1. POSITION VACANT: Executive Director – Programs & Organizational Leadership, Udayan Care, New Delhi

2. ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND:

Udayan Care is a leading Indian not-for-profit organization working to improve the lives of vulnerable children, young people, and women through long-term, family-centred and community-based interventions. Established in 1994 as a Public Charitable Trust, Udayan Care operates across 38 cities in 15 states and has directly impacted over 1,11,000 individuals.

Udayan Care’s work spans education, women’s empowerment, skilling, alternative care, advocacy, research, and training. The organization is widely recognised for its transparency, credibility, and safeguarding standards, and is accredited by GiveIndia, Credibility Alliance, and NITI Aayog (Darpan). In 2014, Udayan Care received the National Award for Child Welfare from the President of India.

As Udayan Care advances its Mission 2030 agenda, the organization is entering a phase of significant scale-up, systems strengthening, and digital transformation, particularly across its largest national programs.

For more information, please visit: www.udayancare.org

3. JOB DESCRIPTION/ RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Executive Director – Programs & Organizational Leadership (ED-POL) is a senior leadership role central to the organization’s next phase of growth and impact under its Mission 2030 agenda. The ED-POL will provide integrated leadership across Udayan Care’s largest program portfolios and all shared services, translating Mission 2030 into executable plans, disciplined operating rhythms, and sustainable organizational capabilities.

The post-holder will play a pivotal role in strengthening program quality, financial sustainability, governance discipline, and organizational coherence, while enabling Udayan Care to expand its reach and improve life outcomes for large numbers of vulnerable children and young people.

The role is positioned within Udayan Care’s leadership architecture, which combines founder stewardship with professional executive management. While the Founder & Managing Trustee continues to provide strategic direction and thought leadership to key legacy and institutional initiatives, the Executive Director – Programs & Organizational Leadership will hold full executive responsibility for day-to-day leadership, performance delivery, and organizational execution across:

(1) Udayan Shalini Fellowship (USF)

(2) Skilling Programs

(3) All Shared Functions (Finance, HR, Fundraising, Communications, Administration)

USF and Skilling together represent the largest, most complex, and fastest-growing portfolios within Udayan Care, with a national footprint, large beneficiary base, and ambitious plans for expansion, digitisation, and systems strengthening. The ED-POL will lead the challenge of upscaling these programs, ensuring that growth translates into meaningful, measurable improvements in life outcomes for tens of thousands of vulnerable girls, youth, and young adults.

As Udayan Care evolves, the scope of this role is expected to expand in line with organizational priorities and the leadership capabilities of the incumbent, offering a strong opportunity for long-term institutional impact.

The role requires a mature, collaborative leader who can work effectively in a founder-led, volunteer-intensive environment while exercising clear executive ownership of programs, systems, and performance.

4. KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

(A) Enterprise Strategy & Organizational Transformation

(1) Provide overall strategic stewardship of Mission 2030, setting enterprise-level direction, priorities, and success measures for the organization.
(2) Lead organization-wide transformation initiatives, including operating model evolution, leadership capability development, and adoption of new ways of working.
(3) Anticipate future institutional needs arising from scale, complexity, regulatory context, and sectoral shifts, and shape adaptive strategies for long-term sustainability.
(4) Act as a strategic thought partner to the Founder & Managing Trustee and the Governing Council on organizational design, institutional maturity, and resilience.

(B) Program Leadership – USF & Skilling

(1) Provide strategic and operational leadership to Udayan Shalini Fellowship and Skilling programs across multiple states and cities.
(2) Lead the scale-up of these flagship programs, ensuring expansion delivers measurable improvements in access, quality, and life outcomes for beneficiaries.
(3) Oversee program-specific digitisation, monitoring, and use of data to strengthen delivery effectiveness and learning.
(4) Ensure consistently high standards of program quality, safeguarding, compliance, and outcome measurement.
(5) Strengthen Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) systems to support program-level evidence-based decision-making.
(6) Manage the operational and stakeholder complexity inherent in large, multi-location national programs.

