Chief Executive Officer - NGO

Chief Executive Officer

Position: Chief Executive Officer

Experience: 18+ Years

Location: Delhi NCR Headquarters, with significant pan-India travel

Reporting To: Board of Governors through the Chairman

Role Overview

The Chief Executive Officer will provide strategic, operational and institutional leadership to a large, complex, multi-location, mission-led organisation. The role will be responsible for translating the organisation's long-term vision into measurable outcomes, strengthening institutional sustainability, building high-performing leadership teams, enhancing governance and expanding partnerships across government, corporate, philanthropic and international ecosystems.

The CEO will work closely with the Board, Chairman, senior leadership, government stakeholders, donors, partners and other external stakeholders to strengthen organisational impact, scale programmes and build a sustainable institution for the long term.

Key Responsibilities

1. Mission, Impact & Beneficiary Focus

- Lead the organisation towards its long-term strategic and impact objectives.

- Establish annual targets, outcome measures and performance-monitoring mechanisms.

- Monitor programme effectiveness and initiate timely course corrections.

- Strengthen partnerships, service delivery models and geographic presence.

- Improve quality, continuity, accessibility, experience, safety and dignity across programmes and services.

- Ensure beneficiary interests remain central to strategic and operational decisions.

- Develop mechanisms for incorporating feedback and lived experience into programme design and institutional decision-making.

2. Fundraising & Financial Sustainability

- Develop and execute a diversified fundraising and resource-mobilisation strategy.

- Build and strengthen relationships across CSR, foundations, government, HNI, retail and international funding sources.

- Personally lead strategic donor and institutional relationships.

- Strengthen the organisation's corpus, financial predictability and long-term sustainability.

- Ensure fundraising growth is aligned with organisational capacity and strategic priorities.

- Develop parallel organisational growth plans to support future scale.

- Ensure financial discipline, transparency and effective utilisation of resources.

3. Organisational Transformation & Operational Excellence

- Consolidate and institutionalise transformation and integration initiatives.

- Embed SOP-driven operations, project-management discipline and strong internal controls.

- Strengthen compliance, enterprise risk management and governance systems.

- Promote data-driven decision-making across functions.

- Build scalable systems, processes and operating models without losing connection with frontline realities.

- Ensure effective coordination between headquarters and field operations.

- Drive continuous improvement in organisational productivity and effectiveness.

4. Leadership Development & Culture

- Build a high-performing C-Suite and establish a cohesive executive leadership team.

- Develop leadership and succession pipelines across headquarters and field operations.

- Create a culture of accountability, collaboration, transparency and respectful debate.

- Encourage timely decision-making, strong documentation and reliable execution.

- Coach and develop senior leaders and strengthen organisational capability.

- Manage complex interpersonal and organisational situations with maturity and empathy.

- Lead change-management initiatives while maintaining employee engagement and organisational alignment.

5. Strategy, Planning & Performance Management

- Translate the organisation's long-term vision into three-year strategic plans, annual operating plans and quarterly milestones.

- Establish and maintain an institutional scorecard covering programmes, finance, people, partnerships, quality, risk and organisational performance.

- Regularly review progress against strategic and operational objectives.

- Balance impact, sustainability, organisational capacity, risk and stakeholder expectations.

- Make transparent and evidence-based strategic trade-offs.

- Ensure effective execution of organisational priorities across functions and geographies.

6. Governance, Board & Stakeholder Management

- Work closely with the Board of Governors, Chairman and Board Committees.

- Provide high-quality and timely reporting on strategy, programmes, finance, people, risk, quality and organisational performance.

- Strengthen governance practices and Board-management relationships.

- Ensure transparency, accountability and effective decision-making.

- Build strong relationships with government authorities, institutional partners, donors, research organisations and other strategic stakeholders.

- Represent the organisation effectively at national and international forums.

7. Innovation, Technology & External Influence

- Leverage technology, data and responsible innovation to improve programme outcomes and organisational productivity.

- Strengthen digital maturity and data capabilities across the organisation.

- Develop strategic partnerships with government, research institutions, technology organisations and international bodies.

- Contribute to policy development and sector-wide thought leadership.

- Strengthen the organisation's position as a credible national institution and voice within its area of work.

- Build and manage a strong ecosystem of strategic partnerships across functions.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will typically bring:

- 18-20+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience.

- Significant experience managing a large, complex, multi-location organisation or enterprise-wide portfolio.

- Experience in healthcare, public health, development, social impact or another mission-led institution is strongly preferred.

- Demonstrated experience in fundraising and resource mobilisation.

- Strong experience in organisational transformation, scaling and institutional development.

- Experience working effectively with an active Board and senior governance structures.

- Experience in a founder-led or closely governed organisation would be advantageous.

- Strong understanding of financial management, governance, compliance and risk.

- Experience managing senior leadership teams and developing succession pipelines.

- Demonstrated experience in government relations, public policy and strategic partnerships.

- Strong academic and professional credentials; an advanced degree is desirable.

Critical Competencies

Strategic Leadership

- Vision and systems thinking

- Strategic planning and prioritisation

- Outcome orientation

- Innovation and organisational foresight

Operational Leadership

- Execution and scale

- Governance and financial management

- Process excellence

- Risk and compliance management

- Ability to operate at both strategic and operational levels

External Leadership

- Fundraising and resource mobilisation

- Government and public-policy engagement

- Strategic partnerships

- Institutional representation and stakeholder management

People Leadership

- Leadership development

- Coaching and mentoring

- Conflict resolution

- Change management

- Culture building

- Executive-team collaboration

Mission Stewardship

- Integrity and accountability

- Emotional intelligence

- Resilience and learning agility

- Stakeholder sensitivity

- Ability to protect organisational purpose while managing competing priorities

Leadership Attributes

The successful candidate should be someone who:

- Believes in building strong institutions rather than relying on individual personalities.

- Is comfortable solving complex and ambiguous problems.

- Can work effectively with highly capable and diverse stakeholders.

- Is energised by organisational complexity and large-scale transformation.

- Views governance as an enabler of institutional effectiveness.

- Can move comfortably between government, field operations, Board discussions, donor engagements and internal organisational decisions.

- Can balance stakeholder interests while maintaining organisational purpose.

- Builds both people and systems with equal commitment.

- Is focused on creating a sustainable institution that can thrive beyond an individual leader.

Key Success Measures

Success in the role will be assessed through:

- Achievement of strategic and impact objectives.

- Strength and sustainability of funding and financial performance.

- Growth and effectiveness of strategic partnerships.

- Quality, scale and consistency of programme delivery.

- Strength of governance, systems, controls and risk management.

- Development and retention of senior leadership talent.

- Organisational culture, accountability and execution discipline.

- Digital maturity and effective use of data and technology.

- Stakeholder confidence across government, donors, partners and communities.

- Strength and independence of the institution beyond the tenure of any individual CEO.