Providing a quality education to India's 240 million children is our country's greatest challenge. The brightest talent is required to address the complexity and scale challenges of achieving this goal.

Central Square Foundation (CSF) is both a venture philanthropy fund and an advocacy group focused on improving the learning outcomes of children from low-income communities in India. We seek to achieve transformational standards of education excellence by:

- Supporting exceptional social entrepreneurs with powerful ideas to create proof points of new standards of excellence that could lead towards sustained change

- Providing a platform for sharing innovations, best practices and building solidarity amongst like-minded entrepreneurs

- Developing insights for addressing critical education issues and communicating them broadly and strategically to stakeholders

- Undertaking application-oriented research that informs public policy

- Focusing our advocacy efforts to engage with relevant government bodies and administrative services

- Collaborating with other stakeholders in the ecosystem to build shared knowledge

CSF's team members combine a deep commitment to education with operational excellence. We are a young organisation with a dynamic entrepreneurial environment, dedicated to achieving significant and sustained reforms in the Indian education system.

Position Summary

As CSF enters its fourth year, the organisation is transitioning from a start-up phase to one that is more established and predictable. The CEO will lead the organisation into this phase of establishing ambitious targets for transformation in the Indian K-12 education system and executing against them. The CEO will report into Ashish Dhawan, Founder & Executive Chairman, who will continue to provide strategic and operational oversight to CSF.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Organisational Leadership

- Own CSF's vision, and drive it through design, process and implementation

- Lead, coach and develop the CSF staff to build high-performance teams; set and achieve strategic objectives and manage a budget

- Provide executive leadership across the organisation

- Lead strategic and operational planning processes

- Build fundraising platform

- Be the face of CSF across networks in the ecosystem: committees, forums, funder groups

- Ensure CSF and its mission, grants, programmes and advocacy & policy agenda are consistently presented in a strong and positive image to relevant stakeholders

Venture Philanthropy Leadership

- Oversee the development of entrepreneurs and organisations

- Drive CSF support to organisations that includes financial and non-financial assistance, including strategic and operational guidance

- Develop Monitoring & Evaluation function to evaluate impact of CSF-funded projects

Policy Leadership

- Drive a research, policy, advocacy agenda to achieve systemic level change

- Establish CSF as a thought leader in education space

- Network with other organisations, institutions and think-tanks in the ecosystem

- Work with senior-level elected and appointed government officials to influence and create policies that promote improved learning outcomes for all children

Required Qualifications and Skills:

- 20+ years with at least 5 years in Senior Leadership/ CXO positions

- Organisation builder: Proven track record of effectively leading and scaling an organisation

- Understanding of government structures & relationships in India; experience in dealing with government

- People manager - strong team player; ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders. Maintain a work environment that attracts, retains and supports high quality staff

- Organisation development: organisation system development skills, ability to create systems within an entrepreneurial culture

- Preferably prior experience in a start-up organisation

- Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills

- Ability to initiate, develop and maintain collaborative relationships with key constituencies

- Motivation & commitment to improve the Indian school education system

- A belief that all children, regardless of their family's social-economic background can achieve at the highest levels

Desired Qualities:

- Curious and well read

- Ability to inspire confidence and create trust

- Strong influencing skills

- Passion, idealism, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven and self-directed

- Action-oriented and entrepreneurial

Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy pay scales and will depend upon the candidate's experience levels.

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and resume via email with subject line - Application for CEO- to Shaveta Sharma-Kukreja, Associate Director. Please note all inquiries and conversations will be kept in strictest confidence.

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