Job ID: 303110

Specialist, State Program and Partnership (Grade 7)

ChildFund India

Location: Hyderabad, Telangana

Apply by: 13 Sep 2026

Relevant Sectors

Administration, HR, Management, Accounting/Finance

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Ref. No. 26/14	Issuance Date: September 02, 2026	Closing Date for receipt of Applications: September 13, 2026 (IST)

POSITION DETAILS
POSITION TITLE AND GRADE:	Specialist, State Program and Partnership (Grade 7)
POSITION TYPE/DURATION:	Fixed-Term (Two years with possibility of extension subject to organizational needs, satisfactory performance, and funds availability)
POSITION LOCATION:	ChildFund India, Hyderabad office
WORK SCHEDULE:	Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM , 40 hours per week
TELEWORK ELIGIBLE	Yes
REPORTS TO:	Regional Lead, Program & Partnership (South & West)

ABOUT CHILDFUND INDIA

ChildFund India works towards ensuring that children from the most marginalized sections of the society become able, confident, and responsible adults.

Our work brings health, education, child protection, youth skilling, livelihoods, and climate resilience into an integrated approach that responds to children’s changing needs as they grow — from early childhood through adolescence and into young adulthood.

ChildFund India's core values are the principles and beliefs that guide behaviour, decision-making, and culture. Our values of Connection, Honesty, Innovation, Learning, and Diverse Lived Experiences reflect our highest aspirations for how we go about our work every day in the communities we serve and with each other.

POSITION ROLE

The Specialist, State Program and Partnership – Telangana is a senior state-level leadership position responsible for ensuring high-quality program implementation, building strategic partnerships, and strengthening ChildFund India’s presence and influence in Telangana. The role provides strategic leadership to partners and teams, leads state-level stakeholders and government engagement, and contributes to resource mobilization efforts in alignment with the Country Partnership Strategy.

Remain alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks; acquire and maintain the relevant knowledge and skills necessary to promote strong safeguarding practices; understand and adhere to ChildFund India’s Safeguarding Policy and Procedures; and conduct yourself at all times in a manner consistent with ChildFund India’s safeguarding principles and standards.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Implementation

Accountable for effective and timely delivery of all programs in assigned states, in line with approved plans, budgets, and quality standards.
Lead and strengthen the capacity of partners, field teams, and communities through mentoring, technical support, and supervision.
Ensure robust monitoring, risk assessment, and adaptive management of programs, incorporating mitigation strategies into planning and implementation.
Drive innovation and cross-learning to enhance program impact and scalability, in collaboration with technical leads and partners.

External Relations, Government Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement

Lead the state-level stakeholder engagement strategy, positioning ChildFund India as a trusted and influential development partner in Telangana.
Build, manage, and sustain strategic relationships with senior government officials, departments, and state institutions to support program scale, convergence, and policy alignment.
Serve as the primary interface with key external stakeholders, including donors, corporates (CSR), and institutional partners, ensuring effective relationship management and long-term collaboration.
Strengthen ChildFund India’s visibility and credibility by fostering partnerships with civil society organizations, academia, networks, and thought leaders at the state level.
Identify and pursue opportunities for strategic collaboration, advocacy, and policy influence through campaigns and engagement with relevant government bodies and policymakers.
Represent ChildFund India in state-level forums, networks, and policy platforms, contributing to sector dialogue, learning, and thought leadership.
Support the expansion of the donor base in the state by nurturing partnerships that enable sustained and strategic program interventions.

Strategic leadership and Resource Mobilization

Lead state-level resource mobilization planning and delivery in alignment with ChildFund India’s Country Partnership Strategy.
Accountable for achieving quarterly and annual fundraising targets from government, institutions, corporates, and other channels.
Lead proposal development, donor negotiations, and partnership structuring at the state level, ensuring compliance with organizational policies.

Communication, donor positioning and reporting

Provide strategic direction and oversight to communications and branding efforts supporting fundraising and stakeholder engagement, working closely with the Communications team to ensure alignment with ChildFund India’s brand and messaging.
Work with communications team in planning and implementing campaigns for fundraising and to enhance the impact and outreach of ChildFund’s work with children.
Guide communication team on developing relevant content for ChildFund India website to make it fundraising oriented in line with organization’s branding guidelines.
Ensure optimum utilization of organizational digital channels – website, email and social media accounts – for supporter engagement and to raise resource.
Responsible for high quality donor servicing and regular communications, such as mailers and newsletters, with individual supporters, corporates and institutions.

Team management

Be responsible for overseeing team/s at the state level, fostering culture of high performance and capacity development of team/s.
Work closely with the Child Development team to strengthen program integration.
Ensure timely completion and delivery of internal and external reporting requirements.
Any other responsibilities as assigned by the Line Manager/Supervisor.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION

Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Social Work / Social Sciences/ Management/ Rural & Urban development and other relevant disciplines is required. Master’s or postgraduate qualifications in the above-mentioned areas are preferred.

Work Experience: Minimum 5 years of development experience with minimum of 3 years’ experience in managing large programs and partnerships portfolio at the state level. Sound knowledge and experience on at least in one thematic programs – health, education, livelihood, child protection and building environmental sustainability and resilience. Prior experience in engaging with the senior level government officials from ministries and departments and ability to maintain government relationships.

Language Proficiency: Fluency in English both verbal and written, is preferred. Proficiency in additional local languages will be considered an advantage.

