The Convergence Foundation - Program Manager - Strategic Communication

Position : The Convergence Foundation, Strategic Communications, Program Manager (PM)

About 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.

While each organisation works in a different area, their common playbook includes:

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 4% today. Rapid convergence of India's share of world GDP with that of advanced economies will enable us to 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 TCF 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.

Our Ambition :

Our Current Portfolio :

- Ashoka University (est. 2010)

- Central Square Foundation (est. 2012)

- Air Pollution Action Group (est. 2019)

- Asian Century Foundation (est. 2019)

- India Leaders for Social Sector (est. 2017)

- Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (est. 2019)

- Accelerate Indian Philanthropy (est. 2021)

- Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology (est. 2021)

- Foundation for Economic Development (est. 2022)

- WE Rise (placeholder name for Foundation for Advancement of Women, est. 2022)

- ChangeINKK (est. 2022)

Position Summary :

We are looking to hire an exceptional Program Manager to join the Strategic Communications team which works on brand strategy and growth for new portfolio organizations. This includes new organization branding, writing, packaging, and disseminating content, building the narrative for each organization in the sector it operates in, and supporting the entire TCF brand.

The PM will work on implementing the branding strategy for new organizations, aligned with each organization's overall missions, goals and targets and supported by the Head of Strategic Communications and organization leaders.

This is a great opportunity for those who enjoy working in a start-up environment, enjoy building and scaling organizations, and care deeply about the impact sector. This role includes working with senior stakeholders and engaging with them on strategic communications projects that have the potential to unlock scale for some of the largest development challenges.

Key responsibilities :

- Implementing communications and branding strategies for The Convergence Foundation and portfolio organizations under it. This includes :

- Website creation : work with designers and developers to develop websites

- Social media : create and manage social media accounts including strategy, content, and collateral development

- Newsletters : conceptualize and develop newsletters for all the organizations

- Campaigns and Events : conceptualize and implement offline and online campaigns and events

- Media : work closely with journalists and editors on branding and salience building

- Branding : work on branding and positioning related activities of all organizations

- Content creation and editing for all communications related activities listed above

- Executing projects of strategic interest to The Convergence Foundation and portfolio organizations under it

- Develop concept notes and briefs

- Develop powerpoint presentations

- Managing vendors and partner organizations

- Stakeholder mapping

- Work in close collaboration with members of various teams and portfolio organizations to ensure project deliverables

- Managing relationships with external and internal stakeholders

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities :

- Self-starter; can drive projects themselves

- Bachelor's/PG degree and English fluency required, and 3-5 years of work experience in planning and executing mass media and social media campaigns

- Excellent presentation skills and proficiency in drafting communication material in different formats - newsletters, social media copies, press releases, OpEds, etc.

- Experience of storyboarding, branding and communications

- Excellent writing/ editing, communication, and interpersonal skills

- Strong visual aesthetics and digital know-how : website development, social media management

- Knowledge and practical experience of managing social media accounts across platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn

- Experience of working with media teams and agencies, including copywriters, graphic designers, video editors, animators, etc

- Ability to synthesize content inputs from different individuals and develop coherent and engaging content customized for different communication vehicles

- Knowledge of a wide range of media outlets, including print and digital.

- Should possess the ability to create a pitch and engage actively with media for generating coverage on important issues and topics

Desired Qualities :

- Functional knowledge of graphic designing and video editing

- Creative and analytical thinking, and ability to ideate and articulate creative ideas

- Entrepreneurial spirit and a strong 'bias to action' attitude

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

- Ability to work proactively, with little supervision

- Ability to build and maintain positive and collaborative relationships both within and outside the organization

- Planning and organizational skills, and an ability to be able to set priorities, plan timelines and meet deadlines

Compensation :

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

Location : New Delhi, India