Head of Communications
1. POSITION VACANT:
Head of Communications | Confidential Organisation | Gurugram, Haryana
2. ORGANISATION OVERVIEW
A well-established not-for-profit organisation works to strengthen learning outcomes in government schools by partnering with State Education Departments, teachers and communities. The organisation has evolved towards a systems-strengthening model that brings education improvements to scale through government partnerships.
The organisation’s teacher-centric, consultative approach supports improvements across the school education continuum, from foundational learning and school readiness to secondary education through capacity building, locally relevant learning resources, assessment and institutional strengthening. Working within public education systems, it emphasises practical, sustainable solutions that are co-designed with teachers and government stakeholders.
The organisation values mutual respect, integrity, transparency, excellence, collaboration and trust, and seeks to foster an inclusive work environment.
3. JOB DESCRIPTION / RESPONSIBILITIES
The Head of Communications will provide strategic and operational leadership to the organisation’s communications function, strengthening the organisation’s identity, visibility, thought leadership and stakeholder engagement. Reporting to the CEO, the incumbent will turn complex programme work, evidence and outcomes into accurate, memorable and accessible narratives, while ensuring high standards of creative and editorial execution.
Key Responsibilities:
(A) Strategy, Brand and Creative Storytelling
(1) Develop and lead the implementation of the organisation’s communications strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities, programme objectives and resource mobilisation goals.
(2) Translate strategic priorities into annual communication plans, key messages, content priorities and outreach initiatives, with clear deliverables and timelines. Establish and maintain consistent messaging, positioning, branding and storytelling across all platforms, media, publications and communication materials.
(3) Oversee the development of high-quality communication materials, including organisational profiles, brochures, reports, presentations, visual storytelling videos, publications and digital content. Safeguard brand integrity by establishing and maintaining brand guidelines, editorial standards and quality assurance processes.
(B) Impact Communications and Thought Leadership
(1) Work closely with Programme and MEL teams to identify, validate and communicate programme results, learning outcomes, evaluation findings and stories of change.
(2) Oversee the development of knowledge products, including case studies, white papers, policy briefs, research-based articles and publications that showcase the organisation’s experience, insights and contributions to the education sector. Identify and pursue opportunities to position the organisation and its leadership as credible voices in education.
(3) Establish processes for identifying, documenting and communicating human-interest stories that illustrate the experiences of children, teachers, parents, schools and other stakeholders, ensuring accuracy, dignity and appropriate consent. Oversee field-based documentation and a repository of impact stories and other communication assets; enforce clear consent guidelines, including written parental/guardian sign-off where children are subjects.
(C) Donor and Stakeholder Communications
(1) Work closely with the Resource Mobilisation team to develop donor proposals, presentations, impact reports, newsletters and other fundraising materials that articulate the organisation’s value proposition, achievements and potential for scale.
(2) Translate programme information, evidence and organisational priorities into clear, persuasive narratives tailored to different donor and stakeholder audiences. Ensure consistency between programme evidence, organisational messaging and donor-facing narratives, maintaining accuracy and credibility across all external communications.
(3)Communications supports fundraising initiatives;
(D) Publications, Digital Outreach and Internal Communication
(1) Lead the organisation’s content strategy, defining content priorities, formats, editorial calendars and publication plans in line with organisational and stakeholder needs. Oversee audience-specific communication materials, including impact reports, case studies, programme publications, teaching and learning collaterals, textbooks and other knowledge products.
(2) Lead the organisation’s digital communications strategy, overseeing its website, social media channels and other relevant platforms. Ensure digital platforms are regularly updated; use digital analytics and audience insights to improve engagement, and identify and manage digital and social media risks.
(3) Lead initiatives to strengthen internal communications, promote organisational alignment and facilitate information sharing across teams and locations. Establish effective processes for gathering programme information, evidence, updates and stories from Programme, MEL and other teams.
(E) Team, Agency and Function Management
(1) Lead and manage the communications function, ensuring effective planning, prioritisation, coordination and delivery across all workstreams. Build and manage internal resources, consultants and external partners as applicable; set clear goals, responsibilities and performance expectations.
(2) Define briefs, deliverables and quality expectations for external partners, and monitor performance, timelines and costs. Establish effective systems and processes for content planning, approvals, production, publication, documentation and performance monitoring; manage the communications budget and ensure effective utilisation of funds.
(3) Foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement. Maintain the highest standards of personal and professional integrity and model the organisation’s values of openness, innovation, teamwork and performance; ensure adherence to organisational policies and procedures.
4. EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES
Qualifications and Experience:
(1) Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, English, Marketing, Social Sciences, or any relevant discipline. A relevant postgraduate qualification will be an advantage. Strong demonstrated capability may be considered over academic qualifications.
(2) Approximately 14 -15 years of relevant communications experience, including around three years leading a team and a substantial communications portfolio; flexibility for outstanding candidates.
(3) Applications welcomed from corporate communications, agency, brand management and people with active social media fluency. Prior NGO employment or specialist Communication for Development (C4D) credentials are not a prerequisite.
Skills and Attributes:
(1) Outstanding English writing, editing and storytelling, with an ability to develop original ideas and communicate complex information engagingly to different audiences.
(2) Strong strategic judgement, brand stewardship to actively build the organisation’s brand and hands-on capacity to deliver high-quality content, campaigns, publications and digital communication.
(3) Ability to interpret and accurately communicate programme evidence and outcomes; excellent judgement on ethics, permissions and sensitive representations involving children.
(4) Confident stakeholder management, collaboration with technical teams, and oversight of creative partners, schedules, budgets and production quality.
(5) Creative, resourceful, audience-aware and results-oriented; able to combine conceptual thinking with disciplined execution and uphold integrity and collaboration.
(6) Multilingual content or Indian regional contexts would be advantageous, but not a prerequisite.
(7) Strong working proficiency in English is a prerequisite; proficiency in Hindi/other Indian languages is an advantage.
6. LOCATION AND WORK SCHEDULE
Gurugram, Haryana.
Office-based Monday to Thursday; work from home on Friday. Saturday and Sunday are normally weekly holidays, although occasional weekend work may be required.
Travel to programme locations and other duty stations, as required.
7. REFERENCE
SAMS/CONF/HOC/2026
8. CONTACT INFORMATION
Team SAMS
Strategic Alliance Management Services Pvt. Ltd.
1/1B, Choudhary Hetram House, Bharat Nagar
New Friends Colony, New Delhi 110 025
Phone: 011-4081 9900; 4165 3612
9. APPLICATION PROCESS
SAMS (Strategic Alliance Management Services Pvt. Ltd.) is supporting the hiring organisation on this search. Interested candidates may apply through LinkedIn or the SAMS recruitment platform. All applications and enquiries will be handled in confidence. Further details of the selection process will be shared with shortlisted candidates.
By submitting an application, candidates acknowledge that SAMS will collect and process their personal information for recruitment and selection purposes, and may share their application, CV and other relevant information with the hiring organisation in connection with this search mandate. Candidate information will be handled confidentially and in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, as applicable.
Applicants will be requested to share up to three existing communications work samples, including a social media campaign or story they have created (which need not relate to education), an evidence-based stakeholder communication, and a publication or production example. Confidential content may be redacted.
Closing Date: November 14, 2026
