Project Director

Position: Project Director

Location:
Chandigarh

Reporting to:
VP Programs

Employment Type:
Full-time

Working Days:
6 days/ week

Travel:
Up to 10 days/month

About the Program

Bahaar Foundation is implementing a large-scale Community Health Entrepreneur (CHE) Program. The program will empower local women to serve as first-level health access points for their communities, offering preventive, promotive, and basic curative services in partnership with government systems and private stakeholders.

The Project Director will be the senior-most professional responsible for overall strategy, implementation, stakeholder management, and achievement of program outcomes. The Project Director will establish and lead the Project Management Unit (PMU) and ensure timely delivery, scale-up, and sustainability of the initiative. The Project Director will have overall responsibility for strategy, training, implementation, stakeholder management, and outcome achievement. leading the PMU, and working with all stakeholders to ensure successful and timely implementation and scaleup of the CHE program, ensuring quality and consistency of service delivery, maintaining rigorous standards of documentation and data tracking, and overall success of the project.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership & Program Design

2. Lead the overall program vision, design, and execution for scaling 10,000 CHEs

3. Develop and implement annual and quarterly strategies, roadmaps, and budgets
4. Ensure alignment of program activities with government priorities and Bahaar Foundation's mission

5. Anticipate risks, design mitigation strategies, and adapt program models as needed

6. Program Management & Implementation

7. Establish and lead the Project Management Unit (PMU) at the state level

8. Recruit, mentor, and manage a multi-disciplinary team (project coordinators, training manager, MEL manager, etc.)
9. Oversee training design, delivery, and certification of CHEs in collaboration with technical experts
10. Ensure timely roll-out of activities across all districts, with clear milestones and targets

11. Implement robust systems for quality assurance, field supervision, and impact measurement

12. Stakeholder & Partnership Management

13. Build and maintain relationships with the government and program partners

14. Represent the program at high-level forums, government meetings, and donor platforms
15. Negotiate MoUs, partnerships, and funding agreements to strengthen program sustainability

16. Act as the primary liaison between Bahaar Foundation and external stakeholders.

17. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)

18. Oversee the design and execution of a comprehensive MEL framework to track program outputs, outcomes, and impact

19. Conduct impact assessment for pilot locations
20. Ensure regular data-driven reporting to all stakeholders
21. Foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptive program management

22. Document best practices, success stories, and challenges for scaling and replication

23. Financial & Operational Oversight

24. Manage program budget (multi-crore scale) with accountability for efficient resource utilization

25. Ensure compliance with donor, government, and Bahaar Foundation financial and operational policies
26. Oversee procurement, contracts, and logistics related to training and implementation

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Education:
  Master's degree in Public Health, Management, Social Work, Rural Development, or related field

• Experience:

• 10+ years of professional experience, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing large-scale programs, preferably in health or livelihoods
• Proven track record of working with government systems, especially in rural or public health contexts
• Demonstrated success in scaling programs to state-level or national-level coverage
• Experience managing large, multi-disciplinary teams across diverse geographies

• Strong background in training design, health systems strengthening, and community mobilization preferred

• Skills:

• Excellent leadership, communication, and negotiation skills
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and strategic planning abilities
• Financial management, donor reporting, and compliance expertise
• Fluency in English; knowledge of Punjabi strongly preferred.

Personal Attributes

• Passionate about community health, women's empowerment, and rural development
• Entrepreneurial and solution-oriented mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguity
• Strong cultural sensitivity and ability to work with grassroots communities
• High integrity, accountability, and resilience under pressure.

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience and sector benchmarks
• Travel and fieldwork expenses covered as per policy
• Professional growth opportunities through exposure to state/national policy forums and multi-stakeholder platforms