Associate Director/Director �
Network Team – Partnerships Lead

Organisation Overview (Samhita.org)

Samhita-CGF is an impact catalyst that has been a leader in India’s CSR landscape for 15 years. Over this time,
we have partnered with more than 250 funders and 500 impact organizations, co-creating solutions that are
measurable, scalable, and sustainable. Together, these efforts have improved the lives of over 17 million
Indians across 31 states and union territories. Through our initiatives, which are CSR and FCRA compliant, we
address key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic
Growth), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

We began as a CSR consultancy to ensure that companies create catalytic change by leveraging their business
capabilities to solve social issues that they and their stakeholders care about. We then transitioned into a
strategic alliance builder, bringing together public, private, and philanthropic stakeholders to solve pressing
societal challenges, at scale. We established and managed 5 alliances which are collectively impacting 7 million
individuals from underserved communities, across financial inclusion, healthcare, livelihood, water and
sanitation.

Although the alliance approach has been effective in uniting the efforts of stakeholders to deepen the impact on
people, the scale of the problem faced by entrepreneurs, informal workers, and job seekers requires urgent
attention. India is home to approximately 63 million MSMEs, of which ~70% operate informally, and over 400
million people work in the informal sector. While several organizations within the sector do tremendous work to
solve challenges for these cohorts, there is no single mechanism that unites these efforts to deepen impact and
improve livelihoods at scale. As a result of this, the cost of delivering services and finding participants
remains high, and the time taken to deliver these services is much longer. Therefore, we are now evolving to
become an orchestrator of an open network to unite organizations across diverse sectors to create impact that is
scalable, sustainable, and replicable. Through this network, we aim to increase the incomes of 10 million
micro-entrepreneurs, informal workers, and job seekers by 2030, with a strong focus on women, by providing them
with a continuum of economic opportunities across multiple years. This includes, access to government schemes
and subsidies, skilling, financial empowerment through access to savings, investments and credit, market
linkages, jobs and career progression, depending on each participant’s need and eligibility.

Role Overview

The role sits within Samhita’s newly constituted Network Team which will be responsible for developing and
scaling the network, in collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders. Building win-win
partnerships is core to the success of the network, i.e. ensuring that each partner that we need to bring on
board to provide a service on the network, sees enough value to partner with the network. This is critical for
the model to be sustainable and scalable. Type of partners include:

Private sector organisations that offer products and services to micro-entrepreneurs, informal workers, and job seekers (participants) or those that have participants in their workforce/supply chains
Government organisations to provide access to government infrastructure and unlock access to schemes and subsidies
Financial institutions to provide affordable credit, savings and investments
Social Sector Organisations to provide on-ground support to participants
Open networks like ONDC, ONEST, Vistaar to access various livelihood services (market linkages, credit, skilling, etc) and participants on their networks
Academic institutions as knowledge/research partners
Funders to support the network infrastructure

While there will be a separate fundraising team for the network, the Partnerships Lead will be responsible for creating the value proposition and building relationships with all other partners.

This role is for you, if you are someone who loves problem solving, are a self-starter and are looking to work in a fluid, dynamic environment with evolving challenges and opportunities for constant learning.

Responsibilities

Creating a value proposition for each type of network partner (for example – showcase the lower sourcing costs, lower risk through credit guarantee cover, better borrower outcomes through holistic livelihood support and access to data for underwriting – to build partnerships with financial institutions to unlock access to formal credit, savings and investments for participants on the network)
Transition existing partnerships from current models to network engagement models
Building new partnerships with organisations that offer services to participants or increase the reach of the network
Building financial models to lower costs and develop new revenue streams to support the long term sustainability of the network
Support the leadership the strategy, innovation and growth planning
Work with cross-functional teams in preparing partnership and implementation models for the network
Attend events, tap into existing networks and build new networks to increase organizations visibility amongst all types of partners
Support the communications team in putting together an outreach toolkit consisting of various proposals, collaterals, updated numbers, standard decks, newsletters, playbooks which will help in the outreach and help in showcasing the network to the external stakeholders
Work closely with the CEO and the Core team, CSR clients, other potential Donors to nurture long terms strategic partnerships and continued funding support
Drive a culture of coaching and mentorship to facilitate capacity building of teams

Qualifications, Skills & Experience

10+ years of experience in a Big 4/Consulting/ Investment organization’s strategy role
Demonstrated ability to strike partnerships with diverse stakeholders
MBA, MPA/MPP from reputed university/institute
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Very strong MS Office and written Business English skills
Strong Interpersonal, client management and presentation skills
High interest working in Social Impact Space (prior experience in the social sector is not a requirement), and ability to work flexibly to meet deadlines
Ability to contribute beyond the defined scope of work
Work Location: Mumbai/Delhi

Why Samhita?

Make a big difference: Take, Own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead cutting
edge innovative strategies. The candidate shall work alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that
fosters growth and creativity.
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a positive
change in the lives of millions.
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals who strive
for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been strengthened and supported by
international and domestic donor agencies and foundations such as the USAID, Gates Foundation, Microsoft,
Google, Walmart Foundation, LinkedIn, S&P Global, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv,
Accenture, Cummins, and many more.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex challenges.