Associate – CEO’s Office (Internship) Full Time NEW

Associate – CEO’s Office (Internship)

CottonGuru Group · Sustainable Cotton · Agri Supply Chains

About the job

Role: Associate – CEO’s Office (Internship)

Organization: CottonGuru Group (CottonGuru Pvt. Ltd. · CottonGuru Farmer Foundation · CottonGuru MahaFPO)

Location: Mumbai, India (on-site), with periodic field visits to cotton-growing regions in Maharashtra and Telangana

Industry: Sustainable Cotton / Agri Supply Chains / Climate-smart Agriculture / Fashion & Textile

Duration: 6 months, full-time internship

Qualification: Final-year students or recent graduates; engineering background strongly preferred

Opportunity: High-performing candidates may be offered a full-time role as Associate – CEO’s Office at CottonGuru Group at the end of the internship

Open Positions: 1

About CottonGuru Group

CottonGuru is a 120+ year-old institution building India’s most advanced sustainable cotton supply chain. Our work sits at the intersection of agriculture, climate, and the global fashion and textile industry — partnering with leading apparel brands to create cotton sourcing programs that are traceable, ethical, and directly accountable to the farmer.

The Group brings together three entities working in lockstep to empower smallholder cotton farmers and transform how the world sources cotton:

• CottonGuru Pvt. Ltd. — the commercial engine, connecting farmers to global fashion and textile brands through traceable, ethical, direct supply chains
• CottonGuru Farmer Foundation — the social impact arm, driving farmer welfare, training, and sustainability programs across cotton-growing regions
• CottonGuru MahaFPO — India’s largest cotton Farmer Producer Organization, with over 100,000 smallholder farmer members

Our work is grounded in one idea: move value back to the farmer — sustainably, ethically, and traceably — while giving the world’s leading fashion brands a supply chain they can stand behind.

Role Summary

This is a generalist, high-ownership role for someone who wants to be in the room — working as the CEO’s shadow across the meetings, calls, and conferences that shape CottonGuru Group. Your job is to be the CEO’s force multiplier: take the notes that actually get followed up, chase the follow-ups that actually close, and translate strategy into motion across content, sales, hiring, and special projects.

You will move fluidly between a boardroom conversation with a European fashion brand in the morning, drafting a LinkedIn post over lunch, pulling together a financial model in the afternoon, and chasing down a partner follow-up by evening. You will own the CEO’s external communication surface and be a direct contributor to how CottonGuru shows up in the world.

This role is for someone who thrives in ambiguity, finds joy in problem-solving, and is willing to shoulder real responsibility on real-world problems from day one. Above all, we are looking for someone who is dynamic in communication — able to write a newsletter, take sharp notes in a strategy call, draft a buyer follow-up, and hold their own in a farmer-side conversation, adjusting register fluidly across all of them.

Key Responsibilities

1. CEO’s Shadow

• Accompany the CEO across internal and external engagements — leadership meetings, board and investor calls, buyer and partner discussions, industry conferences, and field visits
• Own meeting prep end-to-end: briefs, agendas, talking points, pre-reads, and reference documents
• Take structured, high-signal notes in real time and translate them into crisp action items within 24 hours
• Drive action-oriented follow-ups with internal teams, external partners, and buyers — close loops and ensure nothing falls through the cracks
• Build a reliable meeting-to-action cadence so the CEO’s time compounds across the organization
• Sit in on high-stakes conversations and grow into a trusted thought partner for the CEO as context deepens

2. Content & Digital Outreach

• Drive the CottonGuru Group monthly newsletter — distill the signal from across the three entities into a narrative worth reading
• Create and ship content across social media (LinkedIn, Instagram, X) — from long-form LinkedIn posts to Instagram carousels to farmer stories and partnership announcements
• Keep the website current and sharp — refresh sections, publish case studies, and keep narrative consistent across platforms
• Build and maintain a content calendar with clear cadence, owners, and review loops
• Represent the CottonGuru voice externally — crisp, credible, and mission-driven

