises meet basic market compliance requirements, including labeling, packaging, shelf-life, and food safety standards.
• Coordinate with buyers to plan production schedules aligned with seasonal availability and DRE-powered processing capacity.
• Support enterprises in developing repeat orders and long-term buyer relationships.

Feed and Allied Products

• Develop market connections for feed and allied products produced through decentralized units (where applicable), including supply to farmer groups, livestock units, and local enterprises.
• Support enterprises in identifying bulk buyers and institutional demand to ensure regular turnover.
• Facilitate agreements or informal MoUs with buyers for consistent offtake.

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Rural Management, Economics, Agriculture, Social Sciences, or related fields.
• 2-5 years of experience in market development, enterprise promotion, value chain development, or livelihood programs.
• Prior experience working in North-East India is highly preferred.
• Experience with producer collectives, SHGs, FPOs, MSMEs, or social enterprises is desirable.
• Strong understanding of local and regional markets in Meghalaya and Nagaland.
• Ability to build and manage multi-stakeholder partnerships.
• Practical experience in enterprise SOP development and implementation.
• Good communication, negotiation, and coordination skills.
• Willingness to travel extensively in rural and remote areas.

Customized Energy Solutions offers competitive salary commensurate with experience. This is contract to hire role for 6 months.

Customized Energy Solutions provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.