Chief Programme Officer

Breakthrough is looking for a passionate senior leader who loves making themselves irrelevant by working towards making every team-member a leader to come in as the Chief Programme Officer. This is a full-time role based out of Delhi with extensive travels to field areas in 6 states.

Breakthrough has a large programme reaching out to 100,000 adolescents and about 12,000 youth directly in Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand as well as 1 million more adolescents through school systems in Punjab and Odisha. They are called Deep Transformation through Community Engagement (DTCE) and Scale up (SU), respectively. These are led by state based teams and supported by teams in the Delhi office. Each of the verticals have leads with over 20 years of experience each, to manage them.

The Chief Programme Officer will be part of the C-Suite of the organisation and will be direct reporting manager to the two vertical leads.

Programmes is the largest vertical of Breakthrough in terms of resources as well as importance. The need is to strategically hold the centre together and make sure the resources: physical and financial, are raised, deployed, and managed well. We are aware of the enormous scope and the importance of this role and hope to find an able, experienced, and passionate leader who would keep organising the work, keeping the strategic framework at the centre, guide the teams to chart future course of action, and trouble-shoot. Given that the programme centres are the most diverse of the centres in Breakthrough, we would encourage you to apply especially if you are a people’s person. We are looking for a leader who is a go-getter and who does not shy away from leading by demonstrating. We need someone down to earth but eyes firmly on the north star of the organisation. The position will report to the CEO of Breakthrough and will be part of the Breakthrough’s Strategic Leadership Team (BSLT).

Key Responsibilities:

• Keeping the organisational strategic vision central to programming.
• Working closely with the vertical-leads of SU and DTCE to make sure all the programmes are doing well in terms of timelines, objectives, and resource usage, and have required financial and human resources.
• Working closely with the Resource Mobilisation (RM) team to ensure a shared understanding of the needs around fund raising and quick turn around on donor requirements including new proposals, budgets, reports, and other communication materials.
• Working with the BSLT to engage in strategic conversations bringing in the unique perspective of the programme and bringing in the understanding ground up.
• Represent the programme vertical externally and internally.
• Playing the role of external connect of the Programme vertical. Bringing in new ideas which are strategically aligned and keeping the teams inspired and enthused.
• Keeping the mission and vision as well as the organisational interest as the top priority while handling issues of programme.

Skills, Competencies & Experience Required:

• Given the seniority of the position we are looking for 20+ years of experience, with at least 10 years of experience of leading programmes at strategic level;
• Prior experience of working with large, diverse, and remote teams and is essentially a team player;
• An inspirational personality;
• Proven experience of programming;
• Prior experience of being in organisational leadership position;
• Strategic thinker with an eye for detail;
• Persuasive communicator with proven interpersonal and negotiation skills;
• Passionate about gender justice and equity;
• Solution oriented.

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 the last 25 years, we have reached nearly

2.3 million adolescents in schools and communities. With more agency, better negotiation

skills and aspiration young people are calling out norms that hold them back and taking action, in

the communities that Breakthrough works in. In this process, we also support them with media tools

that shape public narratives and inspire people to build a world of equality, dignity and justice.

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 recognises 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 recognise that well-being is not just the absence of illness, but the presence of factors that support a fulfilling life.

To know more about Breakthrough, please visit – www.inbreakthrough.org

Eligible candidates interested in this position may apply through the following link:

Apply Now

You can also submit your resume by email to jobs@inbreakthrough.org by 30th Nov 2025.