Lead – Strategy & Strategic Partnerships

Position Overview:

Room to Read India is seeking a dynamic professional to operationalize the Country Strategy into actionable partnership pathways, support donor-facing concept development, and strengthen our visibility and thought leadership footprint. The role blends strategy, partnerships, proposal coordination, and system Influence positioned at the intersection of donor engagement, program insight, and narrative building.

This role is suited for someone who thinks strategically, writes persuasively, builds relationships confidently, and enjoys converting ideas into compelling advocacy or partnership opportunities.

Responsibilities:

Strategic Partnerships aligned to Country Strategy:

• Drive the strategic partnership agenda as outlined in the Country Strategy, focusing on expansion, innovation, and cross-sector collaborations .
• Identify, evaluate, and cultivate partnerships with
• Government systems for State/District integration and systemic adoption
• Organizations with specialized expertise in early years/FLN/numeracy/life skills/edtech
• Academic, research, philanthropic & multilateral bodies for joint initiatives or advocacy alliances
• Develop partnership strategies, value propositions, engagement decks, and partner briefs tailored to different stakeholder segments.
• Support high-level meetings through briefs, talking points, documentation, and follow-through.
• Track partner MoUs, deliverables, and strategic alignment to scale goals.

Strategy & Expansion Support:

• Assist the Country Director with periodic review, tracking and updating of the Country Strategy outcomes, progress markers, and strategic actions .
• Support development of state expansion strategies, district growth plans, and scale-up approaches in collaboration with Program Operations & State Teams.
• Conduct secondary research, policy mapping, and competitor scans to inform strategic decisions.
• Maintain internal dashboards/briefs linking strategy ↔ partnerships ↔ scale pathways.

Proposal & Concept Development Coordination:

• Serve as the central coordination point with the Global Grant Management Team for concept notes or proposal inputs.
• Support narrative development, consolidation of program information, thought inputs, and contextual data for proposals.
• Coordinate internally with Programs, RM&E, Finance, Fundraising & Program Operations to ensure alignment of technical inputs, costing assumptions, M&E frameworks, and narrative coherence.
• Maintain proposal libraries, evidence bank, and standardized resources for faster turnaround.

Strategic Positioning & Thought Leadership:

• Translate implementation insights, research findings, and state-level stories into external communication pieces—blogs, briefs, op-eds, keynote notes, advocacy decks.
• Support the Country Director in thought leadership positioning in FLN and Girls’ Education spaces.
• Develop content for convenings, campaigns, external events, and policy dialogues.

MarCom & Strategic Communications Interface:

• Work closely with the Marketing & Communications team on
• content review & messaging alignment
• Collaborate with media houses for thought leadership placement.
• Design and Execute program campaigns and branding support.
• storytelling material, social media inputs, field story pipelines
• Support day-to-day coordination across teams to drive timely communication outputs.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Master’s degree preferred: Education, Development Studies, Public Policy, Communications, or related areas.
• 7-12 years of experience in partnerships, proposal support, strategy, research, or development communication.
• Demonstrated writing skill—concept notes, strategy briefs, reports, advocacy content.
• Ability to work cross-functionally and influence without authority.
• Strong analytical thinking, project coordination, communication skills.

Competencies & Attributes:

• Strategic thinker who connects dots between program work, partnership value and system needs.
• Collaborative and comfortable navigating multiple teams.
• Strong research and synthesis capability.
• High ownership, structured working style and deadline discipline.
• Passion for foundational learning and equity in education.

Growth Opportunity:

This role offers direct exposure to India leadership decision-making, scale planning, strategic partnerships, and communication. It can evolve into a senior role over time based on performance, initiative, and leadership potential.

Compensation:

Room to Read offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits. Benefits include thirteenth month bonus, health insurance, and a retirement plan. The non-monetary compensation includes a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, meaningful, and rapidly growing organization that is changing transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries on literacy and gender equality in education.

Room to Read is a child-safe organization; all personnel are expected to adhere to Room to Read’s Child Protection Policy and Child Protection Code of Conduct.