Job Opportunity for Regional Director – Livelihoods at Magic Bus in Mumbai

Magic Bus India Foundation, founded in 1999 by Matthew Spacie, stands among the top five NGOs in India dedicated to education and skill development. Our organisation equips adolescents and young individuals with essential life skills and knowledge to thrive during the transition from childhood to livelihood.

Our mission is to create a world where young people break free from poverty, leading fulfilling and rewarding lives while making positive contributions to their communities. We achieve this by enabling adolescents to complete their secondary education, providing them with the necessary skills for employment, and connecting them to job market opportunities. Our target age group ranges from 12 to 24 years.

We operate two flagship programs: the Adolescent Programme and the Livelihood Programme.

In our Adolescent Programme, we prioritise the instillation of life skills and the enhancement of education. Through our network of 2,770 connected schools operating in 72 districts across 24 states, we have positively impacted the lives of over 1 million adolescents, with an impressive 51% participation rate of girls.The Livelihood Programme focuses on enhancing employability by providing specialised skills training and connecting young individuals to sustainable livelihood opportunities. Through our 95 Livelihood Centres and 825 Colleges, we offer sector-specific training, job placements, and post-placement support. This programme, operational in 13 states, has achieved an impressive 56% participation rate among girls and has successfully facilitated the placement of 2,02,429 youths to date.Magic Bus India Foundation has offices in India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.

The Role:

1) Accountable for overall designing, planning, reporting and deliverables achievement

· Responsible for planning, defining and communicating projects specifications, deliverables and timelines to all concerned

· Provide national-level project management support to Operation Teams for the allocated strategic projects

· Provide market expertise and be a strong source of Livelihoods knowledge and support each associate Team to effectively plan & deliver

· Oversee the design and implementation of ambitious portfolio of high quality, well-managed and impactful programs which brings about positive changes in the lives of youths from under-privileged sections of the society.

· Institutionalize strong systems and processes including program execution and automating the processes wherever appropriate for efficiency and effectiveness. This could include rolling out of newer initiatives or pilot projects.

2) Multi-stakeholder relationship building & management which include key internal and external stakeholders viz. Donors, Employers, Sustainability team, Operations Team, Programme Development Team, and other key support Functions

· Strategic SPOC for all Projects to all internal & external stakeholders

· Build and manage relationships with all direct & indirect stakeholders for effective planning & delivery of the allocated projects

· Continuous engagement of all stakeholders in all project milestone activities & phases

3) Design and implement a measurement framework for effective monitoring and evaluation

· Partner with MEL Team, and design & ensure compliance with M&E framework

· In collaboration with key members viz. Programme Managers, M&E Managers and MIS Manager, oversee strict adherence of defined project delivery standards

· Collaborate and lead Impact and other related Evaluation studies viz. Baseline, Midline, Endline, Stakeholder surveys, Market scan, etc.

4) Curriculum Design and Development

· Partner with Curriculum & Research Team to co-design new programmes

· Partner with all stakeholder in revising/enhancing the existing strategic programmes for better alignment with market & direct stakeholder expectations

· Lead Project Learning activities which include but not limited to periodic interaction with direct stakeholders, market players, operation and support teams, etc.

· Support Sustainability Team with proposal writing

5) Mentor Data Strategy & MIS team and related Initiatives as Additional responsibility

· Oversee MIS & Data strategy function, and provide strategic guidance

· Work with MIS Team in organizing National Projects Reviews

· Oversee management & enhancements of Data portals like Sixer Class, Tseek and Skill India Portal

· Oversee, in collaboration with National MIS Manager + IT Team + Vendor partner, development of Livelihood’s new integrated state of the art Data Management portal, OaSys

· Oversee and manage Verification Team in collaboration with National MIS Manager

6) Associated Administrative responsibilities

· Forecasting, budgeting and financial monitoring & management of all allocated functions

· Accountable for Team hiring, capacity building and performance management

· Staff work allocation and productivity management

7) Training and Capacity Building

· Develop partnerships with vocational training institutes and specialist Livelihood organizations that enable youth to achieve positive progressions into work or further education

· Work with the regional program team to ensure Livelihoods staff have the tools, skills and knowledge to successfully deliver employability skills training, mentoring, need assessment, placements and support for youth

· Provide senior leadership to livelihoods staff in the region ensuring high quality delivery of need assessment, career counseling, skills training, mentoring, job and education placement and post placement support to youth

Desired Competencies

• Programme management which includes budgets, monitoring & evaluation, and other financial information
• People management
• Empathy- ability to work with people from different backgrounds
• Business and Financial acumen
• Data and Analytics
• Networking and Communication
• Result oriented
• Relationship management skills- including donor management
• Ability to work with partners
• Strong Negotiator and Stakeholder management skills

Qualification and Experience

· Master’s degree in Management / Social Work / any other Social Science

· 18 to 20 years in the social sector out of which 7 years must have been in a similar leadership role managing youth development and skilling programme. Proven track record of performance in similar role and stability on the previous roles shall be the added advantage. Experience in the North region would be desirable

Reporting to: Chief Programme Officer-Livelihood

Interested applicants can share their resume to iram.malim@magicbusindia.org