Organisation Background:

The Akanksha Foundation is a 30+ year old non-profit organization with the mission to build innovative schools that will empower children & young adults from underserved communities and influence the ecosystem. Akanksha supports 14,600 students through the formal-school education program and 5,800alumni from low-income backgrounds. Our 27 English-medium schools run in partnership with municipal corporations in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. We provide students from underserved communities a high-quality, holistic education at no cost. Our aim is to give students the knowledge, skills, and values they need to lead empowered lives, maximize their potential and break out of the cycle of poverty.

With a vision to scale our impact we codified our practices and, in 2022, joined forces with Nagpur Municipal Corporation and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to take these practices to nearly 200 public schools under 'Project Setu'.

Position Summary:

At Akanksha, we believe that instructional staff at our schools should be free to focus on providing our students with a high quality of education. The Manager School Operations supports schools by maintaining efficient systems and removing obstacles, helping schools to build strong cultures that reflect the mission and values that they believe in. The incumbent will work closely with the School Leaders, HR and Finance to provide solutions to school issues, cultivate relationships with school staff and ensure seamless logistics for all events and activities. This person will ensure that all schools are aligned with and integrated into all aspects of Akanksha. The incumbent works collaboratively with the COO, Director of Schools - Pune as well as Senior Manager Operations (Mumbai ) to develop a comprehensive long-range plan as it relates to all schools in Pune. You will be reporting to the Director of Schools- Nagpur.

What your role will entail:

School Culture:

● Optimize the scheduling of class time and available facilities for maximum learning time.

● Each year, prepare schools for start-up/ new school year and ensure all elements are set up for the new academic year.

● Works with the School Leaders to develop and implement long range plans for school improvement from an operational/culture perspective, along with the school coach.

● Keeps informed of current and educational thoughts, trends, and practices, as well as proposed legislation impacting the schools; informing School Leaders of significant development in these areas.

School Operations:

● The incumbent works closely with the members of HR and finance department to develop guiding principles around key decisions related to HR, finance, and other key areas of the organization — aligning on how decisions are made and helping to implement them across schools and modify/adapt as required.

● Manage relationships with key vendors and ensure effective systems for purchasing and maintaining supplies and materials.

● Oversee the maintenance and upkeep of the building and provide on-ground support when needed, recognizing infrastructure as an integral part of an effective learning environment.

● Ensure the timely implementation of all items on Akanksha’s school calendar.

● Ensure that the schools are adhering to all government compliance and reporting requirements.

● Ensure that student records are properly maintained and updated at the school.

● Ensure that the MIS is properly used and maintained in each school Government.

Relations:

● To build a working relationship with the government wherein Akanksha and the government authorities can work together to improve the standard of public schools.

● To support and supervise the Government Liaison Associate in maintaining relationships with the Government and to help resolve any issues between the Government authorities and Akanksha schools.

● Plan and support regular interface with senior government officials for COO and Director of School, Pune.

● To periodically set up reviews with respective authorities to showcase the work that Akanksha does and to bring up any school specific challenges.

● Keeping the schools and Akanksha informed of any amendments in the government policies and procedures.

Impact:

● Feed learning’s from the impact department into the schools, working collaboratively with the education and school teams.

● Participate in school reviews as required.

● Use other data- parent engagement, teacher parameters- to discuss school needs and action steps.

Development and Donor Relations:

● Liaise between the communications, development and donor relation team to communicate and meet school-specific needs.

● To conduct school site visits with visitors as needed.

● Share school-specific data and information with donor relations team and support donor reporting as per agreed deadlines Procurement and office space management.

● To lead the procurement (purchasing all goods and services at Akanksha schools and offices) for all the locations.

● To take care of office space management for all locations.

School Expansion:

● Identify with the government liaison associate, potential new sites for school expansion

● Conduct due diligence on site selection to ensure it meets required criteria.

● Assist in all aspects of school set up as required across functions (funding, HR, operations, etc).

What do you need for this position:

● Bachelor’s degree required, major in operations, management, finance, business studies, preferred Advanced degree preferred.

● Excellent English verbal and written communication skills.

● At least 5 years of experience in a managerial role preferably in overseeing a large team.

● 3-4 years’ experience in operations management preferred.

● Experience in the education/social sector preferred.

● Excellent influencing and relationship building skills – demonstrated success in building strong and sustainable relationships.

● Excellent project management skills with proven experience of and ability to plan effectively at the organizational level.

● Experience of developing and implementation of strategic plans.

● Experience of budgeting and managing resources.

● Demonstrated creativity and problem-solving skills in tacking organizational problems.

● An understanding of the specific and unique characteristics of working in a public private partnership model.

● Deep commitment to improving the lives of kids from low-income communities.

● Flexible and able to multi-task; can work within an ambitious, fast-moving environment, while also driving towards clarity and solutions.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: ₹85,000.00 - ₹92,000.00 per month

Benefits:

• Health insurance
• Paid sick time
• Provident Fund

Application Question(s):

• What is your current CTC?
• What is your expected CTC?
• What is your notice period?
• Do you have experience in Project Management in Education Industry?
• Do you have experience in dealing with Government Stakeholder?
• Are you willing to commute/relocate to Nagpur?
• Do you have experience in Operations Management in Education Industry?

Work Location: In person