Full Time
New Delhi
Posted 4 years ago

Website The Convergence Foundation (TCF)

The Convergence Foundation

Ashish Dhawan is one of India’s leading philanthropists. He founded and ran one of India’s first private equity funds, ChrysCapital, and in the last decade has helped build successful institutions (for e.g., Ashoka University) and strategic foundations (for e.g., Central Square Foundation, which works on school education reform). More recently, these include organisations that are working on building a better understanding between India and East Asia, improving the performance of the public sector, solving the air pollution crisis, and improving the pipeline of leadership and talent in the social sector.

We are now setting up The Convergence Foundation to do this in an institutionalized manner – identify critical voids in the social sector and build strong, long-lasting organisations to solve complex problems.

In order to ensure that our organisations reach their maximum potential, The Convergence Foundation will work closely with each of the organisations and provide strategic support in a variety of ways: developing deep connections with the broader ecosystem (including the government, donors, and others influencers), recruiting best-in-class talent, building a strong brand and network of champions, initiating cross-learning between organisations, and building fundraising capacity.

What Convergence means to us

● Convergence as economic catch-up: India’s share of world GDP has fallen drastically from ~25% in the 1700s to just over 3% today. Rapid convergence of India’s share of world GDP with that of advanced economies will ensure we lift millions of people out of poverty and create a prosperous Indian society by mid-century.

● Convergence as a platform for like-minded philanthropists: We also envision The Convergence Foundation to be a focal point for philanthropists across the ecosystem to work together towards common goals – particularly those who believe that economic growth is the engine for societal progress, and who strongly believe that building systems-change institutions is the best way to create lasting social impact. In addition, we aim to create a thriving Global South ecosystem that enables knowledge sharing and collaboration between countries, organisations, and people.

1. The Convergence Foundation (TCF), Head, Finance

Position Summary

The Head of Finance is a key role that spans across all portfolio organisations and involves both operational and advisory support to senior leaders. The role involves interacting with members of the leadership team, overseeing financial and MIS reporting functions including budget, financial statements, payables, payroll, banking, managing administrative activities and office operations for all organisations within the TCF portfolio (with the exception of Ashoka University and Central Square Foundation). This leader will also be responsible for building robust, seamless processes, effectively driving operations across TCF and early-stage portfolio organisations, and managing the finance and administrative team members while working closely with numerous vendors and consultants.

The role is critical to ensuring we ensure the best processes are in place at TCF and our organisations in order to drive philanthropy work, strategic policy and advocacy work, and ecosystem development work. The Head of Finance will report to the CEO of The Convergence Foundation.

Key Responsibilities

The core focus of this role is to collaborate with leadership teams across the portfolio organisations to assist them in determining and fulfilling their financial needs, and executing all finance-related processes from start to end. Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

● Safeguard all organisations’ charitable status through a comprehensive knowledge of relevant law, guidance and best practice in relation to the structure of the organisation

● Ensure compliance with administration and financial regulations in relation to charity, trust and company law and regulations

● Review contractual agreements between organisations and outside vendors and consultants, including managing and negotiating office and equipment leases

● Oversee preparation of taxes and reports

● Facilitate preparation of annual independent audit

● Oversee information technology and office purchases, policies, contracts, and equipment

● Liaise with external advisers – accountants, lawyers, and other advisers where appropriate

● Monitor billing/issuing receipts for all grants and contracts, make recommendations to management based on trends, future projections and business goals and objectives. Ensures fiscal compliance for all grants of assigned clients

● Review, approve and ensure timely and accurate processing of payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash receipts, general ledger, and reconciliations

● Ensure financial records are maintained in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Accounting Policies, grant/contract requirements, and monitor the use of all funds

● Prepare timely, accurate monthly, quarterly and annual internal/external financial and other meaningful ad hoc reports along with supporting documentation

● Investigate and explain material variances, highlight trends for management, and provide recommendations

● Develop and oversee accounting policies and procedures to meet both current and future business models and comply

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities

Ideal candidates should have the following qualifications and skills that are required for this role:

● Bachelor’s degree in business, accounting, finance, or related discipline. MBA/Accounting or CA is an advantage

● 12-15+ years of work experience demonstrating strong operational and leadership skills, including the ability to build and lead teams from scratch

● Ability to analyze complex qualitative and quantitative data, craft possible solutions, and recommend actions

