Communications Manager

MANAGER COMMUNICATIONS

Working at The Akanksha Foundation-

Akanksha is on a mission to build one of the largest and most innovative networks of schools in India, serving children from low-income communities, to maximize their potential. Our aspirational vision for students integrates academic excellence with life skills (including socio-emotional development), that will enable each child to live an empowered life. We believe an empowered citizen must possess a sense of mastery to pursue excellence, a sense of agency to make informed choices and a sense of purpose to serve their communities.

Over the last 30 years, Akanksha has been at the forefront of proving whats possible for children from low-income communities in Mumbai & Pune. Our 5,100 alumni are on the path to living an empowered life. Today Akanksha runs 27 schools in partnership with governments of Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai and Nagpur serving ~14,600 children in grades Jr Kg - Gr 10.

Be the CHANGE:

• We Collaborate -

  We unite as a team to achieve our vision, support each other in securing our goals and find joy in each others success.

• We Have Belief -

  Every Akanksha member lives and breathes the organizations mission and believes in our ability to achieve challenging goals that go beyond expectation.

• We Act with Integrity -

  Our team takes ownership of their actions and we take pride in holding ourselves accountable to our set commitments.

• We Never Give Up -

  We are big believers in learning and continue to stay strong and resilient till we reach the very end.

• We Give Respect -

  At Akanksha, we embrace the diversity all around us and treat each other with dignity.

• We Excel & Enjoy -

  We raise the bar and push ourselves to go the extra mile as a team, all the while ensuring that we enjoy and celebrate our wins along the way. We believe it is important to help each other succeed.

Over the next 3 years (2025-2028), Akanksha will be focusing on the following key priorities:

1) Doubling down on excellence and innovation across our current schools.

a.) Accelerate the academic learning and differentiated pathways for students leveraging personalized learning using technology and partnering with parents.

b.) Continue our efforts on well-being and safety of our children through a focused implementation of socio-emotional learning programs.

c.) Designing and implementing new programs to develop new age competencies like entrepreneurship, digital literacy, environmental consciousness and financial literacy.

2) Setting up new schools across existing and new geographies & piloting 1 or more experimental schools to challenge the existing education structures

3) Continue supporting our alumni to push the boundaries of achievements and ensuring they stay on track to break the cycle of poverty.

4) Launch and grow our multiplier initiative in partnership with the governments and like- minded non-profit organizations, through codification of Akankshas best in class practices around Art, socio emotional learning, parents as partners and English as second language.

5) Amplify key learnings from Akankshas public-private partnership model to drive larger change in the education ecosystem.

What Can The Akanksha Foundation Offer You:

1. An opportunity to be a part of one of the most reputed organizations in the education sector in India, that focuses on transformative impact on children by getting them out of poverty.

2. An environment that is challenging, offers a significant degree of autonomy and is focused on holistic well-being of its people, so they can be the best version of themselves in life.

3. Access to learning and career growth opportunities in a steadily growing organization

4. Remuneration that is competitive in top one-third of Indian NGO scales and benefits that include medical insurance, provident fund and paid leave.

Overview of the Team:

The Communications Team at Akanksha works with internal and external stakeholders to create the overall brand and communications strategies for the organization. The team manages the internal and external communication including planning and executing events, strategizing for the website and social media, and drafting reports and CEO communication. The team is responsible for creating content for all organization requirements, including talent recruitment,

donor communication and internal meetings, retreats and training programs.

Position Summary:

We are looking for someone who can lead, multi-task, take ownership and be a strong team player. As Manager - Communications, you will primarily be responsible for leading branding, internal communications efforts and social media strategy at Akanksha. You will oversee the daily operations of the communications team, and ensure that all weekly tasks are executed as planned. You will also engage with and support other teams at Akanksha with communications.

Reports to: Director - Communications

Top-5 responsibilities:

• Event operations: Manage and execute events for internal and external initiatives creating event-related collateral
• Social Media: Lead the strategy and oversee execution of social media plan
• Brand guidelines: Ensure all communication material across platforms meets
• Akankshas standards and is aligned with the brand tone and voice.
• Inter-department connect: Support other teams in the organization with communications requirements.
• CEO & org communication: Drafting content for internal and external stakeholders, like newsletters, reports, CEO communication, etc.

Role requirements:

• 5 -7 years of relevant work experience in Marketing and Communications roles
• Strong writing and editing skills
• Knowledge of best practices across content platforms
• Leading and managing event operations
• Building and maintaining relationships with internal & external stakeholders
• Strong project management skills and ability to pay attention to detail
• Strong time management skills and an ability to accommodate multiple projects simultaneously

Qualification:

• Post graduate in Marketing/Advertising/related fields

Location: Mumbai