(Senior) Manager, India Operations

(Senior) Manager, India Operations

Location: New Delhi, India

About IDinsight

We amplify social impact by partnering with leaders to develop tailored solutions. Our mission is to use data and evidence to help leaders combat poverty worldwide.

IDinsight is a mission-driven global advisory, data analytics, and research organization that helps global development leaders maximize their social impact. We tailor a wide range of data and evidence tools, including randomized evaluations and machine learning, to help decision-makers design effective programs and rigorously test what works to support communities. We work with governments, multilateral agencies, foundations, and innovative non-profit organizations in Asia and Africa. Our work spans a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, education, health, governance, sanitation, financial inclusion, and other areas.

We have expertise in a variety of rigorous approaches and methodologies, which we tailor to each client's needs and constraints. To achieve a positive social impact, we:

• Support clients’ use of data and evidence for routine and major decision-making.
• Inform funding decisions – toward high-impact initiatives and away from less effective programs or approaches.
• Create and share tools, knowledge, and ideas that expand the use of data and evidence for social good.

Our diverse, growing team of roughly 250 outstanding colleagues operate in nearly two dozen countries around the world. Learn more about our mission and values at www.IDinsight.org.

About the role

We are hiring a Manager/Senior Manager, India Operations, to lead our India Operations team. This team sits at the center of IDinsight’s ability to do great work by ensuring that our people, systems, and culture function in practice, not just on paper. This is a high-ownership, high-interaction leadership role. You will manage a team of Operations and Administrative Specialists, oversee multiple parallel workstreams, and serve as a key thought partner to regional and global leadership. You will routinely navigate ambiguity and make decisions in a fast-paced, growing organization.

You will report to the Deputy India Regional Director. We are open to candidates with deeper experience who may be able to step into a more senior operations leadership role, depending on fit and demonstrated capability.

What you will do

• Lead and develop the India Operations team: You will manage a team of 5–6 Operations and Administrative teammates, including: setting clear priorities and expectations across the team; coaching, training, and providing ongoing feedback; ensuring high-quality execution across people operations and office administration; building team systems that enable scale, continuity, and resilience. You are accountable for both outcomes and team health.
• Oversee the full employee lifecycle for the India region: You will oversee people operations for ~100 teammates, including recruitment and hiring oversight; onboarding and offboarding; performance management processes; and day-to-day employee relations and issue resolution. You will serve as a senior point of escalation for sensitive, complex, or high-risk people matters.
• Own staffing and workforce planning: You will partner with project leads and the India Executive Team to forecast staffing needs, maintain and update staffing projections as projects evolve, flag and proactively address staffing risks, performance concerns, and conflicts, and ensure staffing decisions align with organizational priorities and capacity. This requires strong judgment, discretion, and the ability to balance competing demands.
• Build, improve, and institutionalize systems and policies: You will actively identify what is not working and fix it. This includes designing, improving, and maintaining systems related to: staffing, recruiting, immigration, onboarding and offboarding, people operations/HR systems, regional policies, safety and security, compliance, and operations strategy. You will translate high-level goals into clear processes, tools, and accountability.
• Ensure compliance through cross-functional collaboration: You will work closely with Finance, Legal, and Global Operations teams to ensure that India operations comply with employment, immigration, and regulatory requirements, align with global standards while accounting for local context, and anticipate and mitigate operational and compliance risks.
• Strengthen culture and employee experience: This is a deeply people-facing leadership role. You will: be a trusted listening ear for employee concerns, ideas, and feedback; review and act on employee survey data and informal feedback; translate insights into concrete improvements; and oversee team-building activities and internal events. You are expected to embody IDinsight’s values and model how we work together.
• Serve as a thought partner to regional and organizational leadership: You will act as a trusted thought partner to the India and global leaders by bringing an operations lens to strategic discussions and decision-making; resurfacing risks, trade-offs, and operational implications early - not after decisions are made; using data, on-the-ground context, and team insights to inform leadership choices; and translating leadership priorities into clear, executable plans for the Operations team. This aspect of the role requires strong judgment, confidence, engaging with senior stakeholders, and the ability to move fluidly between strategy and execution.
  
