City Director - Delhi

The organisation is on a journey to reach an India free of poverty and filled with love by ending educational inequity in our country. Fourteen years into our journey we are a movement of 4600+ Alumni working at all levels of the education system, who are reaching 1 in 10 children across the country. These Alumni have graduated from their two-year Fellowship Program where they taught in under-resourced classrooms to put ~38,000 low-income children on a different life path. Today, they have ~940 Fellows and are the largest pipeline of driven, skilled talent into the educational ecosystem in India.

In 2022, they embarked on Phase 4, our fourth strategic phase. They have a bold and ambitious ten-year journey ahead of us that aims to grow 50,000 leaders, who will work collectively, and with love, to transform the lives of 1 in 10 low-income children in our regions, through an education that unleashes the potential of self, others and India. In this decade, five key priorities will lead them to this vision.

1. Strengthen their core Fellowship to build strong teacher leaders who provide an excellent and equitable education to our children and continue to do so beyond the Fellowship
2. Scale their impact by strategically introducing additional Fellowships as alternative pathways for leadership development
3. Match the Alumni of their programs at an intersection of their interests and the needs of the system and our children
4. Advocate their key issues that impact educational equity, and engage 3.5% of the population in the movement for educational equity
5. Act collectively with their Alumni to learn about and address key issues in our regions.

Their work will only be completed when they have built a movement of leaders that is large enough to ensure that every child in India attains an excellent education.

They pride themselves on being a passionate, idealistic, mission-driven team of individuals. Were committed to learning and excellence in our roles, and to being deeply rooted in our core values.

• The opportunity to be part of one of the most established and visionary movements in the education sector in India which is at a pivotal point in terms of expanding its scale and outreach across the nation and working with changemakers across the country.
• A challenging yet flexible workplace in which every individual employees Staff journey is tracked for excellence and leadership development.
• A work environment in which employees holistic well-being is a core priority, enabling people to be their best selves.
• Access to connections and resources from the global Teach For All network that includes partner organizations spanning 50+ countries across 6 continents.
• Remuneration that is competitive within the top quartile of the Indian NGO pay scales, and a benefits package that includes extensive medical insurance and maternity coverage for both parents.

Position Summary

The City Director (CD) plays a critical role in unleashing the potential and power of a local movement for educational equity in this metropolis. This individual creates and shapes a vision for the city that is rooted in the local context and develops a long-term strategy that will fully realise the regional vision. The City Director, therefore, has a five-fold charge:

1. Ensuring that Delhis Fellows are not only driving transformational outcomes for children in classrooms but that they are growing as leaders.

2. Fostering a local, growing Alumni movement that is committed to providing all children with an excellent education.

3. Building a local, enduring institution that promotes sustainable funding, talent, and operations including assembling effective teams and resources, coaching talent to outcomes and leading the site rooted in a strong culture.

4. Serving as a critical organisational leader for operations that span across the vision and mission of the organisation.

5. Co-creating the strategy & roadmap to serve 1 in 10 children from low-income communities in Delhi.

To achieve that five-fold charge, the CD works closely with the local program team to create an ecosystem of support for Fellows that enables them to be successful in their roles as teachers and future leaders of the movement. The CD also works to foster a sense of community among Alumni in the city and mobilises them towards shared goals, while also building partnerships with a range of government, corporate, and civil society players to catalyse systemic impact and ensure the long-term sustainability of our efforts. Last but not least, the CD plays an integral role in building the capability and commitment of members of the Delhi City Operations team to contribute to our mission in the long-term.

Team Overview

The Delhi City Operations is currently in its eleventh year of operations. The organisation currently has ~29 Staff in the Delhi City Operations team and 283 Fellows in 49 schools directly impacting 228 classrooms; with nearly 956 Alumni who have graduated from the Fellowship. The team works towards furthering the short-term theory of change in Delhi and the surrounding regions by getting committed individuals to dedicate 2 years to help them achieve their vision of One Day all children will attain an excellent education. The team also works towards creating committed and connected stakeholders to further the mission of building a movement of leaders to eliminate educational inequity.

