Project Lead

Position Title	Project Lead	Program	Digital Equalizer
Location	Bangalore	Reporting Relationship	Head of Program
Nature of   Employment	Staff	Number of Position	1
Duration: 1 Year or till the project end date, whichever is earliest.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN INDIA FOUNDATION  

The American India Foundation Trust (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 Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji and Bill  Clinton, American India Foundation Trust (AIF) has impacted the lives of 16.51 million of India’s poor across 35 States and Union Territories of 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 registered under FCRA, CSR, 80G, and 12A. Learn more at www.aif-india.org 

ABOUT DIGITAL EQUALIZER PROGRAM 

Digital Equalizer is AIF's flagship education program. DE envisions a world where all children from under-served  communities, especially girls, are prepared for a career and life. The program is bridging India’s digital divide by  providing and integrating technology into underperforming, under-resourced public schools, training teachers  in techno-pedagogy and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) methodology, and  transforming classrooms into collaborative and interactive places for students to learn while preparing them for  success in the 21st century global economy. Since its inception in 2004, the Program has empowered 7.25 million  children with interactive STEM experiences, trained 212,585 teachers in STEM pedagogy, and transformed  32,596 schools across 35 states and union territories of the country. 

PROJECT OBJECTIVES 

DESTEMPowering Students Project will be implemented in the schools of Bangalore and Chennai. The project  focuses on strengthening the learning outcome of the students through STEM learning and creating an inclusive and supportive environment in schools. 

KEY ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES 

Overview: The role of a project owner/leader/manager is to act as the end accountable person for the program’s  projects across planning, implementation/execution/delivery, reporting, donor driven requirements, financial &  other statutory compliances. They will be required to plan, manage, supervise, and organize activities and ensure  that project goals align with the program objectives & organization’s mission. The exact project  owner/leader/manager duties may vary between programs and by the actual needs of projects. 

1. Project Planning , Implementation & Budgeting:  

● Develop an operating plan & goals with detailed project plan (micro-plans), for the delivery  

of the project as per organizational protocols & contractual commitments.

● End accountability for timely execution of all project’s activities and operating plan as per  

organizational standards of time and quality to fulfill project’s MoU / contractual  

commitments.  

● Ensure excellent project management and effective utilization of time and resources.  

● Analyze project risks. 

● Based on project monitoring, Implement and manage changes and interventions to ensure  

project goals are achieved. 

2. Approvals, Documentation & Legal compliances :  

● Proactively seek approvals from government , partners, any other stakeholders as applicable,  

to ensure timely on-ground implementation.  

● Ensure timely and accurate documentations - legal and others , w.r.t project implementation  

activities , including but not limited to, contracts, budgets, expenses, fund utilization,  

manpower, administrative expenses etc. 

● Ensure all legal compliances are adhered to within the project at all times including, labor  

compliances, taxation and other financial compliance, auditory compliances, POSH, Child  

protection, Code of Conduct, HR & admin policies.  

3. Manpower hiring, HR management & contracting :  

● Proactively plan manpower staffing for effective project delivery. 

● Conduct recruit activities as per HR policies. Prepare JDs, NAFs, design & conduct technical  

assessments and participate in the selection process actively to ensure timely recruitment of  

qualified project manpower. 

● Train the project team effectively to deliver to the needs of the project.  

● Consultancy contract management for projects’ consultants to ensure 100% compliance and  

zero deviations w.r.t organizational & legal compliances. Ensure contracts are uptodate and  

duly approved by Leadership before manpower is deployed on ground.  

● Manage the project team to ensure project’s goals are met , esp in the areas including donor  

satisfaction, safety, quality, and teams’ performance & motivation. Set goals for the project  

team, monitor progress & performance monthly and give timely feedback and support to  

ensure the team performs well.  

● Adhere to all HR policies for project staff & consultants.  

● Proactively support HR in project staff hiring & HR operations such as performance  

management, development, data,MIS etc.  

4. Financial management, Budget monitoring, expense management & approvals :  

● Develop a detailed operational budget for the project.  

● Proactively manage budget utilization & project expenses. 

● Monthly monitor and report budget utilization, project expenses internally & externally ; 

● Local expense management incl. approvals, staff expense approvals, management of  

advances & reimbursements, local procurements,  

● Collaborate proactively with Finance on all statutory & donor compliances w.r.t project  

finances;  

● Vendor management for administrative & other services as per project needs &  

organizational norms;  

● Optimal utilization of ERP for timely & accurate project expense management, procurements,  

reimbursements etc.  

5. Reporting :  

● Ensure monthly project monitoring through Smartsheets and timely updation to maintain  

accuracy at all times on Smartsheets for respective projects. 

● Consistently provide excellent quality data and documentation that meet the quality  

standards of the organization; 

● Produce accurate and timely reporting of project status throughout its life cycle - conduct  

project reviews monthly, quarterly for Leadership and as per project MoUs and contracts.  

6. Communications :  

● Share project updates and highlights from time to time including written notes & briefs,  

photographs & videos, presentations etc.  

● Ensure success stories are documented and shared periodically for program communication  

through AIF social media handles; 

● Facilitate field visit for any internal & external stakeholders incl Leadership, Board, Donors,  

Partners and any other.  

● Support in planning & execution of events , training for the project at the ground-level.  

7. Evaluations & studies :  

● Support in evaluation studies. 

● Support in development of evaluation methods to assess project strengths and identify areas  

for improvement. 

8. Government representation:  

● Proactively engage with government bodies and relevant stakeholders for implementation  

success, project sustainability, scalability & replication.  

● Actively foster new Government relationships and nurture existing relationships with  

government partners.  

9. Stakeholder engagement :  

● Ensure timely and effective communication & active engagement (including periodic  

APPLICATION PROCESS:  

To apply for this position, please click https://forms.gle/KktuRRdkuoA8UDoD9 

Only applications of shortlisted candidates will be acknowledged.  

*****

Tags Jobs in Karnataka Jobs in Bengaluru Jobs in NonProfit Jobs in Lead