Akanksha is on a mission to build one of the largest and most innovative networks of schools in

India, serving children from low-income communities, to maximize their potential. Our

aspirational vision for students integrates academic excellence with life skills (including socio-

emotional development), that will enable each child to live an empowered life. We believe an

empowered citizen must possess a sense of mastery to pursue excellence, a sense of agency to

make informed choices and a sense of purpose to serve their communities.

Over the last 30 plus years, Akanksha has been at the forefront of proving what’s possible for children

from low-income communities in Mumbai & Pune. Our 4,600 alumni are on the path to living an

empowered life. Today Akanksha runs 26 schools in partnership with governments of Mumbai,

Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai and Nagpur serving ~13,000 children in grades Jr Kg - Gr

10.

Position Summary: In order to deliver quality impact, Akanksha believes in recruiting excellent talent, creating opportunities for development; and engaging and retaining its people. We want each of our members to be immersed in Akanksha’s culture of warmth, care and commitment towards our mission. As the Senior Manager-HR, you will be the HR lead for School Support & Central Support teams at Akanksha. You will also assist Senior Director-HR in owning the change and development philosophy at Akanksha. You will co-create and shape the strategies for Talent Acquisition, Development, Engagement, and Retention such that people at Akanksha give their personal best, working together as a team towards the Akanksha Vision, and Mission and reinforcing its values.

You will be reporting to Senior Director, Human Resources

Specific responsibilities will include:

HR Strategy
• Participate in creating the HR Strategy in line with Akansha’s vision, mission, values, and goals.
• Co-create and implement talent management programs and processes. Challenge current practices and think outside the box to generate creative ways to scale interventions.
• Own Akanksha’s change and development philosophy and direct policy creation & system alignment keeping it at the center.
• Design and cascade workshops/sessions, processes, and systems to enhance organizational effectiveness & culture
• Drive Employee Engagement across Akanksha by conceptualizing and implementing various employee development and engagement initiatives.
• Participating in relevant sectoral compensation, benefits studies & other surveys. Analyze trends in compensation and benefits; research and proposes competitive base and incentive pay programs to ensure the organization attracts and retains top talent.

HR Operations
• Lead HR operations for all School support and Central support teams which includes Manpower Planning, Talent Acquisition
• Participate or initiate continuous improvement on HR policies and processes

Team Management
• Lead and manage a team of 1-2 HR team members and oversee the achievement of collective goals and annual plans
• Contribute to the HR team goals and priorities beyond individual goals and priorities

What you need for this role:
• Deep belief and commitment toward Akanksha’s vision and mission
• Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience out of which at least 2 years should be in managing a team
• Experience in Values cascade, culture building, and other organizational development interventions,
• Experience with human resources metrics
• Competence to build and effectively manage interpersonal relationships at all levels of the company
• MBA in Human Resources or Master’s degree in a relevant field