Shaarad Sharma

Hertie School of Governance

University of Bath

Columbia University - School of International and Public Affairs

London, United Kingdom

An intrapreneur, I've built and lead Engineering X - a scalable international collaboration model which brings together some of the worlds leading engineers and problem solvers to tackle the great challenges of our age. I have led and now oversee the design and delivery of 5 global, multi-faceted programmes in areas such as Safer Complex Systems, Safer End of Engineered Life, Education, SDGs and Pandemic Preparedness. Together since 2019 we've engaged 1000+ experts, funded 100+ projects and commissioned 3 major reports under these missions and I am actively scoping further challenges which could benefit from engineering expertise.I work with senior leaders and funders to develop systemic interventions which leverage the best of available evidence and build inclusive communities/ ecosystem of thinkers, doers, innovators and decisionmakers that transcend geography, sector and discipline. I am responsible for an overall budget of £23 million and, having developed governance structures and mechanisms, oversee reporting to 6 Boards each quarter. I've adopted Mission Oriented Innovation Policy to structure our efforts and adopt latest practices in network analysis, participatory engagement, due diligence and safeguarding processes in our operations. I also spark conversation where we feel its needed and have emerging work on inclusivity in global engineering outcomes.

Royal Academy of Engineering

Senior Manager - Engineering X

Programme Manager implementing the international programmes of the UK’s national engineering academy. I set up and financially managed a £20 million portfolio of activities developing innovation capacity in 17 emerging power countries under the UK Government’s Newton Fund. I set up collaborative links with a broad, complex range of actors across the innovation eco-system, including UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, UK embassies, partner government Innovation Agencies, research foundations, universities and industries. I was responsible for the design and implementation of the Industry Academia Partnership Programme which grant funded nearly 200 industry-academia collaboration projects which leverage leading-edge technology and expertise to address complex sociotechnical development challenges (including in health, energy, environment, agriculture, waste, skills etc) in China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Turkey and Thailand. I designed thought-leading events on innovation, education and urban flooding which built communities and leveraged evidence and research to inform policy and practice globally. I routinely wrote speeches, presentations and briefings for senior leaders and participated in several UK trade and innovation missions. As a result of my work I was Invited by Prof Mariana Mazzucatto at European Forum Alpbach and have since developed collaborations with her and Prof Jeff Sachs on Mission Oriented Innovation Policy and systems thinking approaches to addressing the SDGs.

Manager - Newton Fund

Conducted consultancies and research during and after Masters course, including:• Client: Government of Kazakhstan- Member of a consulting team to the Kazakhstan National Agency for Technological Development conducting an analytical study on “High-tech SME sector development in Kazakhstan”. Delivered a high-level, comprehensive strategy paper diagnosing current obstacles through a ‘systems-mapping’ framework and proposing sequenced policy and administrative reforms necessary to the sector’s long term development. Conducted in-field interviews and focus groups with senior government officials and other innovation system stakeholders. Report was very well-received and recommendations were ultimately relayed unto the Prime Minister’s Office.• Client: Transformational Business Network- Assisting a pioneering network of impact investors to grow their local presence in select African countries to spur social entrepreneurship through financing, mentoring and incubation.• Client: BSD Consulting – As part of Columbia Impact Investing Initiative, Member of an advisory team to a leading sustainability consulting firm working for the Portland City Development Commission tasked with scoping the impact investment environment in Colombia and Mexico and identifying opportunities for Portland’s ‘green’ investors and firms to engage in sustainable urban development activities in the two countries.• Client: Adam Smith International - ad hoc assignments pulling together and supporting bid development for prospective business opportunities.

Columbia University in the City of New York

Consultant

Manager and formerly intern with the Government Reform practice of Adam Smith International, a leading international development consultancy delivering technical assistance projects to developing country governments. Tasks included:•  Project management – Managed a portfolio of 8 projects worth in total circa $4.5 million. Managed a team of 20+ senior international and regional Human Resource consultants implementing a large civil service capacity building project in South Sudan; a number of policy advisory assignments furthering regional integration in the East African Community (EAC); and small yet highly strategic advisory support lines to the Prime Minister’s Office in Zimbabwe and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Final Status Negotiations. Responsible for overall technical delivery against the logical framework; client and donor liaison; project financial management and reporting. •  Business development – Main author of winning proposals totalling $1 million in trade and economic advisory assignments in East Africa. Worked in conjunction with others in writing numerous other winning proposals, including the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility and Liberia Civil Service Capacity Building.• Technical support – Edited a major policy study on the implementation of a Single Customs Territory in the EAC and delivered technical input into the drafting of Civil Service Regulations in South Sudan as well as in public administration reform projects in Liberia and Rwanda. Coordinated logistics of a successful study tour for members of the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office to Whitehall, including the Cabinet Office and No. 10 Downing Street.

Adam Smith International

Manager

Working for Public Affairs Centre (PAC), a premier governance institute based in Bangalore, India. Programme Associate on the Citizens Against Corruption (CAC) programme – a $1 million grant management initiative supporting credible organizations throughout South Asia to conduct community-level interventions which work constructively with government to reform basic public service delivery (primarily in food rations, primary healthcare, employment guarantee schemes and critical infrastructure development programmes). Activities included:• Programme and project design – Co-led the design of the CAC programme, including development of processes and procedures to ensure merit-based selection of partner projects and transparent and well-documented programme implementation – authored a programme operations manual later used by the donor as best practice for their international grant-making activities. Screening of over 160 concept papers to evaluate project quality and workability. Gave significant technical inputs into over 20 partner’s proposals, building their capacity in proposal development, project design, quantitative evaluation frameworks and logical framework analysis.• Programme management - Responsible for the day-to-day management of the programme. Liaison with project partners and donor agency on technical, financial and programme management issues. Responsible for drafting quarterly reports to the donor. Coordinated peer learning events for grant partners, organized advocacy workshops and wrote the quarterly programme newsletter• Organisational development - Wrote grant-winning proposals for environmental governance projects and a significant programme of multi-year, core institutional funding. Provided inputs into major policy research outputs on issues such as urban development and regional economic development.

Public Affairs Centre - India

Programme Associate

Volunteer with “Debate to Action”, a jointly-funded programme by the British Council and the World Bank Institute. Working with Tanzanian youth organizations, the programme aims to provoke debate among youth regarding the MDGs and the National Poverty Reduction Strategy. I coordinated the media coverage and logistical preparation for the programme launch and met with leaders of development-oriented youth groups, discussing ways of mainstreaming MDGs into their activities.

British Council, Tanzania

Volunteer Facilitator

Summer Internship with CARE Tanzania’s Health Programme. Conducted research on the international application of tools designed to improve government accountability in the delivery of public services. I wrote a report on the applications of community scorecards of public services internationally and documented the opportunities and obstacles to developing a score card approach with reference to the existing guidelines to improve governance in the Tanzanian health sector itself. Worked independently and reviewed several national health policy documents as well as donor and CSO reports.