Vice President

Job Description

Position: Vice President – States & Destinations | Reporting to: CEO| Location: Delhi| Experience: 15+ years

About the Organisation

Atithi Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation working to transform India's tourism sector into a key engine of economic growth. We partner with government bodies, industry leaders, knowledge institutions and community stakeholders to design evidence-based policies and strategies to create livelihoods, safeguard heritage, and strengthen India's position on the global tourism stage.

Our vision: To make India a $490 billion tourism economy by 2035, with inclusive growth, preserving heritage, and showcasing the nation's culture and natural beauty to the world.

Tourism as an Economic Engine: Tourism plays a vital role in India's economy, generating over $200 billion in 2023, accounting for 5.5% of GDP. More importantly, it is a major job creator, supporting nearly 40 million jobs (8% of national employment). Additionally, 54% of the tourism workforce comprises women, highlighting the sectors role in fostering economic inclusion.

India's Untapped Global Potential: Despite its diverse geography and rich cultural heritage, India attracts only 10Mn Foreign visitors. In contrast, China saw 66 million foreign tourists in 2019, while Vietnam and Thailand welcomed 18 million and 40 million, respectively. This gap presents a significant opportunity for India's tourism sector to grow with the right strategies.

Key Challenges to Overcome

Lack of Standardised Data: Tourism is mainly measured by footfall rather than economic impact, limiting effective decision-making

Narrow Brand Image: India is often perceived as an exotic yet challenging destination. A broader appeal is needed to attract more diverse tourists

Concentration of Tourism: Major revenues come from only six destinations, leading to overcrowding and overuse of resources in popular spots like Goa and Shimla

Ease of Doing Business: Complex regulations and lengthy approval processes hinder the development of tourism infrastructure

Cross-Cutting Governance: Developing new tourist destinations requires coordinated efforts across various government departments, which is currently lacking

ATITHI Foundation leverages philanthropy as a catalyst to unlock India's tourism potential, driving economic growth and job creation.

Role overview

We are seeking an entrepreneurial and mission-driven leader to join Atithi Foundation in a senior leadership capacity as Vice President – States & Destinations.

This role is ideal for professionals with 15+ years of experience in public sector consulting, infrastructure / PPP advisory, tourism development, urban planning, economic development, or related fields who are looking to bring their expertise into a high-impact institution-building journey.

You will play a pivotal role in owning Atithi's work across states and destinations - building strategic government and private sector partnerships, shaping tourism transformation agendas, overseeing high-impact programmes, and helping build Atithi's people, capabilities and operating model as the organisation scales. The role requires a rare blend of strategic thinking, executive presence, stakeholder management, execution excellence and institution-building ability.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & State / Destination Ownership

• Own Atithi's state and destination portfolio, with end-to-end responsibility for relationships, strategy, delivery and outcomes.
• Identify priority states, destinations and reform opportunities where Atithi can create outsized impact.
• Develop multi-year tourism transformation strategies and roadmaps with senior government leadership.
• Oversee multiple workstreams across destination development, governance, infrastructure, investment, visitor experience and other priority areas.
• Ensure Atithi's engagements move beyond reports and recommendations towards implementation and measurable outcomes.
• Identify successful approaches, codify learnings and build models that can be replicated across states and destinations.

Government & External Relations

• Build trusted relationships with Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Tourism Departments, Tourism Boards, Development Authorities, Private Sector leaders and other senior government stakeholders.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to government leaders on tourism-led economic growth, destination development and institutional reform.
• Convene government departments, industry, investors and other ecosystem stakeholders around shared priorities.
• Represent Atithi in high-level government, industry and policy forums and strengthen its credibility across the tourism ecosystem.

Institution Building & Organisation Leadership

• Help build Atithi into a leading institution for tourism transformation in India.
• Shape the organisation's operating model, internal systems, playbooks, management rhythms and execution capabilities as it scales.
• Recruit, develop and mentor high-performing leaders and multidisciplinary teams across states and destinations.
• Build a culture of high ownership, intellectual rigour, collaboration and execution.
• Work closely with the CEO and leadership team on organisation-wide priorities, talent, capability building and culture.
• Help build Atithi's next generation of leaders — not just deliver the current portfolio.

Partnerships & Ecosystem Building

• Develop strategic relationships with tourism industry leaders, investors, infrastructure players, philanthropies, development organisations and domain experts.
• Identify opportunities for public-private collaboration and innovative models that bring capital, expertise and execution capability into tourism development.

Thought Leadership

Develop high-quality strategy papers, policy recommendations, presentations and senior-government / board-level materials.

Shape Atithi's voice in the tourism ecosystem through insights, frameworks and actionable policy thinking.

Who we are looking for

• 15+ years of strong professional experience with significant experience leading complex programmes, businesses, practices or organisations.
• Demonstrated ability to work with and influence senior government stakeholders, preferably at the state level.
• Experience in developing strategy as well as driving implementation and measurable outcomes.
• Strong commercial and strategic understanding of infrastructure, PPPs, investment, economic development or large-scale public programmes would be an advantage.
• Experience managing and developing high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams.
• Ability to operate comfortably at both the strategic level and in the details required to get things done.
• Exceptional stakeholder management, relationship-building and communication skills.
• Intellectual curiosity and ability to learn quickly across unfamiliar sectors and contexts.
• Entrepreneurial mindset - comfortable creating structure where none exists and taking ownership beyond a defined job description.
• Strong bias towards action and outcomes.
• Genuine interest in India's development and in building institutions that create long-term public value.

The person we are looking for

• You are likely to be someone who has already had a successful career, perhaps in consulting, infrastructure, investment, government, development or a mission-driven organisation, and is now looking for a larger canvas.
• You enjoy solving difficult problems where there is no ready-made playbook. You can sit across the table from a senior government leader, understand the underlying problem, challenge conventional thinking and build alignment around a practical path forward.
• You are equally comfortable mentoring a young team member, building a new capability inside the organisation, or stepping into an ambiguous problem yourself.
• Most importantly, you want to build something that lasts.
• Atithi is still young. The opportunity is not to inherit a finished organisation, but to help shape its strategy, culture, people and operating model; while working on some of India's most important tourism and destination challenges.

Why join Atithi Foundation

• Opportunity to shape one of India's most important economic growth sectors
• Work directly with senior government leaders and ecosystem stakeholders
• Own high-impact work across multiple states and destinations
• Help build an institution, its people and its capabilities from an early stage
• Bring private / public sector expertise into meaningful national impact
• Leadership autonomy with high visibility and influence

Location: New Delhi, with significant travel across India

Compensation: Competitive and commensurate with experience

Atithi Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from all qualified candidates.

ATITHI Foundation