Associate Director Strategic Partnerships & Fundraising, Bengaluru

Role: Associate Director - Strategic Partnerships & Fundraising Bengaluru
Experience: 13 years 13-15 years in Fundraising Strategic Partnerships or Corporate Development
Salary: Up to 18-25 LPA

About the role:

We are looking for a senior strategic and relationship-driven leader to build the next phase of our institutional growth and resource mobilisation. As the Associate Director - Fundraising you will shape and execute a diversified fundraising and partnerships strategy that enables the organization and its digital platform to scale their impact deepen their work in India. The role will be responsible for building long-term partnerships across domestic and global philanthropy CSR family foundations HNIs bilateral and multilateral agencies and other institutional funders.

our organization has evolved into an organisation with a distinctive portfolio spanning childrens publishing access to multilingual books and digital reading experiences through our digital platform. The Associate Director will therefore play a critical role in articulating this evolving proposition to funders and partners - developing compelling investment cases across programmes organisational capacity technology and digital infrastructure and enabling the organisation to move from transactional grants towards deeper multi-year and strategic partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Fundraising & Diversification
   • Blended Funding Models: Secure a balanced portfolio of programmatic grants (for regional implementations) and multi-year non-programmatic/core grants to invest in organizational capacity tech infrastructure and R&D.
   • Crowdfunding Platform: Support and expand the reach of our Crowd Funding platform through strategic CSR partnerships.
   • DPG & Technology: Pitch our platforms growth as a premier global Digital Public Good (DPG) to international philanthropists venture philanthropy funds and multilateral institutions.
   • Content: Raise dedicated funds for creating content that is identified as a gap area in childrens literature locally and contextually relevant content mother-tongue and hyperlocal content designed specifically to reach underserved last-mile children.
   • Omnichannel Pipeline: Scale and manage high-value relationships across Corporate Social Responsibility funds Family Foundations UHNWIs and bilateral development agencies.
2. Partnership Management & Ecosystem Building
   • Value-Proposition Crafting: Translate compelling data-driven investment opportunities through diverse donor profiles.
   • Hybrid Ecosystem Advocacy: Effectively advocate for the blended value of print-and-digital (hybrid) models to institutional donors.
   • Donor Stewardship: Build structured retention and upgrade paths for existing multi-year partners ensuring transparent reporting deeper engagement and alignment on impact metrics.
3. Team Leadership & Operational Excellence
   • Financial Forecasting: Partner with the CEO and Finance teams to build multi-year revenue projections manage the fundraising budget and meet annual targets.
   • Proposal Frameworks: Lead the creation of grant proposals concept notes and pitch decks.
   • Mentorship: Lead coach and build the capacity of the fundraising team to run efficient research outreach and grant compliance cycles.
   • Collaboration: Drive fundraising efforts by collaborating with internal teams to design and write persuasive proposals and pitches.

Skills & Qualifications

Required:

• Proven Track Record: At least 13-15 years of experience leading fundraising or strategic partnerships in the social sector international development or corporate business development.
• Capital Sourcing Network: Demonstrated success in securing large-scale multi-year grants from institutional CSR domestic/international foundations or philanthropies.
• Hybrid Portfolio Experience: Familiarity with funding models for both traditional grassroots implementation (e.g. education print) and technology-for-good products (SaaS open-source platforms or DPGs).
• Communication: Exceptional public speaking and executive-level writing skills. Ability to converse comfortably with corporate CEOs trustees and visionaries alike.

Preferred:

• Post-graduate degree in Business Administration Public Policy Development Studies Communications or a related field.
• Direct experience raising funds for diverse programs open-source digital public goods or edtech-for-impact initiatives.
• In-depth understanding of compliance FCRA regulations and corporate reporting landscapes.

Hiring Note: Applications will be reviewed on rolling basis. This job is first on October 13 2026 on Ground Zero

For any questions ping us on WhatsApp chat: 91-