  

Must-have qualifications

• 5–10 years of professional experience in Business Operations, People Operations, or organizational building, including direct management of a team (experience in development, policy, or consulting environments is strongly preferred)
• Experience working in international or cross-border contexts, with exposure to complex people operations, legal, and immigration challenges
• Strong execution and follow-through: ability to take work from high-level strategy to implementation with minimal oversight
• Demonstrated ability to lead in ambiguous, fast-changing environments and manage multiple parallel workstreams
• Strong communicator across written communication, meetings, public speaking, and upward management
• Experience with talent acquisition and organizational systems, including HRIS and ATS platforms (experience with BambooHR and Slack preferred)
• Knowledge of Indian employment, immigration, and compliance requirements
• High levels of integrity, discretion, and sound judgment when handling sensitive people and organizational issues
• Strong interest in professional growth, with openness to giving and receiving feedback
• Experience working effectively with cross-cultural and diverse teams
• Fluency in English and Hindi
  

You will thrive in this role if

• You enjoy leading through complexity and are comfortable making decisions without perfect information
• You can hold multiple priorities in your head and still move each one forward with discipline
• You care deeply about people, but are also comfortable having difficult conversations when needed
• You like building systems that make work easier for others, and fixing them when they break
• You see operations as a strategic function, not just a support role
• You take ownership seriously and feel accountable for closing loops and delivering results

Professional development

Skill and career development are core to IDinsight's values and long-term impact strategy and have been noted as highlights of teammates’ experiences. IDinsighters receive significant mentorship from IDinsight leadership and support from talented peers, and are given considerable autonomy when ready. They maintain professional development plans and are given "stretch" opportunities designed to strengthen a variety of skills. Real-time feedback is embedded in our culture, and a formal structure enables maximum professional growth. Additionally, teammates have access to an annual professional development stipend that they are encouraged to utilize to explore their career interests and develop their skills.

Nuts & bolts

Location

This position is based in IDinsight’s Delhi, India office.

Start date

The start date of this position is March - April 2026, with preference for those who can start immediately. We expect a 2-year minimum commitment, with regular professional development conversations and potential for a long-term career at IDinsight.

Work authorization

IDinsight is not able to sponsor work authorization for this role. Successful candidates will not require IDinsight to sponsor their work authorization in the office in which they'll be based.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation and benefits are commensurate with the qualifications and experiences IDinsight is hiring for, and are competitive within the development sector. We are especially proud of the people-focused benefits we offer, including comprehensive health insurance, including mental health coverage; paid vacation, sick, and parental leave; relocation benefits; a travel stipend; technology and work-from-home stipends; a professional development budget; and more. Candidates will be evaluated based on their qualifications, previous experiences, and performance in the hiring process in comparison to IDinsight's role expectations and responsibilities.

Please note that while we aim to be competitive within the global development sector, we are a non-profit and, as such, are usually unable to meet compensation brackets similar to leading private sector organizations.

How to apply

Please click the "Apply for this job online" button at the top right. The application deadline is Monday, 2nd February 2026. The application asks various questions in order for us to get to know you, and requires a CV.

Please ensure that your CV includes relevant professional and personal experience as well as details on academic qualifications. CVs can range from one to two pages. Please note, that headshot photographs, parental details, birth dates, marital status, and other personal information not relevant to the application do not need to be included in your CV. Additionally, we strongly encourage you to use your cover letter to highlight why you want to work for IDinsight specifically, and what has prepared you to succeed in the role you’re applying for. A customized cover letter is an important part of IDinsight’s recruiting process as it allows us to understand your motivations for the position, relevant skills, and clarity of writing. Please also include your preferred start date or range. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Please direct any questions to india.careers@IDinsight.org.

We encourage Indian citizens and Overseas Citizens of India to apply, and will accept and equally consider applications from citizens of all nationalities (and will support successful candidates to secure work authorization in India). IDinsight recognizes the negative impact of inequity and exclusion, not only in the countries and communities where we work, but within organizations. We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical to organizational success, and therefore are committed to building a diverse team and creating an equitable and inclusive professional experience for each of our team members. IDinsight is an equal-opportunity employer. We encourage qualified candidates to apply regardless of (but not limited to) race, ethnicity, religion/creed, caste, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, HIV status, disability, ancestry, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other legally protected status.

More information, including details on IDinsight’s hiring process and frequently asked questions, can be found online at IDinsight Careers. Any questions should be directed to india.careers@IDinsight.org.

IDinsight’s commitment to reducing power asymmetries

IDinsight is committed to reducing power asymmetries in the social sector. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion reflects our understanding of the need for the sector to abandon unhealthy practices of the past. We wish to be part of a new generation of international NGOs who are honest about this history and transparent about our role in the present. Our commitment is also aligned with the impact of our work.

We seek a workforce that is inclusive of a variety of perspectives that will help us refine and improve our methods and relationships, and strengthen the services we provide our clients and their communities or constituencies. The following commitments represent our vision for the IDinsight team:

1. IDinsight will have greater representation from the populations with whom we work and clients we serve.
2. IDinsight will have greater representation from the countries in which we work.
3. Across all countries in which we recruit, we will seek greater representation from historically excluded communities.
4. IDinsight will foster an inclusive work culture that empowers a diverse team to do their best work.

IDinsight is an equal opportunity employer and strives to create a diverse and supportive workplace.