Openings – Teach For India

Teach For India is on a journey to reach an India free of poverty and filled with love by ending educational inequity in our country. Twelve years into our journey we are a movement of 3800 Alumni working at all levels of the education system, who are reaching 1 in 10 children across the country. These Alumni have graduated from our two-year Fellowship Program where they taught in under-resourced classrooms to put 32,000 low-income children on a different life path. Today, we have 970 Fellows and are the largest pipeline of driven, skilled talent into the educational ecosystem in India.

In 2022, we embark on Phase 4, our fourth strategic phase. We 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 us to this vision.

• Strengthen our 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
• Scale our impact by strategically introducing additional Fellowships as alternative pathways for leadership development
• Match the Alumni of our programs at an intersection of their interests and the needs of the system and our children
• Advocate for key issues that impact educational equity, and engage 3.5% of the population in the movement for educational equity
• Act collectively with our Alumni to learn about and address key issues in our regions.
• Our work will only be completed when we have built a movement of leaders that is large enough to ensure that every child in India attains an excellent education.

We pride ourselves as being a passionate, idealistic, mission-driven team of individuals. We’re committed to learning and excellence in our roles, and to being deeply rooted in our core values.

What Teach For India Can Offer You

• 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 employee’s 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.

1. Manager, Government Relations – Chennai

Position Summary
The  Government Relations (GR) Manager, will be a part of the Regional Partnerships Vertical, leading Teach for India’s (TFI) initiatives with the government towards a sustainable systemic impact on educational equity within the region. The role involves working closely with government stakeholders at all levels, and social organizations in the region as well as working with Fellows and students within our TFI intervention schools, to create the necessary conditions for students to receive an excellent education.

Team Overview
The City Operations, Chennai team is operating in 21 schools with 80+ Fellows impacting the lives of 2500+ students in our schools. Our mission is to work collectively with love to transform the lives of 1 in 10 children within the region with an education that unleashes the potential of Self, Others and India.

The GR Manager will be a part of the  Regional Partnerships Vertical consisting of the Senior Manager Regional Partnerships (SMRP) and the Network, Learning and Collaboration (NLC) Manager.  The team along with you will drive partnerships with the government, our 400+ Alumni in the region and various national and regional verticals operating in Chennai.

Responsibilities
The  GR Manager role is a dynamic role that gives you the opportunity to work with key stakeholders across levels within the local government, NGOs, CSOs and our Alumni.  Your major responsibility will be to foster an ecosystem of support and collaboration to achieve Teach For India’s mission and vision within the region.  Your roles and responsibilities are as follows:

Government Relations

• Creating long and short-term strategies with M&E and sustainability parameters in accordance with the national strategy and the regional vision.
• Build and sustain relationships with key stakeholders in the local government, state government, NGOs and other political & community leaders to influence policy, systems and processes that will create enabling conditions for educational and social equity
• To effectively manage existing government projects, consistently follow through with rigorous monitoring and evaluation. Also, ensure accountability and optimize the project outcomes.
• Lead the creation of opportunities for systemic impact in the region through internship/career opportunities in the government for our Fellows and Alumni, and special projects to work with representatives of the government, to expand impact beyond Teach For India schools and classrooms, towards all children achieving an excellent education
• Foster champions of the movement and our impact model among government stakeholders and partners to influence impact and integrate progressive strategy into the current ecosystem
• Design, promote and execute spaces/projects for collective action beyond Teach For India schools towards excellent education for all children, between key stakeholders in the educational landscape

Additional Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the city events committee to increase the visibility and interaction with government stakeholders and other key partners in all city-led events.
• Support in the selection of beneficiaries, Matriculation, based on interest and skills, to infuse the most promising talent into the Fellowship
• Support the City Child Protection Committee, to focus on child safety and well-being for all students in the city

Minimum Qualifications, Experiences and Expectations

• 3+ years of work experience managing teams and projects to excellent outcomes at scale
• Strong sense of possibility with what is possible for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)
• Strong competence in negotiating with a diverse set of stakeholders towards Teach For India’s vision and desired outcomes
• Strong BRIO [Building Relationships and Influencing Others] and stakeholder management skills
• Strong problem-solving, critical thinking and decision-making skills
• Ability to adapt to change and work through unstructured environments
• Ability to manage self, team and time amidst multiple priorities

Preferred Qualifications, Experiences and Expectations

• Familiarity and/or experience working with government systems
• Working knowledge of the local language Tamil would be an asset but not necessary.

