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Programs Associate, Systems

About us:

The Harish & Bina Shah Foundation (HBSF) is a philanthropic foundation committed to creating meaningful and lasting societal change by supporting high-impact nonprofits and institutions across India. Our work spans education, healthcare, livelihoods, environmental sustainability, and allied social causes, and is rooted in the belief that progress must be inclusive, grounded, and sustainable. Established in 2002, the Foundation works across diverse geographies and communities, partnering with organisations that are deeply embedded in the realities they serve.

At HBSF, we see ourselves not just as funders, but as long-term partners. We work closely with nonprofits, institutions, and ecosystem collaborators to strengthen organisational capacity, leadership, and systems — enabling impact that can endure beyond individual projects. Our approach is patient, professional, and collaborative, shaped by listening to partners on the ground and responding thoughtfully to both long-standing challenges and emerging needs.

As a team, we value discretion, integrity, empathy, and a strong sense of responsibility — both to the communities we work with and to one another. Joining HBSF means contributing to work that is purposeful, behind-the-scenes, and deeply human. It is a space for people who find meaning in enabling others, who care about getting the details right, and who want their work to quietly but genuinely matter.

Location: Mumbai BKC
Work Mode: Full-time | Office-based with field exposure
Reporting To: Senior Leadership
Experience: 3–6 years
Compensation: Competitive | Commensurate with experience

The opportunity:

This is not a pure data role, and it is not a traditional program coordination role either. This role exists because good intentions do not scale without good systems.

At HBSF, we work across multiple causes, partners, geographies, and program models. The complexity is real. This role exists to bring clarity, coherence, and usability to that complexity — through systems, processes, and learning structures that work for people on the ground and for leadership making decisions.

The Programs Associate (Systems & Processes) plays a key role in strengthening the institutional backbone of the foundation. This role sits at the intersection of programs, finance, operations, and strategy. You will help design, maintain, and evolve systems that bring together programmatic, financial, and operational information — so that teams and leadership can make better, more grounded decisions.

Your work ensures that information flows meaningfully across all layers of the foundation's work — from partners to internal teams to leadership.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Systems Design & Implementation

• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve MIS and data management tools that integrate programmatic, financial, and operational information

• Work closely with program teams to design systems that are efficient yet flexible, capturing the nuances of diverse grants and partnerships

• Ensure data integrity, consistency, and ease of access across teams

Enabling Better Decision-Making

• Generate dashboards, trackers, and summaries that provide leadership with a holistic, real-time view of the foundation's portfolio

• Draw insights from program and partner data to support learning, reflection, and strategic direction

• Ensure that systems are designed to enable learning and improvement, not just compliance

Process Strengthening & Standardization

• Help define, document, and refine internal workflows, templates, and review mechanisms at both partner and institutional levels

• Balance the need for standardization with contextual flexibility across different programs and partners

• Contribute to building institutional memory by organizing and systematizing key documents, reports and learning

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with finance, programs, and operations teams to align data, analysis, and reporting systems

• Liaise with external vendors, software developers, and consultants where required to ensure systems are user-friendly and responsive

• Support partners in improving their own data systems and reporting capabilities where relevant

Learning, Reflection & Institutional Growth

• Synthesize trends and insights emerging from internal data and partner reports

• Contribute to quarterly and annual reviews, board presentations, and sectoral learning documents

• Participate actively in building an organization that values continuous learning, collaboration, and transparent communication

Experience and Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Management, Data Analytics, Public Policy, Development Studies, or related fields • 3–6 years of experience in program management, MIS development, monitoring & evaluation, or process design • Strong analytical and systems-thinking orientation, with the ability to see the "big picture" through details • Experience with Excel, data visualization tools, or MIS platforms preferred • Strong written and interpersonal communication skills, with comfort working across multiple functions

What are we looking for?

Apply if you •Believe that strong systems enable better judgment rather than replace it •Believe data should support learning and reflection, not just reporting •Believe processes should create alignment, not bureaucracy •Enjoy building structure in complex, multi-stakeholder environments •Can balance standardization with contextual flexibility •Are comfortable working across functions rather than within silos •Believe systems should serve people and decisions, not the other way around •Have a strong belief in the power of systems and structures to create fairness, transparency, and efficiency •Have the ability to balance analytical rigour with empathy when working with people and partners •Possess flexibility, patience, and curiosity to iterate and improve processes over time •Are committed to the foundation's values of integrity, collaboration, and sectoral strengthening Who Should NOT Apply •You prefer working in narrowly defined functional roles •You always expect clean data and fixed processes •You view systems purely as compliance or reporting tools •You are uncomfortable iterating and improving processes over time •You are looking for a narrowly defined MIS or reporting role •You are looking for a purely desk-based analytics position •You are looking for a role where systems are built once and never revisited

Please submit your CV, portfolio (less than 5MB), your portfolio and an accompanying letter explaining your experiences and ambitions, along with expected salaries. Please explain your exact role and contribution in your resume.