Industry: Non-profit Organizations, Education
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 to run 45ā50 high-performing PPP schools serving 35,000 children directly, while enabling holistic outcomes for 250,000 children across 800-1000 government schools through Project Setu.
Function / Team: People & Culture / Organization Leadership Team
Location: Mumbai or Pune
Reports To: CEO
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 enables realization of Akanksha's vision.
Key Responsibilities:
Drive the Organization, Culture & Engagement Agenda and People Strategy for the Future:
ā¢ Design and own a 5-year Talent Strategy roadmap aligned to Akanksha's 2026ā2031 vision
ā¢ Co-create the organizational structure in partnership with the CEO
ā¢ Drive Akanksha's Passion, Purpose & Performance culture
ā¢ Design engagement strategies for school-based and central staff
ā¢ Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion
Provide Direction and Shepherd Future-Focused HR Operations:
ā¢ Lead HR operations across Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and future cities
ā¢ Ensure compliance with Code of Conduct, Child Protection Policy, and POSH
ā¢ Support expansion decision-making from a talent readiness perspective
Akanksha Academy & Talent Pipeline:
ā¢ Develop blueprint for Akanksha Academy
ā¢ Build sustainable talent pipelines across educators and leaders
ā¢ Create sourcing partnerships with campuses, fellowship programs, and alumni channels
Performance Management:
ā¢ Lead performance management transformation
ā¢ Resolve pay parity and compensation alignment
ā¢ Embed competency frameworks organization-wide
Leadership Bench & Career Development:
ā¢ Cultivate second-line leadership pipeline
ā¢ Design career pathways across school and central functions
ā¢ Lead succession planning for critical roles
HR Systems, Technology & Governance:
ā¢ Design and deliver HR policies and processes
ā¢ Strengthen HRIS and digital HR processes
ā¢ Ensure legal compliance and sector alignment
ā¢ Build and develop a high-performing HR team
ā¢ Assess and mitigate people risks
Executive Leadership & Organizational Oversight:
ā¢ Serve as a key member of the executive leadership team
ā¢ Lead HR Board Sub-Committee
ā¢ Provide oversight and leadership of academic division
ā¢ Represent organization with stakeholders and funders
What You Bring:
Values & Mindset:
ā¢ Deep belief in Akankshaās mission
ā¢ Ability to balance care and excellence, autonomy and accountability
ā¢ Collaborative, mission-first leadership style
ā¢ Resilient, adaptive, and outcome-oriented mindset
Knowledge & Skills:
ā¢ Strategic HR leadership expertise
ā¢ Strong knowledge of talent acquisition, compensation, performance management, L&D, and organizational design
ā¢ Strong people analytics and HR data interpretation skills
ā¢ Excellent communication and stakeholder management
ā¢ Ability to balance strategic vision with execution
Experience And Education Qualifications:
ā¢ 12ā15 years of progressive HR leadership experience
ā¢ 3ā5 years in Head HR or strategic HR leadership role
ā¢ Experience in multi-site organizations
ā¢ Education, social sector, or non-profit experience preferred
ā¢ Experience building leadership pipelines and talent development systems
ā¢ Strong operational and strategic HR experience
ā¢ MBA in HR or Master's degree in Organisational Psychology, Education Leadership, Social Work or related field preferred
Application Instructions:
Please email a 1-2 page resume, an output/piece of work you are most proud of (maintaining confidentiality), and 3 references (names and email IDs).