3. Sales & Growth

• Run outbound campaigns to fashion brands, textile buyers, and ecosystem partners — from list-building to first touch to conversion
• Own follow-up discipline across the pipeline — every conversation tracked, every next step scheduled, every loop closed
• Build and refine sales collateral: one-pagers, case studies, proposals, and brand-ready narratives
• Track pipeline metrics and report on growth KPIs to the CEO and leadership
• Convert interest into contracts by being the person who actually follows through

4. Strategy

• Conduct primary and secondary research on the fashion and textile industry, cotton supply chains, sustainability regulation (EUDR, GOTS, Higg), competitive landscape, and farmer economics
• Build CEO-grade pitch decks for investors, brand partners, conference talks, and ecosystem engagements
• Build and maintain financial models — unit economics, scenario planning, growth projections, and investor-facing numbers
• Structure problems and synthesize recommendations to sharpen CEO-level decisions

5. Hiring & HR Systems

• Support end-to-end hiring across the CottonGuru Group — sourcing, screening, interviewing, and onboarding high-agency talent
• Help design and roll out HR systems: onboarding kits, performance reviews, knowledge management, and policy frameworks
• Build the people-systems foundation as the Group scales from founding leadership into a full operating organization

6. Ad Hoc & Special Projects

• Parachute into urgent initiatives the CEO needs to drive — brand partnerships, founder-led pitches, crisis moments, and time-sensitive campaigns
• Own special projects that don’t fit anywhere else — and shape them into repeatable playbooks for the team
• Be the go-to person for the problems no one else is covering

What We’re Looking For

• Final-year students or recent graduates
• Engineering background (B.Tech / B.E.) strongly preferred; exceptional candidates from economics, commerce, communications, policy, or design are welcome
• Tier-1 institutions (IITs, NITs, top engineering, business, or policy schools) preferred
• Past internship or project experience in sustainability, agri, fashion, consulting, content, sales, or startups is a plus

Core Skills

• Dynamic communicator — writes well, presents well, listens well, and adjusts register fluidly across farmers, founders, partners, and buyers. This is the single most important skill for this role.
• Strong writer — can produce a newsletter, a LinkedIn post, a pitch deck, and a follow-up email in the same day without losing voice
• High agency — defaults to action, finishes what they start, and closes loops without being chased
• Thrives in ambiguity — comfortable when the path isn’t drawn, and finds joy in figuring it out
• Structured problem-solver with strong analytical horsepower and comfort with spreadsheets, decks, and data
• Willing to shoulder responsibility on real-world, high-stakes problems
• Meeting-fit: can sit in a CEO-level conversation, take sharp notes, and translate them into action the next morning
• Deep, demonstrable interest in climate, agriculture, smallholder farmer welfare, and sustainable fashion — this is non-negotiable

Language

• Fluency in English is required (written and spoken, at a level that can hold a conversation with a global fashion brand)
• Working proficiency in Hindi required
• Marathi and/or Telugu is a strong plus for field work

What We Offer

• Work directly with the CEO across every surface of the business — strategy, sales, content, field, and people
• A front-row seat to how a 120+ year-old institution is being reimagined for the sustainable-fashion and climate era
• Exposure to global fashion and textile brands, buyers, investors, and the broader sustainable-cotton ecosystem
• Real field time with smallholder farmers and FPO networks in India’s cotton belt
• Cross-functional learning across commerce, impact, and farmer-producer organizations — the three entities of the Group
• A fast, mission-driven culture that values rigor, purpose, and heart in equal measure
• Clear pathway to a full-time Associate – CEO’s Office role at CottonGuru Group, based on performance

How to Apply

Please fill out the Google Form linked in the job post to submit your application. In your responses, please write in the first person and share specific stories — we care more about what you’ve actually done than what you say you can do.

If you need help submitting your application, please email us at hr@cottonguru.org with your CV and a short note on why this role interests you.

Additional Information

This job description provides a broad outline of the role but is not exhaustive. Responsibilities and expectations may evolve based on organizational needs and business priorities. CottonGuru reserves the right to modify duties or reassign responsibilities at any time, with or without notice.

CottonGuru is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Hiring, promotions, and personnel practices are conducted without regard to race, gender, religion, disability, age, or any other status protected by applicable law.