Manager – Program Management Group

About Pratham
Pratham was founded in 1995, to provide pre-school education to children in Mumbai slums. Over the last 30 years, Pratham has grown to be one of the largest non-profit organizations working to provide quality education to millions of children and youth annually in over 20 states and union territories across the country, through a range of interventions.

Pratham is a widely recognized organization, having received notable awards such as the YIDAN Prize, Lui Che Woo Prize, WISE Prize for Innovation, Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the Henry R Kravis Prize in Leadership and the CNN- IBN Indian of the Year for Public Service. For more details, refer to www.pratham.org.

About the Program Management Group

The Program Management Group’s role entails fund raising, fund management and program management for Pratham’s education programmes. This role requires excellent project management and interpersonal skills to deliver quality outcomes from a diverse set of programmes. Financial and operational management of all education programs is a core responsibility of this position.

This unit bears the responsibility of onboarding, maintaining and growing a relationship with external partners and donors. A crucial role that ensures all the programmes are securely funded to go on to achieve their defined outcomes. Internal operational oversight of the role includes working with all ground teams to ensure projects are delivered efficiently, on target and on time. 

Responsibilities
Pratham is looking for a dynamic and motivated individual to come onboard as the Manager-Program Management Group to lead a team overseeing donor relations and operations for a part of the education teams on-going programs. . The manager will support fund-raising efforts, lead a set of on-going long term donor relations and serve as a  crucial link between the donors, the overall strategy and the on-ground implementation teams in states. The role is cross-functional and often dynamic and hence provides the Manager with exposure to a wide spectrum of teams, projects and experiences. . 

The manager will have  2-4 PMG Associates and Senior Associates reporting into them, thereby providing support, guidance and assistance across all projects that each member in that team holds. The PMG Manager will report into the Program Management Lead.  

Whether operating directly or through a team of PMG Associates, the manager must ensure that the following support is provided to programs and states allocated to her/him and her/his team:

Support provided primarily by Associates and overseen by Manager/Support provided by Manager for allocations with no PMG Associate assigned

1a. Program Review / Program Support

• Planning and budgeting support: Supporting the state and program heads in planning, budgeting at the beginning of each year. This will include ensuring that the implementation plan and budgets are in line with what has been agreed with the donor.
• Facilitating Operations: This will involve regular liaison and communication with state/program and central teams with respect to the emerging needs and demands at any point of time and facilitating processes through proposals, reports, internal coordination, communication, documentation and planning. 
• Program tracking and financial management: Planning will need to be followed up with regular tracking of progress against plan. Financial management will comprise ensuring that expenditure on the ground is as per plans and any deviations are being recorded and managed in an efficient manner.
• Internal reports and documentation: The PMG will be responsible for developing and maintaining a repository of key documents of Pratham’s ongoing interventions.
• Others: The Manager and her team may need to handle relations with the government and other partners and NGOs as a member of the central office of Pratham. 

1b. Donor Management

• Proposal creation: Creating proposals for new potential donors for allocated states and programs. This will involve defining objectives, conceptualizing models of implementation, designing implementation timelines, budgeting, designing reporting cycles, etc. in discussion with senior management and program/state heads.
• Regular reporting and communication: Acting as primary organizational touchpoint for the donor and creating regular reports on progress of the project and engaging in periodic conversations with the donor on program updates and future planning.

Responsibilities directly expected from the Manager

• Provide mentorship and leadership to direct reportees 
• Contribute to strengthening systems and processes used by team and Pratham overall for donor management; program planning, budgeting and tracking; reporting and documentation etc.
• Contribute to strengthening internal team management operations in PMG such as team structuring, hiring, onboarding, coordination, performance management, mentorship and capacity building.
• Other responsibilities as assigned or proactively taken up

Desired Qualifications and Experience

• 4-6 years prior work experience in a similar, client-facing, role in private sector firms, NGOs or foundations with an interest in education policy and implementation. 
• Demonstration of core beliefs and values of Pratham – we are perpetual learners, committed to outcome and driven by evidence, we’re powered by people, agile, simple and frugal in approach and most importantly we’re inclusive. 
• Willingness to travel regularly and extensively in rural areas of India, with limited amenities
• Ability to build rapport with people from various different academic, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. 
• Ability to work well in teams and with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven experience in managing a team, with a demonstrated ability to lead and develop a team 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. Ability to communicate in Hindi or at least 1-2 other regional languages.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills. Employing a systems-thinking approach to identify gaps in internal processes and recommend improvements.
• Ability to take initiative to support processes in an unstructured or ambiguous environment
• Willingness to commit to at least 3-5 years of work with Pratham

Preferred:

• Exposure to the non-profit sector through previous experience or otherwise
  Coursework in international development or management
• Past experience of managing teams, in a professional capacity, for at least 2 years.
• Experience living and working in a developing country

Why Pratham? 

Pratham Education Foundation has been a leading name in bridging the gap in education for those who need it the most. Working with Pratham gives you the opportunity to work at scale, both with the government and within communities in which we work. Pratham’s work connects you to the realities on ground while also staying connected with SDGs internationally. For those interested in driving change in education, this is the place for you. 

Application Process
Please send the following to prmrecruitment@pratham.org. We will reach out to you to set up the application process. We may not be able to respond to all applicants.

1. Current Resume: Resume should contain

• Contact Information for Applicant
• Academic Background
  
  • Universities Attended, Degrees Acquired
  • Academic Record (Marks or GPA, if applicable)
  • Past work experience, highlighting relevant skills
  • Relevant Coursework: List Courses in Development, Management, and Education
  • Experiences in development, teaching and/or education (if applicable)
  • Languages Spoken

2. Statement of Purpose – Why are you fit for this opportunity? (500 Words). Please give specific examples that align with the job requirements and how it aligns with your future career goals. (File name: FullName_SOP)