Senior Manager - Programs (Climate)

About Climate Asia

Climate Asia works at the intersection of climate action, institutional capacity building, and

leadership development. We partner with civil society organizations, funders, and government

systems to strengthen the institutions, leaders, and structures that make climate adaptation

reach the communities that need it most. Our work spans multiple states across India, with a

growing regional presence in South and Southeast Asia.

The Opportunity

Climate Asia is looking for a Senior Manager to join the Programs team and work across

multiple active engagements, building strong interventions from the ground up. You will be part

of a small, high-output team that designs and delivers programs across several thematic areas:

organizational effectiveness, leadership development, gender equity in climate programming,

and talent and people systems for mission-driven organizations.

As a Senior Manager, you will own end-to-end project delivery and management across a

portfolio that includes capacity building and designing scale-up & sustainability strategies for

grassroots institutions, supporting regional leadership programs for emerging climate leaders,

building shared service models that address the climate sector's talent and operational gaps,

measuring whether programs are producing actual shifts in how organizations function, and

uncovering the barriers that prevent effective implementation from taking hold.

You will also help organizations close the distance between their programmatic ambition and

their institutional readiness to deliver on it.

What you will do

Program Design and Delivery

• Manage end-to-end coordination and delivery across multiple active program

engagements, ensuring timelines, deliverables, and quality standards are consistently

met.

• Support the design and refinement of program curricula, toolkits, frameworks, and

learning materials across capacity building and leadership development engagements.

• Identify implementation barriers within partner organizations and contribute to

designing solutions that address root causes, not surface-level symptoms.

• Support the development of sustainability and exit strategies that enable partner

institutions to sustain and grow independently after the engagement period.

• Develop and maintain project plans, workstream trackers, milestone schedules, and

reporting frameworks.

• Prepare regular project updates, progress reports, and presentations for internal

leadership and external partners.

Stakeholder Coordination and Communication

• Serve as primary relationship manager with partner organizations, ensuring clear

communication and collaborative problem-solving.

• Build and maintain relationships with foundations, government agencies, CSO partners,

and market actors.

• Support in mapping stakeholder landscapes, identifying engagement opportunities, and

maintaining relationship continuity across the portfolio.

• Represent Climate Asia in partner meetings, working groups, and sector convenings as

needed.

Research, Writing, and Evidence Building

• Draft concept notes, proposals, and funder-facing documents that meet a high bar for

clarity, structure, and strategic thinking.

• Conduct desk research, landscape scans, and secondary data analysis to support

evidence-based program design and iteration.

• Document program processes, operational models, and field learnings in structured

formats: case studies, process notes, evidence briefs, and program reports.

• Contribute to strategy documents, diagnostic reports, and policy briefs.

Capacity Building and Organizational Support

• Support the design and delivery of capacity-building interventions for partner

organizations, including workshops, training modules, and operational toolkits.

• Provide advisory support on organisational design, governance, team structure, and

operational systems.

• Assist in diagnostic assessments by gathering data, conducting interviews with

organizational stakeholders, and synthesizing findings into actionable recommendations.

• Help build internal knowledge management systems, templates, and process

documentation that support institutional learning across the team.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

• Support MEL processes, including baseline and endline assessments, data collection,

analysis, and reporting.

• Track whether programs are producing measurable shifts in organizational practice, and

flag where progress is stalling or where design assumptions are not holding.

• Work with the Research and MEL team to ensure program evidence is captured

rigorously and used to inform program decisions and course corrections.

Who You Are

Professional Experience and Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in program management, project coordination,

consulting, or implementation within the development sector, climate space, or adjacent

fields.

• Demonstrated experience managing program workstreams with multiple stakeholders,

tight deadlines, and real accountability for deliverables.

• Strong research and analytical capabilities, with experience conducting landscape

analyses, interpreting data, and translating findings into program decisions.

• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to produce high-quality concept

notes, proposals, strategy documents, and communications.

• Experience with field-based work, including direct engagement with grassroots

organizations, communities, or government agencies.

Strongly Preferred

• Prior experience with institutional strengthening, organizational development, or

capacity building programs.

• Experience working on gender and inclusion in a programmatic context, not just policy

or advocacy.

• Familiarity with the Indian climate adaptation or environmental governance landscape.

• Experience working with or within philanthropic foundations, bilateral agencies, or large

CSR programs.

• Experience managing or contributing to multi-country or cross-regional programs.

• Background in strategy consulting, management advisory, or experience managing

foundation-funded engagements.

Core Competencies

• Strong execution and coordination skills paired with the ability to contribute to program

thinking, not just program administration.

• Ability to navigate ambiguity and shifting priorities, taking initiative and creating

structure where it does not yet exist.

• Relationship-building across diverse stakeholder groups, from grassroots CSO leaders to

foundation program officers to government counterparts.

• Clear, direct communication style with a willingness to give and receive feedback

constructively.

• Systems thinking and the ability to see how individual program components connect to

larger institutional outcomes.

• Genuine interest in institutional effectiveness and what it takes to make mission-driven

organizations deliver better, not just grow.

Why Join Climate Asia

Mission and Impact: Your work will directly shape how civil society organizations operate,

how resources reach the frontlines, and how institutional capacity gets built in some of

India's most underserved regions.

Breadth: This role spans program design, stakeholder management, research, field

engagement, and evidence building, giving you a versatile and well-rounded profile of

engagement.

Field Exposure: You will engage directly with organizations on the ground, building a deep

understanding of what it takes to create lasting institutional change at the community level.

Network: You will work alongside leading foundations, government partners, and grassroots

practitioners across India and the region.

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and a brief cover letter explaining why this role interests you and

what you would bring to it.