Title: Director – People, Culture, Policies
No. of positions - 1
Location: Delhi, India (with regular travel to other state offices)
Breakthrough is looking for a people-leader who believes building organisation is quite akin to building its people and loves problem solving with HR as their strategy of choice, to join us as the Lead: people, culture, policies and steer the Human Resources vertical with strategic insights and direction. This is a full-time role based out of Delhi with travels to field offices, as needed.
Breakthrough has a large programme reaching out to 100,000 adolescents and about 12,000 youth directly in Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand at any given point in time, as well as over 3 million more adolescents through school systems in Punjab and Odisha. We are almost a 300 member organisation and the growth curve is steep. Breakthrough has always been an organisation that keeps values at the centre. Our challenge is to balance Breakthrough’s humans remaining inspired and Breakthrough constantly delivering on cutting edge work.
We, at Breakthrough, are keenly aware of the large scope and strategic importance of this role and hope to find an able, experienced, and passionate leader who would keep organising the human elements by keeping the strategic direction of the organisation in focus, and build HR of Breakthrough keeping the future course of action at the centre. Given that passionate people are at the centre of Breakthrough, we would encourage you to apply if you are a people’s person and thrive in human interaction with deep interest in the messy beauty of it.
We have a fully functional HR team which is able and tuned into the current needs and aspirations of the HR in Breakthrough, we need a strategic leader, with a passion to build the future. It is a senior position reporting to the CEO of Breakthrough.
Key Responsibilities:
- Ensure alignment and coordination between national and state-level HR teams. Build and re-align where needed.
- Develop decentralized talent management mechanisms
- Oversee recruitment, onboarding, and retention strategies for national and state office staff. Support leaders in troubleshooting.
- Establish standardized recruitment and performance management frameworks while allowing state-level adaptation. Build ways to capture diversity.
- Support succession planning and leadership development at national and state levels.
- Be accountable for the organizational culture and promote a unified organizational culture rooted in Breakthrough’s values across all state offices.
- Provide guidance and escalation support for complex employee relations cases arising at the state level as well as national office. Help in taking timely decisions.
- Lead staff engagement, wellbeing, care initiatives across geographically dispersed teams.
HR Operations & Legal Compliance
- Ensure compliance with national labor legislation and varying state labor laws and regulations.
- Develop, update, and enforce HR policies, procedures, employee handbook, and code of conduct for nationwide use.
- Oversee compensation, benefits, payroll coordination, and HR information systems across multiple locations.
Safeguarding, Ethics & Risk Management
- Lead safeguarding, POSH, anti-harassment, and whistleblowing mechanisms across all offices.
- Ensure consistent implementation of safeguarding policies and mandatory staff training nationwide.
- Serve as a focal point for sensitive cases, ensuring confidentiality, consistency, and legal compliance.
Capacity Building & HR Team Management
- Lead, mentor, and build the capacity of HR staff at national and state offices.
- Conduct regular HR reviews, audits, and capacity assessments at state offices.
- Promote knowledge sharing and best practices across locations.
- Manage budgets. Work on budgeting, systems of reporting
- Develop and manage the national HR budget, including allocations for state offices.
- Track HR metrics and workforce data across states and provide regular reports to senior management and the Board.
- Strengthen HR systems to support multi-location operations and data consistency.
Qualifications & Experience Required:
- Master’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field.
- Minimum of 15-20 years of progressive HR experience, including senior leadership in a multi-location organization.
- Demonstrated experience managing HR functions across multiple states or regions.
- Strong knowledge of national and state labor laws and compliance requirements.
- Prior experience in the NGO or non-profit sector is strongly preferred.
Skills & Competencies Required:
- Proven ability to lead and coordinate decentralized teams.
- Independent decision making ability.
- Strong policy development and compliance management skills.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and conflict-resolution abilities.
- High cultural sensitivity and ability to work effectively across diverse regions.
- Strong analytical and reporting skills.
- A solution mindset.
Values & Commitment:
- Strong alignment with the Breakthrough’s mission and impact objectives.
- Value alignment with the core values of Breakthrough.
- Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, safeguarding, and ethical practice.
About Breakthrough:
Breakthrough works on culture change by shifting social norms that limit women and girls from reaching their full potential. We work with adolescents and young people aged 11-25 years aiming for an entire generation to shift and push for change. Over time, we have worked with more than 5.4 million adolescents and young people, aged 11 to 25, to encourage aspiration, agency, leadership and negotiation through our work in schools and communities. We also support them with media tools that shape public narratives.
This has resulted in a generation of young people shifting to think and act in confident, intentional ways. Girls are negotiating to stay in school, delaying marriage, exercising choices around life goals, stepping into non-traditional career paths. Boys are stepping up to contribute, support and uphold equal rights for all.
This gives hope that a more equal world is possible for future generations.
Breakthrough’s Culture:
Employees at Breakthrough are expected to work in line with organisational values of Dignity, Integrity and Equity.
Breakthrough is an equal opportunity employer. We consider applicants for all positions without regard to race, colour, caste, religion, creed, gender, age, disability, economic status, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status. We prefer people from marginalised communities, women and other genders. Our policies and procedures reflect our commitment towards child safeguarding.
Breakthrough is committed to the well-being of its employees and understands an individual’s mental health can impact their ability to work. Breakthrough recognizes taking steps to improve mental health and wellbeing of the employees is essential. We are committed to fostering an environment that promotes employee wellbeing. We recognize that well-being is not just the absence of illness, but the presence of factors that support a fulfilling life.