1. POSITION VACANT: Deputy Country Director - Program Support, American India Foundation Trust, Okhla, New Delhi

2. ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND:

The American India Foundation Trust (AIF) is a private, non-profit, nongovernmental organization, dedicated to catalyzing social and economic change in India, and building a lasting bridge between the USA and India. Registered as a Trust in India, with an independent Board of Trustees, AIF adheres to strict financial and governance standards, ensuring transparency, accountability, and responsible management of resources. As per statutory mandates, AIF is also registered under FCRA, CSR, 80G, and 12A. These registrations and certifications stand as tangible evidence of the organization's existence, credibility, and compliance with the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks, while demonstrating a commitment to organization's vision and mission.

Led by a strong India Trustee Board, AIF is committed to improving the lives of India’s underprivileged, with a special focus on women, children, and youth. The Foundation does this through high-impact interventions in education, health, and livelihoods because poverty is multidimensional. Through its unique value proposition, working closely with local communities, the Foundation partners with NGOs to develop and test innovative solutions and with governments to create and scale sustainable impact. Founded over two decades ago, in the aftermath of the devastating Gujarat earthquake, as a humanitarian initiative by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji and President Bill Clinton, AIF has impacted the lives of 18.88 million of India’s poor across 35 States and Union Territories of India.

AIF works on Education, Livelihoods, Public Health, and Leadership programs in India. It also responds to humanitarian emergencies such as earthquakes, floods, Covid-19, etc. For more information about AIF, please visit: https://aif-india.org/

3. JOB DESCRIPTION/ RESPONSIBILITIES:

Today, AIF is at an inflection point, and seeking to expand its presence across India through a decentralization and reorganization of its India operations. It currently employs 1300+ persons nation-wide and raises about USD 20 million annually. AIF plans to upscale this to double in the next five years.

Given its ambitions, AIF is looking to onboard a passionate, talented, and energetic Deputy Country Director – Program Support (DCD-PS) to lead the operations that support its programs in India. The post-holder will drive the development and implementation of the strategies for compliances, ensure harmonization of operational standards across AIF for high quality operational implementation and provide support to programs enabling adherence to statutory norms and practices of the government, donors, and partners across India. The DCD-PS will be responsible for all aspects of the functions of Finance, Administration, HR, Procurements, Technology, Audit, Legal, and Risk Management across all AIF’s long-term programmes and humanitarian and disaster relief work in India.

The incumbent will be based in AIF’s National Office, at Okhla, New Delhi and undertake significant travel across India. S/he will oversee the above functions, enabling quality program implementation across regions, strong internal compliance and governance in accordance with legal and statutory norms and assuring competitiveness of policies and practices, with a view to safeguarding AIF’s reputation, as one the most reputed NGOs in India.

Reporting to the Country Director, the DCD-PS will directly lead four to five functional Directors (HR, Finance & Admin, Procurements, IT and Audit) and their teams. S/he will help AIF’s Country Director represent, support, and build impeccable country operations and serve as the single point of contact for providing support to AIF’s programs in India.

The post-holder will also work closely with AIF’s Deputy Country Director -Programs, National Leaders of Fundraising and Communications and the National Technical Directors, for organizational growth and management.

The ideal candidate will be a committed and self-driven management/ development professional with organisational and team skills of the highest order. Apart from a proven track record of successful implementation support, strong alignment with AIF’s mission and values shall also be necessary. S/he should be capable of engaging effectively with a diverse and complex set of stakeholders spanning senior internal leaders and widely dispersed field teams. The DCD-PS will play a lead role in creating a team, culture and capacity that enables and supports high quality program implementation, statutory, donor and auditory compliances, governance, and administration in India. S/he will possess subject-matter expertise as well as the ability to “roll up their sleeves” to drive flawless program support and management infrastructure at AIF in India.

The post-holder will be expected to have experience and active working knowledge of India’s development sector, prevailing governmental norms and regulations encompassing FCRA, CGA, CSR, and institutional donor compliance protocols, apart from demonstrated capacity in developing high impact teams and culture in a growth focussed environment.

