Job Title: Senior Officer (Partnerships)
Location: Pune / Flexible (with travel)
Travel: As per the project need
Reporting to: Senior Manager (Partnerships)
Position Overview:
The Senior Officer Partnerships will lead the development and management of strategic collaborations that strengthen vocational education and employability pathways for secondary school students across India. This is a high-ownership role focused on partnership building, co-creation, and long-term ecosystem engagement. You will be responsible for identifying, securing, and nurturing relationships that directly contribute to LAHI's mission and national education priorities.
Key Responsibilities:
Partnership Development & Management:
- Identify, develop, and manage strategic partnerships with corporates, foundations, NGOs, academia, and ecosystem players aligned with LAHI's mission and programs. This includes prospecting new collaborators, conducting outreach, negotiating terms, and formalizing agreements.
- Design partnership concepts and proposals aligned with NEP 2020 and NCF 2023 priorities, ensuring that every collaboration is rooted in the national educational framework and contributes to systemic change.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for key partners and build strong, long-term, trust-based relationships. This involves regular communication, check-ins, and proactive engagement to ensure partners feel valued and connected to the impact.
Internal Coordination & Implementation:
- Work closely with internal program, content, technology, and state teams to co-create and implement partnership initiatives. Act as a bridge between external partners and internal stakeholders to ensure alignment and seamless execution.
- Ensure timely execution of partnership commitments and resolve challenges during implementation. This includes tracking progress, anticipating bottlenecks, and problem-solving in real-time to keep initiatives on track.
- Coordinate internally to align partnerships with organizational priorities and capacities. Ensure that partnership goals are realistic, resources are allocated appropriately, and all internal teams are briefed and ready to deliver.
Communication & Reporting:
- Support partner communication, visibility, reporting, and participation in events and forums. Draft partner updates, impact summaries, and visibility content. Coordinate partner attendance at LAHI events, workshops, and external platforms.
- Track partnership deliverables, outcomes, and learnings, and contribute to impact reporting and case studies. Maintain a centralized record of all partnership activities and use data to tell compelling stories of collaboration and impact.
- Strategic Support & Systems Building
- Support leadership in external advocacy, events, ecosystem engagements, and strategic conversations. Represent LAHI in relevant forums, prepare briefs and presentations, and contribute to high-level discussions that shape the organization's direction.
- Contribute to building systems, tools, and processes for effective and scalable partnership management. Help design workflows, CRM usage, documentation templates, and knowledge management practices that enable the partnerships function to grow efficiently.
Minimum Experience:
- 4-6 years of professional experience, with a minimum of 2 years in outreach, sales, partnerships, CSR, or related roles.
- Experience working in education, skilling, livelihoods, or allied social sectors, with an understanding of the Indian development landscape
- Strong ability to manage senior stakeholders across corporates, government, and nonprofits. Comfortable engaging with diverse audiences and building consensus.
- Comfort working in complex, multi-stakeholder environments where priorities may shift and require flexibility.
- Strong communication, coordination, and problem-solving skills. Able to convey ideas clearly, listen actively, and navigate challenges with a solution-oriented mindset.
- Strong writing and documentation skills, with the ability to produce clear proposals, reports, and case studies.
Personal Attributes:
- Relationship Builder
- A Self-Starter
- Driven by Impact
- Curious and a Fast Learner
- Collaborative to the Core
About Lend A Hand India : Lend A Hand India (LAHI) is a leading national Think Tank/NGO with over 20 years of experience in strengthening India's skill and vocational education ecosystem. LAHI works closely with 20+ State and UT governments through long-term partnerships, providing technical advisory and Project Management Unit (PMU) support to drive systemic reforms. In Uttar Pradesh, LAHI partners with the Directorate of Training (DTE) and the State Council for Vocational Training (SCVT) to support large-scale improvements in ITIs, skill education curriculum, assessments, certification, and policy implementation .
Our Mission
Equip School Students to Maximise Their Potential Through Skill Education
Our Approach
Direct implementation in schools
Partnership with central-state governments to define, and scale policy
Building of Centres of Excellence that act as lighthouses for innovation
Resource organisation for the skilling ecosystem
Our Knowledge in Action
Through the design & execution of innovative models from training centres, innovation hubs to mobile outreach initiatives, LAHI's innovative knowledge resource drives both grassroots learning and systemic transformation across India. With 250+ LAHI staff embedded in state education systems across 20+ states, we provide technical and project management support, enabling governments to translate policy into action.
Our Reach
LAHI's current scale of work includes -
20+ States and UTs
15000+ Schools
15 Lakh+ Students
250+ Team Members
