Job Description:
Job Title: Director, Institutional Philanthropy
Reports to: Founder-CEO
About The Convergence Foundation:
The Convergence Foundation (TCF) is an Indian philanthropic foundation established by Ashish and Manisha Dhawan in April 2021. TCF builds on their legacy of impactful philanthropy, including the founding of transformative institutions like Ashoka University and the Central Square Foundation.
Our mission is clear: to transform the lives of all Indians through rapid, sustained economic growth and inclusive development. To achieve this, we focus on 3 pillars
1) Direct engines of economic growth that enable job creation,
2) Human capital development through education and employability, and
3) Development Enablers that strengthen the philanthropic ecosystem and improve state capacity.
In each area, TCF works on:
- Building pioneering institutions to address India's most complex socio-economic challenges.
- Shaping the larger ecosystem and sharing knowledge, insights and learning with other philanthropists, governments and key stakeholders
- We believe that the government is the key actor for system change, and the role of philanthropy and nonprofits is to strategically support the government. The TCF Network includes 20+ organisations all working systemically with the government, committed to addressing specific areas of India's socio-economic development, across our three pillars.
Position Summary:
The Convergence Foundation (TCF) supports a network of organisations working on Indias most pressing challenges in economic growth, education, skilling, and state capacity. Many of these organisations are now at a stage where scaling impact requires significant and sustainable funding.
Indias annual CSR pool of over 32,000 crore remains largely focused on programmatic activities, with limited support for systemic, government-aligned solutions. This role is designed to change that. The Director CSR Fundraising will:
Build relationships at the highest levels of corporate India (CSR heads, CXOs, board members) to position TCF and its network as credible partners for systemic change.
Support TCF portfolio organisations in shaping their CSR fundraising strategies, refining their pitches, and connecting them with aligned funders.
The role will carry independent fundraising targets (agreed with the Founder-CEO) and is central to enabling the next phase of growth across the TCF network.
Key Responsibilities:
TCF-led CSR engagement
- Build the pipeline for CSR funding by scoping and identifying high-potential prospects across corporate foundations and industry associations on shared agendas.
- Engage and maintain relationships with CSR decision-makers, including CSR Heads, CEOs, and Board members.
- Nudge CSR towards portfolio allocation and systemic solutions in areas like foundation literacy and numeracy, and skilling.
- Position TCF as a trusted partner and thought leader in the CSR ecosystem.
Portfolio CSR fundraising support
- Support portfolio organisations in designing CSR fundraising strategies based on their stage and scale.
- Anchor fundraising for issue-specific philanthropic collaboratives, beginning with the Foundational Learning Collaborative, and expanding to other areas like skilling, employability, and state capacity.
- Work with leadership (Founders, CEOs/MDs, CFOs) to ensure financial sustainability through realistic CSR fundraising targets and timely access to funds.
- Support in crafting portfolio organisations pitches to align their impact narratives with CSR priorities.
- Provide portfolio with connections and referrals to potential CSR funders.
- Generate leads, engage with prospects, and convert them into CSR partners.
- Identify and leverage influencers and industry champions as door-openers.
Ecosystem Engagement
- Represent TCF at CSR and other philanthropic events and forums to build visibility and shift corporate giving mindsets.
- Build thought leadership content (blogs, op-eds, reports) to showcase the value of investing in institutions, policy reform, and systemic change.
- Track CSR regulatory developments to ensure compliance and identify new opportunities for engagement.
Governance and Team Structure
- This role will report directly to the Founder-CEO and work closely with TCFs leadership team.
- It will sit within TCFs Philanthropic Partnerships team (a six-member horizontal), alongside colleagues leading on global and domestic philanthropy.
- The Director will lead CSR engagement for TCF and will be supported by a junior team member dedicated to this function.
- In addition, administrative and research support may be shared across the broader partnerships team to ensure efficiency and consistency.
- The role requires close collaboration with portfolio CEOs, CFOs, and other functional leaders across the TCF network.
Experience
- 15-20 years of professional experience in professional services, corporate CSR, client relationship management, service delivery or related fields.
- Demonstrated success in managing senior-level relationships (CSR heads, CXOs, board members).
- Exposure to CSR, corporate affairs, partnerships, or fundraising is useful but not mandatory.
Skills
- Strong relationship-building and networking skills.
- Excellent communication clear, confident, and persuasive with senior stakeholders.
- Strategic orientation ability to align organisational priorities with funder needs.
- Strong pipeline management and execution discipline.
- Skilled at navigating complex organisations and closing commitments.
Attributes
- Personable, approachable, and able to build trust quickly.
- Natural peoples person who enjoys engaging with diverse stakeholders.
- High integrity and professionalism in all interactions.
- Self-driven, persistent, and comfortable working in evolving environments.
- Collaborative mindset works well across internal teams and portfolio organisations.
- Intellectually curious and comfortable engaging across different sectors and themes.
Location: Full-time position based out of Delhi, India & involves extensive domestic travel
How to Apply: Reach out to our Head, Talent Acquisition: vishal@theconvergencefoundation.org or APPLY to learn more or click here to submit your application.