Job Description

The Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) is an alliance of partners unleashing the job creation potential of every entrepreneur in India. Through action driven coalitions (‘taskforces’) around key themes such as ease of doing ‘small’ business, access to finance, MSME acceleration and more, we hope to develop an ecosystem that encourages and enables entrepreneurship. We have 80+ partners across government, civil society, corporates, and donors who want to create 50 million additional jobs through MSMEs by 2030. We commit that 25% of entrepreneurs we support will be women.

About GAME’s Finance work
At GAME, we are working to address two major challenges:

• Low access to formal finance among MSMEs in India (Access to Finance)
• Delayed payments from buyers to smaller MSME suppliers (Delayed Payments)

Access to Finance
India’s MSMEs have long struggled to create the jobs that India needs. Less than 2% of India’s 6.3 crore MSMEs create more than 10 jobs and fewer than 20,000 companies have a paid up capital of more than 10 crores. Access to finance is a key lever to improve MSME productivity and help them scale. With timely and appropriate access to finance, MSMEs can better manage cash cycles, invest in machinery, skilled labour and more. The more MSMEs grow, the more likely they are to create good jobs. Today, credit flow to MSMEs is quite stymied. The banking system finds the sector to be risky. Poor unit economics for banks (i.e. low ticket size loans) make it an unviable sector for banks. As a result, less than 15% of India’s MSMEs access formal low cost credit. Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) and FinTech firms are filling this gap. However, regulatory issues combined with a few high profile bankruptcies among NBFCs (e.g. IL&FS and Dewan Housing) have resulted in low trust. As a result, NBFCs and FinTechs have high cost of funds (ultimate lending to MSMEs frequently crossed 25% p.a.) and much of the bank lending to them is concentrated – 80% of bank exposure to NBFCs is concentrated among 30 firms. At GAME, we have brought together senior leaders and prominent banks and NBFCs to address this problem. We are developing new financing structures, forging new partnerships, building NBFC capacity, and crowding in new financiers to chip away at this very complex problem. More details can be found: www.massentrepreneurship.org/msme-finance

Delayed Payments
Our estimates suggest that at least INR 15 lakh crore is stuck in receivables from buyers to suppliers. Late payments are inversely proportional to size in that micro and small enterprises are particularly vulnerable. Delayed payments reduce enterprise resilience. In the short run, it impacts on MSMEs ability to make statutory payments, salaries, and production cycles. In the long run, lower predictability around business makes it hard for MSMEs to plan and invest in growth. This also affects the economy at large with reduced tax collections and less competitiveness (i.e. when suppliers receive late payments, they borrow from banks or hire people to collect which increases their cost of goods). Our approach is to build a coalition of champion buyers, FinTech solution providers, data aggregators, and MSME associations to change policies and support the scale up of market solutions that can digitise supply chains.





About the role
We are looking for a full-time Vice President to lead GAME’s MSME Finance vertical. You will work closely with the GAME’s Founders, CEO, and advisors in mission mode to make a major dent on the MSME Finance space. Responsibilities will include (but are not limited to):

• Have a deep interest & passion in the Social Impact area and want to work with a leading NGO.
• Willing to work at social sector compensation (lower than corporates)
• Building and executing an action agenda for our two priorities that make a real difference in the lives of the entrepreneur
• Coordinating with different stakeholders (i.e. banks, NBFCs, FinTechs, funders, DFIs etc.) and inspiring them to act and collaborate
• Addressing mission related needs of our partners to ensure they find value in their association with GAME
• Tracking, monitoring, and communicating progress to CEO, Founders, and donors
• Driving thought leadership through participation in webinars, authoring op-eds, and influencing stakeholders

Your background

• At least 10-15 years of work experience in banking, finance, FinTech, or related themes to MSME finance
• Experience in designing and executing pan-India strategies is preferable
• Experience in stakeholder management, communicating with CXOs and senior stakeholders is a must
• Experience in a goal oriented institution, setting and meeting quarterly targets

Strengths & interests

• Passion for economic development, MSMEs, or FinTech innovation
  Thrive in unstructured environments and love complex problems
• Strong analytical ability
• Excellent communication skills – pithy and inspiring written and verbal
• Excellent in rapid research
• Ability to synthesise ideas and insights from various stakeholders and sources and build a strong narrative

If this opportunity excites you, send your CV to game@massentrepreneurship.org with the subject ‘GAME Vice President – Finance’