Senior Manager - Institutional Fundraising and Partnerships
Mumbai, IndiaHybridFull-timeSenior · 6-8 years
About this role
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 cognitive skills 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 fundraising professional who understands that institutional funding is not just about writing strong proposals — it's about building the kind of relationships and credibility that make foundations want to invest in you for the long term.
You know the global philanthropic landscape well — who the key players are, what they care about, how they make decisions, and what it takes to move from initial conversation to multi-year grant. You're equally sharp as a strategist and a writer — able to shape a compelling funding proposition and then articulate it with clarity and precision.
You work well with senior leadership, bring your own instincts and initiative to the pipeline, and take full ownership of every opportunity from first contact to renewal. If you believe that great institutional fundraising is what gives bold education missions the runway to become real — you'll thrive here.
About The Role
Location: Pune/Mumbai/ Remote (Hybrid Flexibility)
Experience: 06 - 08 years
Compensation: ₹12 - 16.5 LPA (incl. EPF & insurance)
Reports to: Head - Fundraising and Partnerships
Type: Full-time
What You’ll Do
Donor Cultivation & Relationship Management
- Independently cultivate, convert, and manage relationships with global foundations, grant-making organisations, family philanthropies, and other institutional donors.
- Build and manage a strong pipeline of institutional funding opportunities — moving donors effectively through the full fundraising lifecycle.
- Engage with senior stakeholders including foundation leadership, program officers, and philanthropists to deepen relationships and build long-term funding partnerships.
Proposal Strategy & Development
- Shape compelling funding propositions that align TAP's organisational priorities with donor interests.
- Coordinate internal stakeholders to develop strong, competitive proposals, concept notes, grant applications, and donor communications.
- Bring strategic thinking to every proposal — not just writing what's asked for, but designing the most persuasive case for investment.
Grant Management & Reporting
- Manage the full institutional fundraising lifecycle — from donor qualification and cultivation through grant management, reporting, compliance, and renewal.
- Ensure grant reporting requirements, due diligence processes, and post-award relationship management are handled with rigour and timeliness.
- Strengthen renewal outcomes by maintaining strong stewardship and consistent engagement with existing funders.
Foundation Intelligence & Pipeline Development
- Maintain a strong understanding of the institutional funding landscape — including foreign funder priorities, funding trends, application processes, and philanthropic decision-making.
- Identify and qualify new funding opportunities, assess donor fit, and prioritise the pipeline based on strategic alignment and conversion potential.
- Strengthen TAP's overall institutional fundraising engine by continuously improving conversion rates, proposal quality, and funder relationships.
Who You Are
- 6–8 years of experience in fundraising, institutional partnerships, foundation fundraising, philanthropy, or resource mobilisation.
- Proven experience working with global foundations, grant-making organisations, family philanthropies, and institutional donors.
- Demonstrated success in securing grants and building long-term funding partnerships.
- Experience managing the full institutional fundraising lifecycle — from qualification and cultivation through grant management and renewal.
- Strong track record of engaging with senior stakeholders including foundation leadership, program officers, and nonprofit leadership teams.
Skills You Bring
- Cultivation & Relationship Management: Ability to build and manage relationships with foundations, institutional donors, and program officers — and effectively move opportunities through the fundraising pipeline.
- Strategic Donor Qualification: Strong judgement in assessing donor fit, prioritising opportunities, understanding decision-making processes, and identifying pathways to funding.
- Proposal Strategy: Ability to shape compelling funding propositions, align organisational priorities with donor interests, and coordinate internal stakeholders to develop strong and competitive proposals.
- Foundation Intelligence: Deep understanding of the institutional funding landscape — including foreign funder priorities, funding trends, application processes, and philanthropic decision-making.
- Grant Writing & Communication: Excellent written communication skills with experience developing concept notes, grant proposals, donor communications, and funding applications.
- Reporting & Compliance: Experience managing grant reporting requirements, donor stewardship, due diligence processes, compliance requirements, and post-award relationship management.
What Success Looks Like
- Foundation and philanthropic opportunities are consistently converted into long-term funding partnerships.
- TAP's institutional fundraising pipeline is strong, well-qualified, and growing.
- Conversion rates across qualified funding opportunities improve over time.
- Relationships with institutional funders are deep, active, and built for the long term.
- Proposal quality, grant management, and renewal outcomes are consistently strong.
- TAP has a robust and sustainable institutional fundraising foundation to support long-term growth.
Why Join Us?
Because at TAP, fundraising is not a support function — it is a growth engine.
The work you do here will directly determine how many children TAP can reach, how fast we can scale, and how long we can sustain our impact. You'll work at the intersection of education, philanthropy, and systems change — building relationships with some of the world's most influential foundations and helping shape the narrative of what bold, evidence-based education reform looks like in India. If you want your fundraising career to stand for something larger than the numbers — this is the place.
What You Can Expect?
- Real impact: Every grant you secure translates directly into more children accessing 21st-century skills in government schools across India.
- Autonomy and ownership: Lead TAP's institutional fundraising portfolio end-to-end — with the trust and space to build it your way.
- Professional growth: Work closely with the Head of Fundraising and TAP's senior leadership — with significant visibility and a clear path to growing into a broader fundraising leadership role.
- Supportive culture: Collaborative teams, open communication, and shared purpose.
- Sector-aligned compensation: Competitive salary in line with experience and nonprofit standards.
You can always reach out to us for any questions on hr@theapprenticeproject.org