About Billion Readers

The Billion Readers (BIRD) Initiative, aims to ensure daily and lifelong reading practice for a billion people in India. This seemingly impossible goal is made possible by adding Same Language Subtitling (SLS) to existing entertainment content on TV and streaming, in all Indian languages – word for word viewers read what they hear. SLS was conceived for mass reading in 1996 at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A). Through guaranteed and constant reading practice a nation of weak readers can be transformed into a nation of fluent readers.

Role Overview

Maharashtra has 60 million weak readers who can benefit from improved literacy. The Government of Maharashtra, through the Chief Minister’s office and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, has partnered with Billion Readers to address this through the RPwD Act 2016 and its related policy papers. By introducing Same Language Subtitling (SLS) into all Marathi media content at source, the initiative enables sustained reading practice for weak readers. BIRD works with the government and major media outlets across films, OTT and TV to deliver on the policy’s objectives, with an added focus on gender and research, including studies on the impact of media on women’s lives.

The Partnerships Associate for Maharashtra will support this mission, with a focus on general entertainment and cartoon content that could reach close to 60 million children and adults in the state. Working closely with the State Partnerships Lead, you will provide end-to-end support on policy implementation with the Government of Maharashtra, engagement with leading media organizations, and the StarDost Initiative. The role centres on meeting preparation, stakeholder coordination, follow-ups, documentation and smooth execution of partnership activities.

This full-time Mumbai-based role requires travel within Maharashtra, including to rural locations. A good fit includes:

• 2 – 4 years in partnerships, project management, consulting, communications or a related field (media and government liaison exposure is a plus)
• Interest in public education, policy and gender; understanding of the media landscape is helpful
• Fluency in Marathi (non-negotiable) in addition to Hindi and English
• Strong analytical and writing skills, with data interpretation and clear communication
• Able to work both collaboratively and independently in a dynamic team
• Self-driven, creative, with entrepreneurial energy
• Willing to travel 6-10 days per month

Key Responsibilities

1. Government engagement:
   1. Support engagement with various departments of the Government of Maharashtra on SLS, accessibility, literacy and related initiatives.
   2. Prepare briefing notes, presentations, letters, concept notes etc. for government meetings, and support coordination across departments.
   3. Coordinate meetings, communication, follow-ups and action points, and track commitments, approvals and next steps to ensure continuity of partnerships.
2. Media engagement:
   1. Support engagement with TV channels, production houses, OTT platforms and other media organizations to facilitate the adoption of high-quality SLS.
   2. Support preparation of research, meeting briefs, presentations and proposals, and assist in communicating BIRD’s work, evidence, technology capabilities and SLS quality standards to media partners.
   3. Coordinate for follow-ups on discussions, pilots, technical requirements and next steps, while maintaining the media partnership pipeline, database and activity tracker.
3. StarDost Initiative:
   1. Support celebrity outreach and coordinate end-to-end execution of StarDost video shoots, including scheduling, content, production, logistics & stakeholder coordination.
   2. Maintain the StarDost activity tracker, and ensure timely follow-ups and completion of post-production activities such as editing, releases, captions etc.