Key Job Responsibilities:

(A) Leadership, Strategy and Culture

(1) Work closely with AIF’s Country Leadership to establish strategic priorities and translate them into actionable plans for India’s Program support and enablement;
(2) Lead and support in the execution of the five-year Country strategy at AIF (with emphasis on strategies of Finance, HR, Procurement, Technology, Legal, Risk and Compliances);
(3) Create and articulate an inspiring vision for AIF’s Compliance Practices, Program support Infrastructure and Program enablement practices;
(4) Support the Country Director in adopting successful governance practices with respect to the Board, Trustees, and Advisors at AIF, as needed;
(5) Execute the duties of AIF’s Secretary to the India Board of Trustees;
(6) Monitor and submit compliance reports to the Board of Trustees for India’s Program support;
(7) Partner with Deputy Country Director – Programs to foster a collaborative, supportive and open work environment between the National & Regions teams, Functions and Programs for effective program implementation and organizational growth.

(B) Operational Support and Compliance Management
(1) Liaise with AIF’s US Team;

(2) Be the face of the organization in all matters relating to providing support to program’s operations and management, contracts, and statutory compliances;

(3) Lead the annual planning exercise for AIF in India;

(4) Collaborate with the Deputy Country Director – Programs, National Leaders of Fundraising & Communications, and the National Technical Leaders to ensure effective and timely submission of annual plans and budgets to the Board;

(5) Ensure organizational readiness and quick updates to internal protocols to meet new donor mandates such as USAID and other institutional donor compliances at the regional and national level;
(6) Lead the registration of AIF on the Social Stock Exchange and manage its successful execution;
(7) Support the forging of alliances and intellectual exchange between functions and programs for effective program support and enablement;
(8) Manage, mentor, and guide the Directors of Finance, Administration, Human Resource, Procurements, Technology, Legal, Internal Audit and Risk Management;
(9) Ensure that AIF’s organizational structure, functional SOPs, policies, and other processes are in place and deliver effectively on the strategic objectives defined by the organization;
(10) Support changes in SOPs of the Finance, HR, Procurements & Admin function to ensure compliance across offices, teams, and projects including but not limited to those relating to FCRA, CGA, CSR, and any other financial and governmental regulations applicable to Indian NGOs;
(11) Overall review, monitor, evaluate and improvise program support matters including financial matters across regions;
(12) Oversight and overarching accountability for the Finance, Administration, HR, Procurements, Technology and Legal functions at AIF;
(13) Work closely with the Functional Directors to ensure overall transparency and effectiveness of financial and administrative processes, HR policies, procedures and statutes, culture, procurement protocols, and legal compliances of the organization and its assets;
(14) Work closely with the finance team to ensure the timely conclusion of internal and external audits and comprehensive adherence with applicable compliances;
(15) Provide support in ensuring financial management and governance compliance at the regional and national levels in respect of all governmental, donor and auditory protocols, norms, statutes and standards;
(16) Ensure all donor reports and compliances are 100% error free, of high-quality standards and on time across functions and program support activities;
(17) Oversee and ensure high quality of reports prepared for Board meetings;
(18) Oversee year end audit process and monthly closures. Lead the audits across functions, especially Finance. Ensure due diligence and institution of effective checks;
(19) Facilitate compliance with labour laws across all offices in India. Facilitate/ oversee compliance with state filings/ state-mandated HR rules/ regulations/ minimum wages, apart from state-specific financial, taxation and CSR rules/ regulations;
(20) Oversee the effectiveness and success of Financial, HR, Procurements and Technology practices at AIF;
(21) Facilitate adherence to rigorous compliances at the national and regional levels via SOPs, and monitoring and control practices in India towards all financial, HR and Procurements norms, statutory norms, legal requirements for the country operations as per respective state and national governmental regulations;
(22) Liaise with central and state government authorities, on a need basis for compliance with existing and upcoming regulations and statutes;
(23) Provide support in ensuring adequacy and high quality of administrative support infrastructure across regions and offices of AIF;
(24) Maintain programs’ support systems and structures across regions for excellence in their execution;
(25) Support the Country HR in the design and improvements to systems and processes to ensure ease of sustainability and growth in regions as programs scale-up;
(26) Facilitate the talent succession planning for building a strong second line of functional leadership and execution teams across the country;
(27) Oversee effectiveness and success of Finance, Administrative, HR, Procurements practices and Technology services at AIF;
(28) Support the compliance to and strengthening of systems and sub systems as well as processes across the country to ensure training, motivation and retention of key talent;
(29) Support AIF’s responses to humanitarian emergencies including support to initiatives towards the management and utilization of AIF’s Emergency Response Fund, and collaborating with programs towards such interventions, as per need;
(30) Build AIF as a Technology first Organization;

(a) Build the roadmap for the organization’s ‘Transformation through Technology’;
(b) Collaborate with stakeholders for successful roadmap deployment;
(c) Identify gaps and recommend tech-based solutions for world-class functional service and support to programs;
(d) Lead and champion the adoption of innovative and cost-effective technology solutions to upgrade all functions;
(e) Align technology solutions to AIF’s Board’s vision and periodically report on developments;
(f) Lead decision-making, negotiations, planning, and end to end execution of all technology adoption initiatives, at scale.