● Ability to build and maintain positive and collaborative relationships both within and outside the organization, including with colleagues, regulators, foundations, researchers, grantees, and education product/service providers

● Ability to lead meetings, deliver presentations, and represent TCF or the organisations to external audiences

● Strong written and verbal communication skills, strong presentation skills

● Strong planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines

● Technology savvy with experience selecting and overseeing software installations and managing relationships with software vendors; knowledge of accounting and reporting software Personal Characteristics and Desired Qualities

● Professional attitude and time management skills

● Flexibility and collaboration skills

● Multitasking and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks

2. The Convergence Foundation, Head of Human Resources

Position Summary

The portfolio organisations are run by senior leaders who have previously held key leadership positions at established institutions across sectors, such as Airtel, Whirlpool, Bharti Foundation,Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ashoka University, and Dasra. We are looking for acommitted, motivated, and intellectually curious individual who will work alongside these senior leaders to identify the skills, experiences, and competencies required for the success of each organisation. At The Convergence Foundation, we strongly believe that people are critical to the success of an organisation. When it comes to people, we believe in Jim Collins’s theory of “getting the right people on the bus and in the right seats”.

Key Responsibilities

The core focus of this role is to collaborate with leadership teams across the portfolio organisations to assist them in determining and fulfilling their talent needs, and executing all people-related processes from start to end. Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Talent Strategy and Acquisition:

Understand resource requirements for thematic areas and verticals, design appropriate job profiles, and identify the appropriate talent acquisition strategy
Advise senior leaders on competencies, mindsets, and experiences required for specific roles and for the organisation as a whole
Work with senior leaders on people strategy planning, particularly with organisations scaling up rapidly in multiple geographies
Identify high quality active and passive candidates interested in the impact sector and proactively engage via founders’ and senior leaders’ networks, talent partner relationships, alumni programs, consulting organisations, campus placement drives and other innovative sources
Lead and execute all stages of the recruitment process from start to end for all mid and junior level positions

Organisational Development:

Assess the talent risk in each portfolio organisation – the roles that are most critical and might see high churn, or roles with specialised skills that are in short supply
Design and implement learning and development programs for management and employees working in constantly changing environments
Align talent strategies and actions to the organisations’ strategies
Assist and advise organisations’ leaders to pioneer innovative approaches, streamline processes, and empower employees to perform to their maximum potential

Employer Branding:

Develop a compelling employer value proposition for the group, organisation and role along with candidate-facing collaterals
Augment the employer branding strategy and ensure implementation of the short-term and long-term deliverables carved out for the portfolio organisations
Develop a strong multi-pronged employer branding plan including blogs, videos, podcasts, webinars/events and other relevant talent engagement tools

Operational processes:

Drive a high performance work culture across all the portfolio organisations and manage a high-performing Human Resources team
Handle the performance management cycle process from start to end and monitor timely and accurate completion of the appraisals
Design and implement core processes that can be used quickly and effectively to build and scale new organisations while also allowing room to make changes as per organisation-to-organisation requirements
Contribute towards the automation of performance management systems
Provide support to organisation leaders in applying the performance management system should they face challenges with the implementation

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities

Ideal candidates should have the following qualifications and skills that are required for this role:

● A Master’s from a top tier institution in a relevant field including business, industrial/organisational psychology, human resources, communications, or a related field

● 10-15+ years of work experience demonstrating strong research and leadership skills, including the ability to build and lead teams from scratch*

● Excellent networking and relationship-building skills and the ability to recognize, inspire and connect with the best-in-class talent

● Excellent presentation skills, with the ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with external audiences

● Strong project management skills and the ability to deliver output in a timely manner

● Hire, manage and supervise a high performing Human Resources team skilled in talent mapping and acquisition

● Strong planning and organisational skills, and an ability to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines

● Ability to be effective in a fast-paced and consensus-based work environment

● Prior experience in consulting, sales or team scale up in a high-growth startup could be an interesting value-addition to many aspects of this role

Personal Characteristics and Desired Qualities

● Thrives on building strong networks, nurturing relationships with high-quality talent in the corporate and social sector, and wants to work with top leaders in system-change organisations to help build them from the ground up

● Willingness and ability to commit the next few years to developing a strong social sector network

● Highly motivated and able to work independently to agreed goals and targets and take ownership of the overall recruitment strategy and process of the portfolio organisations

