Platform Head– Innovation

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About Wadhwani Foundation:

Wadhwani Foundation is a global, technology-driven not-for-profit committed to accelerating job creation, innovation, and skill development in emerging economies. Through a portfolio of programs in skilling, entrepreneurship, and innovation, we aim to empower millions by 2030.

About WIN:

The Wadhwani Innovation Network (WIN) supports the translation of high-quality research into market-ready products, services, and startups across India. WIN is expanding its platform into a comprehensive solution that empowers researchers across the innovation lifecycle from ideation to commercialization.

Role Overview:

We are seeking a Platform Head to lead the development of a national innovation enablement system. This role spans three core functions:

1. Build entrepreneurship capacity

   in academic researchers through skilling, experiential learning, and founder-readiness tools.

2. Develop and manage a national network

   of mentors, experts, and institutions that support researchers in the translation journey.

3. Lead product ownership

   of the WIN Innovation Platform, coordinating its development with the Foundation’s internal tech teams and external vendors.

The ideal candidate brings strong program execution experience, understands product development, and has deep exposure to India’s research, innovation, or startup ecosystems.

This role is ideal for a professional who understands product thinking, can manage tech buildouts (in partnership with Wadhwani’s internal tech team), and is equally comfortable engaging with innovation ecosystem partners to drive adoption and outcomes. This individual will also be responsible for building and managing a team to achieve this purpose.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Entrepreneurship Capacity Building

• Design and scale programs that equip researchers with translation and startup skills.
• Embed founder-readiness pedagogy, playbooks, and expert-led sessions into researcher journeys.

1. Ecosystem Development & Resource Network

• Identify, onboard, and manage mentors, experts, investors, incubators, accelerators, service providers, and funding organizations across India.
• Manage day-to-day functioning of the network, ensuring partners and beneficiaries engage meaningfully
• Maintain engagement through structured activities: masterclasses, expert connects, clinics, etc.
• Track usage, outcomes, and satisfaction to continuously improve network quality.

1. Product Ownership – WIN Innovation Platform

• Translate program and user needs into product requirements for the WIN innovation platform.
• Coordinate with internal tech/product teams to build or customize platform features (on Salesforce and other tools).
• Ensure platform integrates modules for grant management, milestone tracking, skilling, mentorship, and outcome measurement.
• Collaborate with internal AI experts to scope and integrate GenAI tools (e.g., matchmaking, recommendation engines, milestone monitoring).
• Support onboarding, training, and adoption of the platform across institutions and partners.

1. Strategic Leadership & Team Building

• Build and lead a team of program leads or managers across the three core workstreams: entrepreneurship skilling, expert network, and platform development.
• Define success metrics, work plans, and accountability frameworks for each vertical.
• Serve as the primary representative of this portfolio to WIN and Foundation leadership.

Required Experience:

• 15+ years of experience in software product development, and entrepreneurial ecosystem building.
• Experience in innovation, research translation, startup incubation, or skilling ecosystems, including entrepreneurial capacity building products
• Familiarity with managing data-rich, multi-feature platforms that integrate learning, CRM, or workflow tools
• Demonstrated experience building and managing high-performing teams across diverse functions.
• Strong relationship and stakeholder management skills, with a bias for execution.
• Comfort with data tools, dashboards, and structured reporting.

Required Qualification:

• Postgraduate/ Ph.D , in any discipline of science or engineering.