JOB DESCRIPTION
Position: Senior Manager, Program Implementation
Report to: Head Programs and Impact
Location: Bangalore
CTC Range: Up to 17LPA
About Rise Against Hunger India
Rise Against Hunger India is part of the global Rise Against Hunger network, driven by the vision of a world without hunger. The organization works to address immediate food & nutrition needs while
enabling communities to achieve sustainable food and nutri tion security.
Key program areas include:
- Large -scale meal packaging and nutrition interventions
- Sustainable livelihoods and food security programs in aspirational districts in the Eastern Region
- Urban nutrition initiatives
- Emergency response and humanitarian action
Role Purpose:
The Sr. Manager – Program Implementation is responsible for end -to-end delivery of all program activities across all field locations , ensuring that commitments made to communities, donors, and partners are delivered on time, at quality, and without over -stretching teams .
This role is responsible for supervising the Area Managers & Grant Project Managers. This role will coordinate with the Program Quality team and decide on the geography, sequencing, priorities for grants development and execution.
Core Accountability
Own delivery outcomes across all program areas, including:
- Area programs
- Grants -funded projects
- Field staffing and operational readiness
- Crisis and emergency absorption capacity
Key Responsibilities:
1. Program Execution Leadership
- Assume end?to?end responsibility for execution of approved programs and projects, including all externally funded grants, across geographies
- Translate program and project commitments into clear delivery plans, timelines, and execution metrics
- Ensure timely delivery of all committed outputs and outcomes to internal and external stakeholders
- Facilitate smooth and timely authorization and approval processes for field?level budget execution
- Ensure adherence to approved technical standards, budgets, and quality frameworks
- Ensure that meal packaging, meal distribution, and meal?based interventions are treated as core program delivery modalities, integrated into planning, sequencing, execution, and program review across geographies and grants.
- Proactively address inputs and observations from the Program Quality team and technical experts, particularly on quality, timelines, budget adherence, and performance risks
- Support Area/Grants Managers in addressing critical community, partner, and stakeholder engagement gaps
- Monitor program and project progress closely and intervene early to remove execution bottlenecks
2. Team Management and Mentoring
- Lead and manage Area Managers, Grants Managers and the broad field delivery structure
- Provide strategic and operational guidance to Grants Managers to ensure complex grant commitments are delivered in line with approved designs, timelines, and donor expectations
- Guide Area and Grants Managers in identifying staffing and capacity requirements aligned to delivery load, grant complexity, and timelines
- Encourage the implementation team to actively engage with resource mobilization and meal packaging functions to build understanding of meal?based programming and food safety standards.
- Work closely with HR and Finance to plan and execute hiring for program and grant delivery roles, temporary or surge capacity, engagement of specialized or technical expertise
- Monitor and strengthen delivery discipline, quality orientation, and community connectedness across field teams
- Provide coaching, mentoring, and developmental support to build leadership capability within the implementation function
3. Program Development and Design Support:
- Support program planning processes anchored in the Hunger Free Village (HFV) framework, including area plans, budgets, and phasing
- Ensure that grant?funded programs and projects are aligned to approved HFV plans and outcomes, and support accelerated or enhanced achievement of HFV objectives in existing communities
- Act as a bridge between Area teams and Program Quality, ensuring program designs reflect field realities and implementation learning
- Guide and support Program Quality team in determining readiness, capacity and implementation feasibility for donor?driven RFPs
- Facilitate data validation and quality assurance processes led by the M&E and technical teams
- Engage with Area and Grants Managers to provide delivery forecasts and capacity inputs for proposal development, and to identify potential next?phase or follow?on program opportunities aligned with implementation learning
4. Reporting and Documentation:
- Ensure that program and project documentation is maintained systematically by Area Managers, Grants teams, and project leads
- Ensure that the Grants Facilitation / Administration function has complete and accurate records, including:
- Agreements
- Financial documentation
- Project initiation and closure reports
- Ensure timely submission of monthly, quarterly, and annual progress reports (including utilization and program outcomes on Rise Against Hunger India’s pre -packaged meals) for internal review and onward submission to donors, leadership, and the Board
- Review & approve financial & utilization reports, spending authorization, procurement documentation prior to submission to donors
5. Management Team Functions
- As a member of the country management team, contribute to:
- Strengthening organizational management practices
- Building leadership depth and collaboration
- Develop strong working relationships with other units and functions to promote cross - functional learning and coherence
- Lead and contribute to organizational improvement initiatives, including systems, processes, and delivery effectiveness
- Contribute to development and refinement of policies, SOPs, guidelines related to program implementation
- Act as a core member of the organization’s risk management and mitigation
Qualifications & Experience
- Post?graduate degree in development studies, social sciences, public policy, or a related discipline
- 12–15 years of progressive experience in program implementation and large?scale project delivery
- Demonstrated experience managing multi?geography and donor?funded programs, including grants with complex compliance and reporting requirements
- Proven ability to lead and support managers of managers and large field?based teams
- Strong working understanding of:
- Field delivery systems
- Budget utilization and financial controls
- Donor reporting and compliance processes
- Practical experience working in community?based rural programs, preferably in food security, nutrition, livelihoods, or related domains
Core Competencies
- Strong execution leadership with a track record of delivering commitments on time and at quality
- High situational judgement , especially in balancing competing priorities under pressure
- Ability to translate plans and donor commitments into clear, actionable delivery workflows
- People leadership capability, including coaching, mentoring, and performance management
- Collaborative mindset with comfort working across Program Quality, Resource Mobilization, and Meal Packaging functions
- Strong problem -solving, prioritization, and follow -through
- Deep respect for community -centered programming , delivery discipline, and operational rigor