Responsibilities

As a City Director

1. Envision, develop and update a contextualised vision for operations in Delhi:

• Articulate a vision for the city that is rooted in the local context, yet directly aligned to the organisations larger national movement.
• Phase out the city vision into a short-mid-and long-term roadmap, with clearly defined goals and measures for success.
• Build investment and ownership among Staff, Fellows, Alumni, & Partners in the vision and goals.

2. Develop a strategic and operational plan that is designed to realise the vision:

• Design a strategic plan that effectively sets priorities, searches for innovative paths and best practices, and accounts for regional uncertainties and externalities.
• Design short-term tactical plans to mobilise resources and guide a team to outcomes in the short and mid term.

3. Manage the Executive Team in Delhi:

• Establish and/or strengthen infrastructure needed to maximize performance and operations of both talent and resources (processes, structure, systems, communication).
• Select, mentor and develop a group of your direct reports (managees) that is composed of the right skills, knowledge, and mindsets needed to advance transformational progress for children through the City roadmap.
• Build a systematic approach to people development to ensure that team members across the site are growing, performing and flourishing.
• Establish clear accountability, decision-making responsibilities, and performance expectations that are aligned with the strategic plan.

4. Build relationships with key partners and stakeholders to foster collective impact and ensure long-term sustainability:

• Build the site into a sustainable organisation rooted in local funding and talent.
• Develop the operational infrastructure to enable scale and efficiency.
• Engage with local networks, Alumni, and education sector stakeholders to make a strong voice in regional communities of practice.
• Build, engage and strengthen a strong advisory board.
• Play a front-facing role in local fundraising efforts and capacities.

5. Manage a growing team towards short-term outcomes and long-term success:

• Manage city vertical leads that span Programs, Partnerships (Alumni & Government) and People (Recruitment, Human Resources, Job Placements, etc.)
• Design systems and processes to manage progress and people across layers.
• Build and execute a strong performance management plan to ensure progress.

6. Establish and uphold a strong culture of inspiration, honesty, support, and accountability among team members:

• Foster an internal team culture that is rooted in our organisational values.
• Model culture both internally and externally.
• Build on-going relationships with our internal community

7. Collaborate with teams across clusters in the organisation (People, Impact & Operations, Movement Building, Regions, Office of the Senior Leadership team).

As a People Manager

• Building a robust pipeline of talent to lead the organization.
• Managing and coaching the Directors in the cluster to ambitious outcomes.
• Driving engagement, growth, and retention of team members.
• Engineering and overseeing a monitoring and evaluation system, coupled with strategic direction, to guide our abilities to continuously improve.

As a member of the Leadership team

• Providing feedback on organizational decision making and long-term strategy as a member of the Leadership Team.
• Driving internal alignment and support for the core Programs.
• Serving as an ambassador of the organisations brand and an advocate for our work and educational equity in our country through both internal and external communication.
• Supporting key organizational areas such as Fundraising, Movement Building, and Alumni Engagement.
• Over time, supporting the organisation and other external organizations in their journey to our vision with organizational insights.

Preferred Qualifications, Experiences and Expectations

• A Bachelors or Masters Degree in any field with 8+ years of relevant work experience.
• Previous experience managing large projects and teams to successful outcomes.
• Previous teaching/education experience would be an added advantage.
• Strategic and critical thinking skills so as to conceptualise multiple approaches to solving a problem and draw out a clear roadmap with roles and responsibilities.
• Relationship-building and networking skills so as to connect individuals, groups, and partners with shared goals.
• Influencing and persuasion skills so as to leverage people and relationships to outcomes.
• Communication skills so as to deliver a compelling message through oral and written mediums to diverse stakeholders.
• People management skills so as to manage diverse teams to outcomes.
• Ability to be resourceful and entrepreneurial in the face of uncertainty.
• Proficiency in analysing data and making inferences to drive strategies and decisions.
• Understanding of the short-term and long-term theory of change.
• Understanding of the leadership development philosophy and framework.

Note: We want to hear your unique voice and perspectives through the process, hence all applicants are expected to personally author statements of purpose/essays in the application form. Sole use of AI or Chat-GPT-based tools may lead to disqualification from the process.