Project Manager/Senior Project Manager - High Potential Students

About Central Square Foundation (CSF)

Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit philanthropic organization working with the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. We believe that effective foundational learning is essential for better learning outcomes for all children in school. The development of foundational literacy and numeracy skills by Class 3 can help children progress to higher levels of learning and is an essential building block in a child's life.

We are driven by our mission to enable the school education system to adopt solutions that are scalable, sustainable, and effective so that all children get equal access to opportunities needed for leading a better life.

Read more about our work here: www.centralsquarefoundation.org

About High Potential Students workstream at CSF:

India’s school education system serves ~25 crore children. Many of these students come from underserved communities and face systemic gaps in identification and support. With most interventions beginning only after Grade 10, much of this potential remains untapped and underdeveloped.

To bridge this gap, CSF introduced a new workstream in 2025, High Potential Students (HPS), to support India’s bright young minds from underprivileged backgrounds in becoming future innovators, researchers and leaders. By 2030, we aim to transform the learning journeys of 1 lakh students by equipping them with the skills, support and exposure needed to thrive in higher education and high-growth careers. Through this work, we are committed to advancing equity and excellence, empowering young minds from every corner of India to realise their full potential.

Position Summary

CSF has started a new workstream focused on identifying and nurturing high-potential students (students who demonstrate academic promise) from underserved communities. These students often do not receive the support or opportunities they need to realize their full potential. Our aim is to bridge that gap by creating a targeted support model that helps them thrive.

Based out of New Delhi, the SPM/PM will be a core operational engine of the High Potential Students workstream coordinating across implementation partners and school-system stakeholders, driving day-to-day follow-through, and ensuring the programme runs with rigour and responsiveness. The role involves maintaining trackers and programme documentation, supporting review and reporting processes, conducting field visits to schools and partner sites, analysing implementation data to assess progress against plans, and surfacing risks that require course correction. Alongside this, the SPM/PM will contribute to building an evidence base for the workstream supporting M&E processes, synthesising field insights, and informing adaptive programming decisions. The role requires strong project management skills, comfort with data, clear written communication, field orientation, and the ability to work in a dynamic and evolving environment.

Key responsibilities include but are not limited to

• Stakeholder Management and Collaboration:

  • Build and sustain relationships with a diverse network of stakeholders, including senior government officials, corporate partners, educational nonprofits, and community leaders.

  • Effectively manage stakeholder expectations and foster an environment of trust and collaboration.

• Strategic Planning and Execution:

  • Lead the planning, design, and execution of high-impact strategic initiatives to advance project objectives.

  • Work in close collaboration with internal teams to align project goals with CSFs overarching mission.

  • Demonstrate critical problem-solving capabilities to address project challenges and course-correct as necessary.

• Research and Evidence-Based Interventions:

  • Conduct and oversee research activities to generate actionable insights.

  • Identify innovation opportunities and design evidence-based solutions to address educational gaps.

• Project Monitoring and Evaluation:

  • Develop and implement robust tracking frameworks to monitor project outcomes and ensure alignment with timelines and budgets.

  • Prepare high-quality reports and presentations that communicate impact, progress, and recommendations for funders, stakeholders, and CSF leadership.

• Operational Excellence:

  • Manage administrative functions such as budget monitoring, scheduling, and vendor management.

  • Onboard and manage vendors to ensure seamless and efficient execution of project priorities.

  • Provide regular updates to CSF management on progress, key insights, and opportunities for improvement.
    

Skills and Qualifications

• 2 to 6 years of post-qualification work experience, preferably in the education sector

• Strong project management skills with proven program implementation experience

• Excellent writing and oral communication skills with proficiency and fluency in English.

• Excellent project delivery skills, including the ability to create project plans, drive execution, manage multiple projects at a time, and maturity to influence multiple internal and external stakeholders

• Ability to derive insights from large datasets for informing data-driven decision-making

• Prior hands-on experience in the Indian education sector and with government stakeholders

• Open to travel to partner sites when needed

• Experience in high-performing consulting, strategy, or program management environments, with a proven ability to manage complex projects, navigate ambiguity, coordinate multiple stakeholders, and drive execution against ambitious goals.

Desired Qualities

• Entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude

• Strong growth and learning mindset

• Critical thinking and analytical skills

• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills

• Collaborative with strong coordination skills

• Outcome-oriented and thrives in a team environment

• Ability to adapt to emerging situations and multitask efficiently

• Manage professional relationships with people from diverse backgrounds

• Excellent management skills including attention to detail, ability to organize/present information and ability to multitask

Compensation

Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy pay scales and will depend upon the candidate’s experience levels.