Position: Head - Program Design & Strategy

Location: Mumbai

Reporting To: Managing Director

About the Organization:

A leading global executive education organization that partners with internationally renowned academic institutions to design and deliver high-impact executive learning experiences. The organization works with senior leaders, CXOs, and business executives to build future-ready capabilities through world-class online and hybrid programs. It combines academic rigor with business relevance to create measurable impact for both individuals and organizations.

Role Purpose:

Lead the Program Design & Strategy function by conceptualizing, designing, and continuously evolving executive education solutions that address market needs, enable business growth, and deliver exceptional learner experiences. The role translates client requirements and market insights into commercially viable learning solutions while driving innovation, academic excellence, and cross-functional collaboration across enterprise and open enrolment programs.

Key Responsibilities:

Enterprise Learning Solutions:

- Design executive education solutions for enterprise clients.

- Partner with business development teams to understand organizational capability needs and business objectives.

- Create leadership development, digital transformation, AI, strategy, innovation, and functional capability programs.

- Develop learning journeys, curriculum frameworks, assessments, and program architecture.

- Ensure all learning solutions align with academic standards and commercial objectives.

Portfolio Strategy & Innovation:

- Define and drive the roadmap for executive education portfolios.

- Identify emerging market opportunities and launch new programs.

- Evaluate portfolio performance and recommend enhancements, repositioning, or discontinuation of programs.

- Maintain a differentiated and commercially viable portfolio.

Program Design Excellence:

- Establish best practices in executive education design and adult learning.

- Design learner-centric experiences integrating faculty sessions, simulations, projects, coaching, assessments, and experiential learning.

- Drive innovation while ensuring consistency and quality across all programs.

Learning Effectiveness:

- Evaluate and implement emerging learning technologies, including AI-enabled learning experiences.

- Introduce innovations in simulations, adaptive learning, assessments, coaching, and experiential methodologies.

- Collaborate with Product and Technology teams to develop scalable learning solutions.

- Build organizational capability around future-focused learning practices.

Faculty & Academic Partnerships:

- Collaborate with faculty members, subject matter experts, and academic partners to develop and enhance programs.

- Ensure alignment between client requirements and academic standards.

- Manage faculty engagement for strategic learning initiatives.

Cross-functional Collaboration:

- Work closely with Sales, Marketing, Product, Partnerships, and Program Delivery teams.

- Ensure seamless transition from solution design to execution.

- Establish governance, quality standards, and review mechanisms for program development.

Team Leadership:

- Build and lead a high-performing Program Design team.

- Mentor instructional designers, learning consultants, and program architects.

- Foster capability building, collaboration, and knowledge sharing within the function.

Key Result Areas:

- Program Strategy & Solution Design

- Portfolio Development & Innovation

- Learning Quality & Academic Excellence

- Commercial Enablement

- Faculty & Academic Collaboration

- Team Leadership & Functional Excellence

Success Measures:

- Delivery of high-quality learning solutions within agreed timelines.

- Successful launch of new executive education programs.

- High participant and faculty satisfaction scores.

- Effective collaboration with business and academic stakeholders.

- Timely curriculum development and program rollout.

- Strong team productivity and engagement.

Candidate Profile:

Experience:

- 15-25 years of experience in Executive Education, Learning & Development, Learning Consulting, Program Design, or related domains.

- Strong experience in enterprise learning solutioning and curriculum design.

- Exposure to portfolio strategy, faculty engagement, and academic collaborations.

- Demonstrated success leading high-performing teams.

- Experience within executive education, higher education, consulting, or corporate learning environments is preferred.

Education:

- Bachelor's degree in any discipline.

- Master's degree (MBA/PGDM or equivalent) preferred in Business, Education, Human Resources, Organizational Development, Psychology, or related fields.

- Certifications in Learning Design, Executive Education, Design Thinking, AI in Learning, or Project Management are advantageous.

Core Competencies:

Functional:

- Executive Education Strategy

- Learning Solution Design

- Curriculum Architecture

- Portfolio Management

- Commercial Acumen

- Stakeholder Management

- Academic Partnerships

- Program & Project Management

- Market Analysis

Leadership:

- Strategic Thinking

- Customer Orientation

- Innovation

- Collaboration & Influencing

- People Leadership

- Ownership & Accountability

- Decision Making

- Agility & Adaptability