Location : Mumbai Employment Type: Full Time

About the Role The General Manager – Programs & Partnerships will provide strategic and operational leadership to drive the successful design, delivery, growth, and impact of the organisation’s programs and partnerships. This role is responsible for ensuring excellence in program execution, stakeholder engagement, resource optimisation, team leadership, and measurable outcomes aligned with the organisation’s mission and donor commitments. Responsibilities:

1. Program Strategy, Implementation & Management ● Lead the end-to-end execution of all on-ground and strategic programs, ensuring quality, timeliness, and impact. ● Translate organisational goals into clear project plans, implementation roadmaps, budgets, and timelines. ● Ensure all projects are delivered in line with approved objectives, grant agreements, and donor expectations. ● Oversee day-to-day program operations and proactively address implementation challenges, risks, and bottlenecks. ● Drive cross-functional coordination between programs, communications, finance, monitoring & evaluation, and leadership teams. ● Establish systems and processes that improve efficiency, accountability, and scalability across projects. ● Ensure high standards of safeguarding, ethics, inclusion, and community-centred delivery in all programs. ● Develop and drive the organisation’s overall operational strategy aligned to long-term goals. ● Lead process re-engineering and optimization across operations/ programs ● Introduce automation and tools for operational efficiency
2. Team Leadership & Capacity Building ● Provide leadership, mentorship, and performance management to Senior Managers, Program Managers, Program Officers, and field teams. ● Build a high-performing, collaborative, and mission-driven program team culture. ● Set clear goals, review performance, and support professional development of team members. ● Strengthen internal capabilities in project management, stakeholder engagement, reporting, and problem-solving. ● Build and maintain a leadership pipeline across program and operations roles. ● Identify and develop high-potential team members for succession planning. ● Ensure continuity in operational leadership for critical roles.
3. Partnerships & Stakeholder Engagement ● Build, nurture, and expand strategic partnerships with NGOs, community groups, corporates, foundations, educational institutions, government bodies, and local authorities. ● Identify and secure new collaboration opportunities that align with organisational priorities and growth plans. ● Serve as a key external representative of the organisation in meetings, conferences, consultations, and field engagements. ● Develop long-term stakeholder relationships that enhance credibility, visibility, and program sustainability. ● Work closely with leadership on strategic alliances, donor stewardship, and ecosystem engagement. ● Define and drive a clear partnership strategy aligned to organisational goals and growth priorities
4. Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Reporting ● Oversee tracking of program outputs, outcomes, milestones, and key performance indicators. ● Work closely with the Monitoring & Evaluation team to strengthen data systems, evidence generation, and learning frameworks. ● Ensure timely preparation of high-quality donor reports, narrative updates, case studies, and impact summaries. ● Use data and field insights to inform decision-making, adaptive management, and continuous program improvement. ● Maintain robust documentation, compliance records, and knowledge management systems. ● Ensure each event/campaign has clear strategic outcomes (policy influence, behaviour change, donor engagement, etc.). ● Establish metrics to assess impact, reach, engagement, and return on investment. ● Use insights to refine future engagement strategies and resource allocation.
5. Events, Campaigns & Public Engagement ● Lead planning and execution of events, workshops, campaigns, conferences, and stakeholder convenings from concept to completion. Oversee logistics, vendors, budgets, partnerships, communication flows, and participant experience. ● Ensure seamless on-ground delivery, strong brand representation, and achievement of event objectives. ● Prepare post-event reports capturing outcomes, learnings, media visibility, and follow-up opportunities. ● Ensure alignment of all events and campaigns with organisational messaging, positioning, and voice. ● Collaborate with communications to amplify reach and storytelling.
6. Strategic Growth & Organisational Contribution ● Contribute to annual planning, budgeting, and organisational strategy discussions. ● Support proposal development and program design for new funding opportunities. ● Identify opportunities for innovation, scale, and stronger impact across programs. ● Contribute to strengthening systems, partnerships, and future growth. ● Provide operational insights to the leadership team to inform strategic decisions.

Required Qualifications and Experience ● Graduate in Social Work (preferably with a background in Gender Studies), or ● Graduate in any discipline with demonstrated passion for social change and gender justice. ● Minimum 8 years of experience in NGO program implementation or social sector projects. Required Skills ● Strong project management skills ● Stakeholder and partnership management ● Field operations leadership ● Communication and negotiation skills ● Data interpretation and reporting ● Problem-solving and decision-making Desired Candidate Profile ● Prior experience in the non-profit sector preferred ● Exposure to CSR partnerships and donor reporting ● Experience handling multi-location projects ● Strong leadership, facilitation, time management, and organizational skills ● Ability to drive outcome-oriented plans through collective team effort ● Strong influencing, networking, engagement, and listening skills ● Good digital and computer proficiency ● Resourceful, self-driven, and forward-thinking ● Willingness to travel locally and nationally

Remuneration: Based on experience and qualifications.

Please send in your CV to [email protected] along with a brief cover letter explaining why you are interested in this position.

JD_ General Manager – Programs & Partnerships.pdf