Over and above this, lead any other projects as needed by the Country Director.

(Note: The roles and responsibilities outlined above are not meant to be an exhaustive list. The post-holder is expected to possess the flexibility to assume responsibility for and undertake all other related duties that are within her/ his skills and abilities, whenever reasonably instructed.)

4. QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES:

Qualification
Master’s degree preferably in General Management/ Development/ Economics/ Financial or equivalent disciplines. Post-graduate qualifications may be relaxed in the case of candidates possessing an exceptional track record.

Experience 

(1) Minimum of 16-20 years of proven experience in delivering operational excellence across the finance, administration, HR, compliance, and procurement functions, with a minimum of six years in a senior management role.

(2) Prior experience in leading processes across technology, legal, internal audit, and risk management, is also required.
(3) Strong knowledge and understanding of FCRA, CSR, CGA and related laws and norms in India;
(4) Strong knowledge and understanding of the social and development issues in India;
(5) Prior experience with and ability to lead large-scale change initiatives is highly desirable;
(6) Proven track record of successfully managing compliances and delivering effective operational support to organizations worth at least USD 8–10 million;
(7) Prior experience in disaster relief work and humanitarian response at scale, will be strongly preferred.

Skills and Competencies

(1) Demonstrated skills and abilities in time management, analytical skills, effective delegation, attention to detail and conflict resolution; 

(2) Prior experience of working within India’s development/ social sector with proven experience in managing high growth with utmost compliance and integrity;

(3) Demonstrated ability to build and maintain effective partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including functional experts, government agencies, donors, and community leaders;
(4) Strong experience in cashflow management, banking, and investment and asset management;
(5) Knowledge of procurement processes and vendor relations will be preferred.;
(6) Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to represent the organization effectively to various audiences. Also demonstrated ability in negotiations and networking;
(7) Proven ability to successfully supervise a geographically dispersed team and work closely in coordination with other cross functional teams to deliver projects on-time;
(8) Ability to manage complex management systems and structures;
(9) Ability to remain calm in a pressurized environment and lead the team in a fast-evolving and ambiguous work environment;

(10) Demonstrated ability to build and maintain effective partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including government agencies, donors, and community leaders;
(11) High integrity and ethical conduct;
(12) Growth mindset and ability to deliver in a growth-oriented environment;
(13) Proven initiative, flexibility, and enthusiasm in managing complex activities in a changing environment;
(14) Preferred language proficiency in Hindi and English. Knowledge of other regional languages would be an advantage.

5. COMPENSATION OFFERED:

Gross compensation budgeted for the position is attractive and in alignment with salaries paid by leading I/NGOs for leadership roles. The offer made to the selected candidate shall be commensurate with qualifications, experience, and salary history.

5.1. Benefits and Perks:

(a) Opportunity to work in a high-growth and inclusive work culture;
(b) Opportunity to lead a highly passionate, driven, and talented team of professionals from diverse backgrounds;
(c) Opportunity to support ground-breaking programs across Education, Public Health, Livelihoods and Humanitarian Emergencies and help impact lives of millions of India’s underprivileged, at scale;
(d) Competitive medical insurance for self and family;
(e) Group Term life insurance;
(f) Personal Accidental Insurance;
(g) Generous leave benefits.

6. LOCATION: Okhla, New Delhi

7. REFERENCE: DCD-PS-AIF

8. CONTACT INFORMATION:

Team SAMS
Strategic Alliance Management Services P Ltd.
1/1B, Choudhary Hetram House, Bharat Nagar 
New Friends Colony, New Delhi 110 025
Phone Nos.: 011- 4081 9900; 4165 3612

9. APPLICATION PROCESS:

Eligible candidates interested in the position can apply using the link https://bit.ly/Apply-DCD-PS-AIF at the earliest.