(C) Leadership of Shared Functions

(1) Provide executive oversight and leadership to Finance, HR, Fundraising, Communications, and Administration functions.
(2) Ensure shared functions are structured, staffed, and governed to effectively enable program delivery and organizational priorities.
(3) Strengthen core organizational systems, policies, internal controls, and functional capacities appropriate to a ₹50+ crore, pan-India institution.

(D) Resource Mobilisation & Financial Sustainability

(1) Hold overall accountability for fundraising performance and medium-term financial sustainability.
(2) Personally cultivate and steward relationships with key donors, CSR partners, foundations, and institutional funders.
(3) Support diversification of funding sources, including grants and institutional partnerships.
(4) Work with the Finance function to ensure prudent financial management, transparency, and risk mitigation.

(E) Organizational Planning, Governance, Rhythm & Alignment

(1) Lead organization-wide planning and performance processes, including Annual Operating Plans, budgets, KPIs, and periodic reviews.
(2) Establish and sustain organizational rhythm through disciplined planning cycles, leadership forums, and review mechanisms.
(3) Anchor consolidated dashboards and management information systems to support effective oversight by the Founder and Governing Council.
(4) Ensure compliance with statutory, FCRA, safeguarding, and donor requirements.
(5) Work collaboratively with the Founder and ART leadership on intersecting priorities, without direct line responsibility.

(F) People, Culture & Volunteer Engagement

(1) Lead and mentor senior program leaders and shared function heads.
(2) Foster a collaborative, patient, and values-driven culture suited to a volunteer-intensive organization.
(3) Demonstrate maturity in working with long-standing volunteers, trustees, mentors, and partners.
(4) Embed Udayan Care’s CIRCA values across leadership behaviour and organizational practices.

5. QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE & COMPETENCIES

Qualifications

Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Management, Public Policy, Education, Development Studies, or related fields.

Experience

(1) 18-25+ years of progressive leadership experience, preferably within the Indian social impact sector.

(2) Demonstrated experience in leading organization-wide change management and transformation initiatives.

(3) Proven experience leading large, multi-location programs or portfolios at scale.

(4) Demonstrated success in fundraising, donor engagement, and financial stewardship.

(5) Exposure to education, youth development, skill-building, or community programs preferred

(6) Ability to work at the intersection of programs, people, finance, and organizational governance.

Competencies & Attributes

(1) High emotional intelligence and maturity in founder-led governance environments.

(2) Strong systems thinking and execution discipline.

(3) Ability to manage complexity, ambiguity, and multiple stakeholder expectations.

(4) Credible presence with boards, donors, volunteers, and senior partners.

6. COMPENSATION OFFERED

The compensation for this position is in the range of INR 40–45 lacs per annum, commensurate with experience, seniority, and alignment with Udayan Care’s leadership requirements.

7. POSITION REQUIREMENTS

(1) Reporting: Founder & Managing Trustee and Governing Council.

(2) Location: New Delhi; regular travel to program locations across the country.

(3) Tenure: The organization seeks a leader willing to commit for the long term.

(4) Values & Safeguarding: Commitment to Udayan Care’s values, child protection and safeguarding policies, and ethical standards is mandatory.

8. REFERENCE: ED-POL-UC

9. APPLICATION PROCESS

Eligible candidates interested in the position are requested to apply by or before February 22, 2026.

Udayan Care is an equal opportunity organization and does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process.

10. DATA PROTECTION & JURISDICTIONAL DISCLOSURE

This recruitment process is administered by Strategic Alliance Management Services Pvt. Ltd. (SAMS), an India-registered executive search and recruitment firm.

All applicant data will be processed in accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India). Applicant data will be shared with Udayan Care solely for the purpose of this recruitment process and handled in line with applicable data protection and safeguarding standards.