National Head - Life skills Collaborative

Job Description: National Head – Life Skills Collaborative (LSC)

Location: Navi Mumbai / Noida

Administrative reporting to: Magic Bus India Foundation

Functional reporting to: Co-Conveners- LSC

Consultant Tenure: Three years

About Life Skills Collaborative:

The Life Skills Collaborative 1.0 was a collaborative effort by 18 organizations (11 implementing organizations; five foundations; one backbone organization; one PR/Comms firm) to transform learning ecosystems so that young people can thrive. Key achievements of LSC 1.0 include getting four states - Mizoram, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand - to engage with the Collaborative regularly; co-create India’s first Life Skills Glossary; develop assessment tools (for adolescent assessment i.e. future readiness skills assessment and social and emotional wellbeing assessment; system assessment; and teacher assessment); and design and conduct on ground research i.e. “Voices” - a nationwide engagement with young people, parents, and teachers to capture their insights on life skills. (Refer website for details: https://lifeskillscollaborative.in/) In 2024, three of the Foundations that had supported LSC 1.0 i.e. Porticus, MSDF and Echidna Giving came together to facilitate the expansion of the Collaborative. Two tracks were identified for this phase, (referred to as LSC 2.0) - the Narrative Building Track and the Evidence Track. This document focuses on the Narrative Track and outlines the vision, narrative strategies, roles of member organisations and collaborative ways of working within the Collective.

Role Summary: The National Head will be responsible for leading the Life Skills Collaborative (LSC) to achieve its strategic vision and programmatic outcomes. This includes steering the collective towards its goals through effective coordination, implementation oversight, and stakeholder engagement across the collaborative’s key components—Strategy Hubs (narrative and evidence), collaborators in the state and the Leadership Council. The role requires strategic leadership, strong systems thinking, and the ability to manage complex partnerships and information flows.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & Direction

- Drive the collaborative towards achieving its desired results aligned with its long-term mission and annual goals.

- Provide overall strategic oversight and alignment across narrative, evidence, and collectivization tracks.

Collaborative Coordination

- Facilitate seamless coordination across all arms of the collaborative—Leadership council, narrative & evidence tracks and the collaborators.

- Serve as a key bridge between Central attractors (CAs), Track Co-Conveners, and the larger stakeholder ecosystem.

Implementation Oversight

- Monitor progress of implementation strategies led by collaborators in respective arenas across narrative building, evidence generation, and collectivisation.

- Ensure that timelines, outputs, and collaborative goals are met across all working areas. Monitoring, Reporting & Information Management - Collect and synthesize progress updates and challenges from Strategy hubs and leadership council - Collate reports from all tracks into a unified, comprehensive report for donor and stakeholder communication.

Stakeholder Engagement - Regularly engage with track Co-Conveners to ensure alignment, accountability, and strategic course corrections where needed.

Qualifications & Experience:

- Minimum 12–15 years of experience in leading large-scale, multi-stakeholder initiatives in development, education, or allied sectors.

- Proven track record in managing partnerships, strategy implementation, and collaborative governance models.

- Deep understanding of life skills, education systems, and social development frameworks in the Indian context is highly desirable.

- Experience with donor communication, reporting, and coalition-building is essential.

Key Competencies: - Strategic thinking & systems leadership - High interpersonal and facilitation skills - Strong written and verbal communication - Program and team management experience - Comfort with data tracking and reporting - Ability to manage ambiguity and diverse stakeholder expectations