Senior Director - HR, People & Culture

Function / Team: People & Culture / Organization Leadership Team

Location: Mumbai or Pune

Reports To: CEO

ABOUT AKANKSHA

The Akanksha Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing children from low-income communities with high-quality, holistic education - enabling them to maximize their potential and transform their lives. Akanksha operates through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in partnership with municipal governments across Urban Maharashtra.

Today, Akanksha runs 27 English-medium schools across Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur, reaching 14,600 students and employing 760+ educators. Its four core programs - the School Project, Alumni Support and Engagement (ASE), Project Setu, and Art for Akanksha (AFA) - collectively serve tens of thousands of children and young adults on their journey from early schooling to economic mobility.

Akanksha's 2031 aspiration is bold: to run 45-50 high-performing PPP schools serving 35,000 children directly, while enabling holistic outcomes for 250,000 children across government schools through Project Setu. Talent is the most critical enabler of this ambition - and the person will play a crucial role in this journey.

POSITION SUMMARY

The person will drive Akanksha's end-to-end talent and culture agenda across a workforce of 700+ members spanning teachers, school leaders, social workers, counsellors, and central staff. You will translate Akanksha's cultural values - Passion, Purpose & Performance - into the systems, practices, and leadership that enable every team member to give their best, and every child to receive their best.

This is not a traditional HR leadership role. It calls for someone who understands that in a school network, talent IS the program - and who brings the strategic conviction, relational depth, and operational rigor to build and execute a people function that enable realization of Akanksha's vision.

This is a rare opportunity to build something lasting - a people and culture infrastructure that reflects Akanksha's belief that every child deserves an excellent teacher, and every educator deserves excellent organization.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Drive the Organization, culture & engagement agenda and people strategy for the future Design and own a 5-year Talent Strategy roadmap directly aligned to Akanksha's vision, addressing talent pipeline, leadership bench strength, performance culture, and org design Co-create the organizational structure in partnership with the CEO to support growth while protecting culture, particularly as Akanksha scales from 27 to 45-50 schools Work with the CEO and Leadership Team driving Akanksha's Passion, Purpose & Performance culture - translating the four core cultural tensions (child-first care, distributed leadership, learning and consistency, relational trust) into visible daily practices as the organization scales Design engagement strategies that reflect the varied realities of school-based and central staff across three cities Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion across all talent practices 2. Provide direction and shepherd the future focused HR operations to deliver the future focused experience Lead HR operations across the Central HR team and City HR teams in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and potential new cities Enable a culture of fairness, transparency, and trust - including sustained compliance and living commitment to Code of Conduct, Child Protection Policy, and POSH Be a part of the expansion decision making team from the standpoint of talent readiness / availability 3. Akanksha Academy & Talent Pipeline Develop a blueprint for Akanksha Academy with Chief of schools and CEO - a dedicated internal institution to cultivate the next generation of teachers, school leaders, and functional heads Develop a sustainable talent pipeline that taps early-career educators, returnees, cross-sector talent, and - critically - Akanksha alumni as future leaders Build sourcing partnerships with campuses, fellowship programs, referral networks, and alumni channels to hire for mindset, capability, and long-term fit 4. Performance Management Lead the next phase of performance management - building clarity, consistency, and a culture where contribution is recognized and rewarded in alignment with Akanksha's Passion, Purpose & Performance ethos Resolve pay parity and internal compensation drift through role mapping, benchmarking, and phased realignment - maintaining fairness and morale across a workforce that spans classroom teachers to senior leaders while fostering a performance culture Complete and embed the competency framework across all roles (Phase 1: school roles; Phase 2: central roles) so it anchors hiring, pay, performance, and development decisions organisation-wide 5.Leadership Bench & Career Development Cultivate second-line leaders (N-1 and N-2 pipeline) along with members of the leadership team for school leadership and critical central functions, with readiness to step into roles within 2-3 years Design, along with School Leadership Team, visible career pathways across school and central functions to increase internal mobility, reduce attrition, and signal that Akanksha is a place to grow - not just a first job Lead succession planning for critical roles, including school leaders and vertical heads, in partnership with the CEO, leadership team and board HR subcommittee 6.HR Systems, Technology & Governance Design and deliver HR policies and processes that enable the leadership to take people decisions that are aligned with Akanksha's philosophy, culture and strategy. Strengthen and scale HRIS and digital HR processes (leave, attendance, onboarding, performance) in partnership with the Technology team, ensuring technology strengthens - not replaces - human relationships Ensure all people practices are legally compliant, equitable, and aligned with sector standards Build and develop a high-performing, lean HR team capable of delivering more with greater impact, in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, as the organization scales Assess and highlight people risks to the Leadership Team and propose mitigants as appropriate 7. Executive Leadership & Organizational Oversight Serve as a key member of the executive leadership team, contributing to organization-wide strategic planning, policy development, and decision-making. Lead the HR Board Sub-Committee, reporting talent strategy, progress, and risks to the Board Provide oversight and leadership of the academic division, ensuring alignment with the network's mission, budget, and operational goals. Represent the organization in high-level meetings with authorizers, funders, and stakeholders, advocating for academic priorities and resources. Collaborate with other C-level leaders to integrate academic strategies with financial, operational, and community engagement efforts. WHAT YOU BRING

Values & Mindset

• Deep belief in Akanksha's vision: that children from low-income communities, given the right education and support, can achieve economic mobility, agency, and purpose
• Comfort holding cultural tensions - care and excellence, autonomy and accountability, speed and depth - without collapsing them into false choices
• Collaborative, humble but firm, and mission-first - able to work across school leaders, central teams, the CEO, and the Board
• Resilient and adaptive; energized by the complexity of a growing organization
• Outcome oriented
• Resourcefulness in managing outcomes even with resource constraints

Knowledge & Skills

• Strategic thinker who can diagnose complex people challenges and design integrated, sequenced solutions - not isolated HR initiatives
• Deep expertise across talent acquisition, compensation design, performance management, learning & development, and organizational design
• Strong data orientation - ability to use people analytics to drive decisions and demonstrate impact
• Exceptional communication and influence skills - equally effective in a school staffroom, in a senior leadership conversation, and in a Board presentation
• Ability to balance strategic ambition with practical execution in a resource-conscious, mission-driven environment

Experience and education qualifications

• 12-15 years of progressive HR leadership, with at least 3-5 years in a Head HR or equivalent strategic role.
• Demonstrated experience designing and executing people strategy in complex, multi-site organizations; education, social sector, or non-profit experience preferred
• Track record managing diverse workforces - frontline educators and school staff alongside professional and central teams
• Experience building or significantly scaling an internal talent development or leadership pipeline function
• Strong administrative experience; someone who can think strategically as well as understand and implement the nitty gritties of processes.
• Experience and knowledge of Adult Learning is preferred.
• Preferred MBA in Human Resources or Master's degree in Organisational Psychology, Education Leadership, Social Work or other relevant field

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

• Please email a 1-2 page resume . click apply for full job details