Skills and Abilities: Proven ability to lead, build and manage relationships with donors, stakeholders and partners in the state of operation (Telangana). Experience in both states would be a key advantage. Strong project management and communication skills (both verbal and written). Adept in using computers, particularly in using Microsoft Office suite applications. Organized, team player, self-starter and results-oriented individual. Gender sensitive with strong conviction and skills for the empowerment of excluded and disadvantaged children.

Job Knowledge: Knowledge of standards and effective practices across multiple disciplines for children and to set strategic direction.

ChildFund’s Core Competencies

Teamwork: the ability to work effectively and collaborate with others; values and respects individual differences.
Communication: demonstrates empathy and tact when communicating with others and uses a storytelling approach when appropriate.
Results orientation: gets things done; takes proactive steps to achieve organizational goals and quality standards.
Decision making: uses good judgement, critical thinking, and non-traditional ways to evaluate problems and opportunities; reflects and innovates to improve decisions and outcomes.
Resilience: thrives and grows in rapidly changing, demanding, and complex environments.
Digital literacy: adopts and champions new technology to relevant contexts, stays aware of technological trends and embraces technological solutions to business challenges.

EVALUATION AND SELECTION CRITERIA

Step 1: HR Pre-Screening:All Job Applications received will be collated by HR and preliminary screening will be conducted based on the minimum education and experience requirements mentioned above. The Applicants that do not meet the education and experience criteria will not be considered further for the selection process. All the qualified applications will be handed over by HR to the Selection Panel.

Step 2: Qualified applications will be further reviewed by the Selection Panel. The Selection Panel will assess and rank all the applications based on the following factors for a maximum of 100 points:

Evaluation Factors	Points
Job Knowledge & Academic Background	40 points
Relevant Work Experience	40 points
Digital Literacy & Tool Proficiency	20 points

The written test will be conducted for the most highly rated applications.

Step 3: Based on the written test assessment, applications will be further shortlisted for Step 3 i.e. Interview. The applications will be evaluated by the Selection Panel for the final selection, based on the following evaluation factors for a maximum of 100 points.

Evaluation Factors	Points
Technical Knowledge & Applied skills	20 points
Relevant Work Experience	20 points
Problem solving & Critical Thinking	15 points
Teamwork and Interpersonal Collaboration	15 points
Communication Skills	10 points
Organizational & Cultural Alignment	10 points
Stakeholder engagement-As per job role (Community, Govt, Corporates, Academic Institution)	10 points

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Salary starts at INR 9,25,000 per annum plus benefits, with scope for consideration for adjustment in line with the experience, skills, and knowledge the selected candidate brings.

Benefits (subject to the provisions of the approved Employee Manual):

Provident Fund and Gratuity as per Indian Labour Law
Annual Merit-based Performance Salary increase.
Health Insurance Coverage - to support the well-being of employees and their families.
Leave and Holiday framework that supports rest, renewal, and personal priorities – Annual Leave (24 days), Casual Leave (10 days), Sick Leave (10 days), Special Leave (5 days), Maternity Leave (26 weeks), Paternity Leave (2 weeks), Exam Leave (5 days), Holidays (15 days)
Hybrid and flexible work schedule options for eligible roles to enable effective offsite working while staying connected and productive.
Learning and Development opportunities to support growth and build future-ready capabilities.

COMMITMENT TO SAFEGUARDING

ChildFund India’s Safeguarding Policy and Procedures will be strictly adhered to throughout the engagement period to ensure the safety, dignity, and well-being of children and vulnerable adults. ChildFund India maintains a zero-tolerance approach towards sexual exploitation, abuse, harassment (SEAH), and all forms of harm by staff, partners, consultants, vendors, and representatives in the delivery of its programmes and services. The organisation is committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment within the workplace and in the communities where it operates. Accordingly, the selected candidate will be required to sign ChildFund India’s Safeguarding Commitment and Behavioural Protocol as part of the contractual agreement and comply with all safeguarding standards, policies, and do-no-harm principles throughout the engagement period.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

It is the policy of ChildFund India to ensure equal employment to all persons without regard to sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), age, race, ethnicity, national origin, social origin or status, color, language, sexual orientation, disability, genetic information, or religion.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This position is subject to a range of vetting checks, including a criminal records check and/or disclosure to ensure program participants are safeguarded.
Employment is subject to the ChildFund India’s HR policies and procedures, including provisions related to pre-employment clearances, probationary period, and retirement age.
If any of your relatives or members of your family/household work for ChildFund and if any child related to you is currently being sponsored/enrolled by ChildFund, you are required to disclose it at the time of job application.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION

Eligible applicants are required to complete and submit the Job Application Form - ChildFund India (July 2026).docx. The application form must be downloaded as word document.

If applicants would like to include a cover letter and resume/curriculum vitae to support their application, please include it within the Job Application Form at the specified space. Please do not include separate attachments.
E-mail application to: recruitment@childfundindia.org
Applicants must clearly specify the Vacancy Announcement reference number and position title in the subject line of the email and the Job Application Form.
Incomplete or missing Job Application Form may result in disqualification of the application.

Notes:

-By submitting this application, you consent to ChildFund India collecting, processing and storing your personal data provided in your job application form (including supporting documentation provided) and during the recruitment process, in accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

-ChildFund India expresses it sincere thanks to the candidates for their time and efforts in submitting their job application. We really appreciate and value your interest in employment with us, however, due to a high volume of anticipated applications, only short-listed candidates will be notified.