World Change Starts with Educated Children® 

IMPORTANT: All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the country where the position is located. Room to Read is not able to provide sponsorship.

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. This position reports to Director, Program Operations.

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.

• 10-12 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.

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

Read is a child-safe organization; all personnel must adhere to Room to Read’s Child Protection Policy, Child Protection Code of Conduct and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Policy.

Room to Read is an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and developing the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds.

Child Protection Principles

• Room to Read is committed to the education and welfare of children and protecting them from abuse and exploitation
• Room to Read has zero tolerance for child abuse and exploitation.
• All children have the right to be free from abuse and exploitation, including neglect, maltreatment, and physical, mental or sexual violence, injury or abuse.
• All children should be treated with respect and dignity.
• The well-being of the child is Room to Read’s first priority when dealing with all identified or suspected cases of child abuse.
• Room to Read shall integrate child protection into all its organizational strategies, structures and work practices.

Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Principles

• Room to Read Representatives must create and maintain an environment that prevents sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
• Room to Read has zero tolerance for adult sexual exploitation and abuse.
• Sexual exploitation and abuse are serious violations of fundamental human rights and will not be accepted or tolerated.
• All adults should be treated with respect and dignity.
• Room to Read implements a survivor-centered approach, putting the survivor’s rights and dignity at the forefront.
• Survivors referred to available professional assistance (e.g. mental health counselling), upon consent.

About Room to Read:   

Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read envisions a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality, where all children have room to read, learn and grow – creating lasting change. Through our Literacy Portfolio, we train and coach teachers of the early grades in literacy instruction; create and publish quality books and curricular materials in local languages; and establish children’s libraries filled with diverse children’s books that can be enjoyed at school and home. Our Gender Equality Portfolio supports adolescents, particularly girls, in developing life skills that promote gender equality, helping them to pursue lifelong learning and make informed decisions.

We support young people of all genders to overcome gender biases and build the knowledge and skills to create a gender-equal world. Room to Read collaborates with local communities, partner organizations, publishers, and governments to test and implement innovative models that can be integrated into the education system to deliver positive outcomes for children at scale. To date, Room to Read has benefited more than 50 million children in 28 countries.

Learn more at www.roomtoread.org.