● High ability to collaborate and actively listen to others, understanding and valuing others’ views

● Ability to learn about new sectors quickly and to run a thorough and high-quality search process, including leadership candidate search, outreach, engagement, and evaluation

● Operating style suited to working in a small-organisation setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued

● Excellent leadership skills, including the ability to manage multiple high-volume roles simultaneously

● Adaptable and flexible to changing circumstances and needs of the role, including flexibility in working hours to ensure coordination with key candidates in different locations and time zones

● Demonstrate sensitivity, confidentiality and discretion in their interactions and engagement with prospective and active candidates, beyond the recruitment process

3. The Convergence Foundation, Human Resources, Team Lead (TL)/Program Manager (PM)

Position Summary

The portfolio organisations are run by senior leaders who have previously held key leadership positions at established institutions across sectors, such as Airtel, Whirlpool, Bharti Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ashoka University, and Dasra. We are looking for acommitted, motivated, and intellectually curious individual who will work alongside the Head of Human Resources to identify the skills, experiences, and competencies required for the success of each organisation and make our organisations the best place to work in the social sector. At The Convergence Foundation, we strongly believe that people are critical to the success of an organisation. When it comes to people, we believe in Jim Collins’s theory of “getting the right people on the bus and in the right seats”.

Role Mission

The TL/PM will be responsible for talent acquisition, employee experience, and people-related processes. This will involve c0-creating and implementing the talent acquisition strategy for The Convergence Foundation and for each portfolio organisation, and creating and implementing people-oriented processes to ensure each employee is satisfied and working to their full potential. The role requires supporting the portfolio organisations in a variety of ways, including talent acquisition, organisation development, talent management, performance reviews, goal-setting, learning and development, and other areas. This is a great opportunity for those who enjoy working in a start-up environment, enjoy building and scaling organisations, and care deeply about the impact sector. Whether it involves aiding in the hiring for key roles, strategy planning that will enable organisations to unlock scale, or supporting performance management for all employees, the Human Resources team will work on some of the most exciting and challenging projects at The Convergence Foundation.

Key Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Talent Mapping and Acquisition:

● Map job profiles to relevant talent pools in nonprofits, for-profit organisations and academic institutions

● Identify high quality active and passive candidates interested in the impact sector and proactively engage via founders’ and senior leaders’ networks, talent partner relationships, alumni programs, consulting organisations, campus placement drives and other innovative sources

● Understand resource requirements for thematic areas and verticals, design appropriate job profiles, and identify the appropriate talent acquisition strategy

● Conduct extensive outbound candidate outreach via internal team and search partners (gradually reduce dependence on external partners by building internal search capacity)

● Create, maintain and update an accurate and searchable database with appropriate metrics to track and monitor resource requirements in a timely manner

● Engage with inactive candidates and convert them into potential active candidates

● Create and implement strong candidate selection processes including interview protocols, psychometrics and reference checks

Employer Branding:

● Augment the employer branding strategy and ensure implementation of the short-term and long-term deliverables carved out for the portfolio organisations

● Develop a strong multi-pronged employer branding plan including blogs, videos, podcasts, webinars/events and other relevant talent engagement tools

Organisational Development:

● Design and implement learning and development programs for management and employees working in constantly changing environments

● Align talent strategies and actions to the organisations’ strategies

● Assist organisations’ leaders to pioneer innovative approaches, streamline processes, and empower employees to perform to their maximum potential

Operational processes:

● Drive a high performance work culture across all the portfolio organisations

● Handle the performance management cycle process from start to end and monitor timely and accurate completion of the appraisals

● Contribute towards the automation of performance management systems

● Design and implement core processes that can be used quickly and effectively to build and scale new organisations while also allowing room to make changes as per organisation-to-organisation requirements

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities

The ideal candidate should have the following qualifications and skills that are required for this role:

● A Master’s degree from a top tier institution in a relevant field including business, industrial/organisational psychology, human resources, communications, or a related field

● 4-8 years of work experience in a sales/marketing/talent acquisition role demonstrating strong research and leadership skills

● Excellent networking and relationship-building skills and the ability to recognize, inspire and connect with the best-in-class talent

● Excellent presentation skills, with the ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with external audiences

● Strong planning and organisational skills, and an ability to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines

Personal Characteristics and Desired Qualities

● Desire to work in a fast-paced environment and with a strong sales mindset and go-getter attitude towards talent acquisition