2. Senior Manager, Regional Partnerships – Chennai

Position Summary
The Senior Manager of Regional Partnerships (SMRP) will be the custodian of the Regional Strategic Roadmap. Their role is pivotal in driving both large-scale projects as well as key examples of excellence over a 2-3 year time frame with an intention to change the status quo for children in the region. They will directly report to the City Director and manage a team of 2-3 individuals to lead this challenging and inspiring mission for the city.

The SMRP will contribute as a thought partner to the City Director and to select Vertical Heads (Government Relations, Alumni Impact, Careers) on strategy, annual goals, and operational plans. They will hold  an integrated view of these verticals at a city level, leading progress through cross-vertical collaboration and strong team management and execution. They will also play an active role in tactical and strategic decision-making, design and planning of interventions and team culture management as a City Leadership Team member.

Responsibilities

As Senior Manager, Regional Partnerships, responsibilities include

• Deepening Government Relationships: Support the professional development and execution of initiatives that are led by the Government Relations Managers who is a direct reportee.
• Build sustainable programmatic relationships with senior Government officials with support from the Government Relations Manager.
• Source large-scale external partnerships for Teach For India and our Alumni organizations that advance educational equity in the region.
• Advocate for alleviating key structural and/or policy barriers that impede progress towards the regional vision.
• Fostering Alumni collectives:Support the Alumni Manager in the city with developing a strategy, contextualizing goals, quarterly milestones, action planning, execution and professional development.
• Design and curate learning & action spaces for regional Alumni to act collectively towards the regional vision.
• Nurture the growth of and collaboration between Alumni organizations in the region.
• Build strong relationships with Alumni Entrepreneurs and the Regional Alumni Chapter committee to facilitate their progress.
• Sourcing career opportunities for Fellows & Alumni:Identify and engage with organisations that serve children from low-income. communities in the region, by providing opportunities for them to interact with and hire from our Fellows & Alumni.
• Cultivate a pipeline of key alumni in the region and match them to roles aligned to the regional vision and their personal aspirations.
• Build an ecosystem of donors and other relevant partners that accelerate our work in the region, especially where barriers to entry are high.
• Building a larger movement for educational equity:Build the regional brand – Advancing regional priorities through Communications and Recruitment efforts.
• Establish and leverage the Regional board, in partnership with the City Director.
• Advance key policy and implementation shifts that accelerate progress for children by
• Developing a community that consistently mobilizes others.
• Forging coalitions of organizations and individuals working towards educational equity.
• Cultivating a network of well-known advocates that span business, government, politics, and entertainment.

As a People Manager at Teach For India, responsibilities include:

• Building a robust pipeline of talent to lead the organization.
• Managing and coaching the team members 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 Senior Manager at Teach For India, responsibilities include:

• Contributing to the team goals and priorities beyond individual goals and priorities.
• Driving internal alignment and support for Teach For India’s core Programs.
• Serving as an ambassador of Teach For India and an advocate for our work and for educational equity in our country through both internal and external communication after committing time in our classrooms to understand our work more deeply.
• Supporting with key organizational areas such as Recruitment, Selection, Fundraising, Volunteering, Movement Building.

Minimum Qualifications, Experiences and Expectations

• Graduate/Postgraduate in any field
• 5-8+ years of relevant work experience in external-facing roles (e.g. public relations, government relations, management consulting, business development)
• Ability to inspire a team to achieve outcomes and develop individuals over time
• Experience in managing, executing, and taking complete ownership of multiple projects at the same time
• Ability to work collaboratively and make strategic decisions in a fast-paced environment
• Experience of having built strong relationships and having influenced others without authority
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills to solve complex community-related challenges

Preferred Qualifications, Experiences and Expectations

• Previous experience working in the development/education sector
• Experience in building and managing high-functioning teams to targeted outcomes
• Experience of having created, deep, meaningful learning experiences and resources for adults through strong design-thinking capabilities, addressing both dynamic and diverse learning needs of individuals
• Experience in building and managing high-functioning teams to targeted outcomes
• Regional language proficiency preferred