We Want To Change The World. We Believe It Starts With Education.
In India, 100 million children from low-income communities grow up without access to the 21st-century skills they need to thrive — from emotional intelligence and digital literacy to everyday money management. This gap leads to a lifetime of limited opportunity, intergenerational poverty, and rising mental health concerns.
What Are We Doing?
At The Apprentice Project (TAP), we’re building India’s boldest bet on education equity — using AI, immersive learning, and multilingual content to help students unlock confidence, creativity, and real-world skills.
But bold missions need bold fuel. To reach a million children over the next few years, we need a funding engine that’s as visionary and scalable as our pedagogy.
Who We’re Looking For
We’re looking for a mission-driven, results-oriented leader to join us as Director – Fundraising & Partnerships.
In this high-impact leadership role, you’ll report directly to the Co-Founders and play a central role in scaling our fundraising capacity 3x over the next two years. You’ll shape and execute a dynamic strategy to secure long-term, outcome-linked funding from CSR, HNIs, philanthropic foundations, and global development partners.
You’ll also represent TAP in key donor forums, build a high-performing fundraising team, and drive cross-functional collaboration to align impact with opportunity.
If you’re excited about building bold narratives, unlocking multi-crore partnerships, and helping reimagine education funding in India, we’d love to meet you.
About The Role
Location
Experience -
Time Commitment
Reporting to
Compensation
What You’ll Do
Fundraising Strategy Execution & Leadership
- Lead the implementation of TAP’s 2–3 year fundraising strategy, ensuring alignment with growth goals and execution of key priorities
- Own annual fundraising targets, set operational KPIs, and ensure timely, transparent reporting on progress and impact
- Drive the full donor lifecycle, from prospecting and proposal development to grant reporting and relationship management
- Act as a key external face of TAP in funder interactions, partnering with the Co-Founders to steward high-value relationships with CSR leaders, philanthropies, and impact investors
- Champion operational excellence across all fundraising functions, building systems that ensure agility, compliance, and long-term funder trust
Partnership Development & Network Building
- Identify, cultivate, and manage a robust pipeline of 50+ CSR leads, philanthropists, and ecosystem enablers
- Mobilize an extended network of donors, champions, and sector allies to unlock new opportunities and accelerate conversion
- Represent TAP at high-visibility sector forums, donor convenings, and collaborative platforms to expand reach and reputation
Communications & Collateral Oversight
- Oversee the development and quality of donor-facing communications — including pitch decks, proposals, reports, and campaigns
- Ensure consistency and clarity across all fundraising narratives, aligning with TAP’s brand, values, and impact messaging
- Leverage storytelling, data, and design to create compelling content that speaks to diverse funder archetypes.
Team Leadership & Systems Building
- Build and mentor a high-performing fundraising team
- Establish robust systems for donor CRM, grant compliance, reporting, proposal management, and audit preparedness
- Collaborate with internal teams to ensure timely, tailored development of grant materials and donor communications
Relationship Management
- Shape high-touch, trust-based donor journeys that build long-term affinity and repeat investment
- Design differentiated engagement pathways for new, existing, and returning funders to deepen connection and commitment
Cross-functional Collaboration
- Collaborate closely with Programs, Finance, and Impact teams to ensure fundraising aligns with evolving programmatic needs
- Coordinate with M&E and Data teams to define measurable outcomes and deliver on performance-linked funding commitments
Who You Are
- You see fundraising not just as a function, but as a lever for systemic change and deep, long-term impact.
- You’re a strategic executor, just as confident building a vision deck as you are navigating a complex donor conversation.
- You bring 12–15 years of experience across fundraising, strategic partnerships, or business development within the nonprofit, CSR, or impact investing space.
- You’ve led the charge on multi-crore, multi-year partnerships, raising ₹12Cr+ from CSR heads, foundations, or HNIs, and know what it takes to build lasting trust.
- You’re a compelling storyteller and sharp writer, able to translate complexity into clarity across proposals, pitches, and reports.
- You have a strong grasp of India’s social impact ecosystem, and can intuit what funders value, from grassroots innovation to scalable systems.
- You thrive in high-autonomy, high-accountability environments, and bring a builder’s mindset to everything you take on.
Bonus
: You’ve worked in growth-stage nonprofits or led fundraising for multi-state interventions
Why Join Us?
- Because we’re not just raising funds — we’re raising futures.
- At TAP, you won’t inherit a stale pipeline. You’ll build the engine, shape the narrative, and unlock the resources that help lakhs of children find their voice, skills, and future.
- Lead with vision – Own strategy, partnerships, and growth
- Scale with purpose – Help fund one of India’s most scalable and tech-forward education models
- Learn with peers – Collaborate with co-founders, donors, and domain leaders
- Work from anywhere – Flexible hybrid work with structured outcomes
- Grow fast, grow real – This isn’t just a role. It’s a path to Chief Growth Officer
What You Can Expect?
- Ownership & trust: You’ll lead strategy, pitch vision, and build your function, not execute someone else’s.
- Hybrid work, real flexibility: Choose where you work from — Pune, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, or even home, as long as the mission moves forward.
- Learning & visibility: Represent TAP at national forums, learn from sector leaders, and grow your own influence.
- Supportive culture: We’re startup-fast but values-first. We prioritize belonging, well-being, and bold honesty.
- Competitive sector salary and total transparency about future growth paths.
hr@theapprenticeproject.org
