Senior Program Manager
Statewide Government College Mentoring Programme (Karnataka)
Location: Bangalore (with regular travel across Karnataka districts)
Reporting To: Associate Director
Team: Program operations team and a distributed network of District Project Associates (DPAs)
Role Purpose
The Senior Program Manager (SPM) will oversee our flagship, government-embedded mentoring programme across the government college network in Karnataka — spanning degree, technical, and engineering colleges across 15+ districts. The programme will reach a total of 25,000 students, providing them with career and AI awareness, and foundational career mentoring (8,000 students).
The role combines operational management of a large-scale programme that combines
in-college group mentoring, with digital one-to-one mentoring, that provides students access to career mentors and role models.
The Senior Program Manager will hold accountability for the programme's reach, quality, and outcome targets.
Core Areas of Responsibility
Programme Planning & Operational Oversight
- Own program-level operational planning — annual, quarterly, and monthly gantts — across two tiers of the mentoring program
- Translate programme goals into structured operational approaches
- Drive delivery of large-scale, in-college group sessions, across all participating colleges, alongside short-cycle small-group mentoring cohorts - both of which have distinct mentor, program team, and technology configurations.
- Maintain operational clarity through prioritisation and sequencing of activities across tiers
Team Leadership
- Lead and manage the program operations team (typically 6 members) delivering sessions across districts
- Drive goal-setting, performance planning, coaching, and ongoing capability development for the team
- Foster accountability, ownership, and engagement aligned with Mentor Together’s culture,
Government & Institutional Partner Engagement
- Interface with college leadership, securing institutional coordination, permissions, and continuity.
- Strengthen trust-based engagement with college principals, and coordinators, ensuring mentoring is positioned as an important student development mechanism.
- Coordinate the programme’s capstone Mentoring Summit, bringing together students, mentors, practitioners, and ecosystem partners.
Analytics, Reporting & Quality Assurance
- Lead programme reporting, tracking and quality-assurance dashboards, and post-session feedback cycles across tiers.
- Ensure data integrity and thoughtful interpretation of metrics
- Anticipate delivery risks and resourcing bottlenecks and implement corrective action proactively.
Financial & Operational Discipline
- Uphold financial discipline through review and approval of expenses aligned with SOPs and budgets, including field and travel costs across districts.
- Guide team members in compliant, efficient expense and claim processes, maintaining cost-consciousness and responsible resource use.
Experience, Skills & Competencies
- 8–10 years of professional experience, with substantial program management or program leadership exposure.
- Demonstrated experience with youth-focused programmes in employability, skilling, or education-linked contexts — ideally involving large-scale, multi-site, or government-linked delivery.
- Comfort coordinating distributed field teams across multiple districts and managing structured government / institutional relationships.
- Strong analytical, planning, and problem-solving abilities; high comfort with operational tools and software (Excel, tracking systems, project-planning tools, dashboards).
- Fluency in Kannada (written and spoken) is required; exceptional oral and written communication skills in English.
- Exceptional attention to detail, execution discipline, sound judgment, and an ownership mindset in fast-paced, evolving environments.
Selection Process
- Submission of CV
- Any pre-work / assignment activity (where applicable)
- Interviews
- Reference checks
- Offer intimation
About Mentor Together
Mentor Together is an award-winning non-profit that has pioneered the youth mentoring movement in India. Over 15 years, we have transformed mentoring from an informal, loosely defined guidance mechanism into a safe, structured, evidence-based developmental pathway that helps children and young people facing adversity navigate education, careers, and life transitions.
Through our homegrown, digital mentoring platform, Mentor To Go, we have built a national partner ecosystem spanning educational institutions, government departments, and corporate partners. Our work conforms to over 95% of the globally recognised Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, and spans direct digital mentoring, government systems integration, curriculum, and research. Our programmes advance youth employability across the country — from college campuses to India’s National Career Service.
Our values:
- Youth-centric work — We centre the voices, needs, and aspirations of young people.
- Impact-driven — We ground our work in evidence, reflection, and learning.
- Organization & team first — We prioritise collective goals, trust, and integrity.
- Invigorating workplace — We value growth, curiosity, and ownership
How to Apply