Associate Director - Director's Office

Shanti Informatics; Gurugram District; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Masters Union in Gurgaon-based campus environment seeks a seasoned, entrepreneurial leader to head new initiatives within the core team. This high-impact role builds from the ground up, identifying whitespace opportunities, launching new verticals, and driving institutional innovation with senior leadership.

You will convert bold ideas into scalable programs, build and lead a team, and execute against a bold growth agenda with founders and leadership.

Qualifications

• 8-12 years experience in strategy, entrepreneurship, or strategic consulting.
• Proven track record building from scratch with ownership of P&L or outcomes.
• Experience leading and developing teams with strong people management.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, analytical rigor, and program/portfolio skills.
• Outstanding executive communication and stakeholder management at founder/board level.
• Strong bias for action and comfort operating with ambiguity in fast-scaling environments.

Responsibilities

• Leading multiple new initiatives simultaneously from research to scale with full accountability.
• Building, mentoring, and managing a high-performing strategy team; set goals and review progress.
• Partnering directly with founders, marketing, academics, admissions, and tech leadership to align initiatives.
• Identifying, negotiating, and closing strategic partnerships with companies, universities, and startups.
• Representing new initiatives in leadership and board-level discussions with clear narratives and metrics.
• Championing a culture of experimentation and rapid iteration across the organization.
• Owning the end-to-end strategy for prioritizing opportunities across education, technology, and industry collaborations.

Skills

Strategic thinking

People management

Executive communication

Entrepreneurial mindset

Relationship building

Job description

About Masters' Union

Founded in 2020, Masters Union is a new-age, industry-led university focused on business, technology, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Built around learning by doing, the institution combines academics with real-world projects, startup building, and global exposure, with the ambition of becoming one of the worlds top business schools and multidisciplinary universities over the next two decades.

Today, Masters Union has nearly 3,500 students across undergraduate, postgraduate, and executive programs, with almost half being experienced professionals. Spread across nearly 5 lakh square feet in Gurgaon and Manesar, the institution houses the PwC Center for Generative AI, a Bloomberg Lab, Gurgaons premier maker space, AI and robotics infrastructure, advanced bioengineering workshops, and startup incubation spaces, while also expanding into areas such as bioengineering and genetic engineering.

The institution is chaired by Manoj Kohli, former CEO of Bharti Airtel and former Country Head of SoftBank India. Its leadership ecosystem includes Vivek Gambhir, Pankaj Bansal, Sanjiv Bikhchandani, Amitabh Kant, and 30+ other founders, CEOs, investors, and policymakers who contribute to teaching and institution building.

Masters Union’s flagship postgraduate program has recorded the highest average salary among MBA-equivalent programs in India, with graduates placed at firms such as Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Google, and Microsoft. The institution has also built one of the country’s strongest student startup ecosystems, with 10+ students pitching on Shark Tank India and 20+ students raising external funding for their ventures, alongside several successful creators and internet entrepreneurs.

About the Role

We are looking for a seasoned, entrepreneurial leader to head new initiatives within our core team. This is a high-impact, high-ownership role for someone who has repeatedly built from the ground up identifying whitespace opportunities, launching new verticals, and driving innovation at an institutional level. You will work directly with founders and senior leadership to convert bold ideas into scalable, high-value programs and products, while building and leading a team to execute against an ambitious growth agenda.

Specifically, this role will involve

• Leading multiple new initiatives simultaneously, from market research and business case development through piloting, operations, and scale, with full accountability for outcomes.
• Building, mentoring, and managing a high-performing team of strategy associates and managers; set goals, review progress, and develop talent within the function.
• Partnering directly with founders, marketing, academics, admissions, and tech leadership to align new initiatives with institutional priorities and secure buy-in for major bets.
• Identifying, negotiating, and closing strategic partnerships with companies, universities, and startups that materially expand Masters' Union's reach and capabilities.
• Representing new initiatives in leadership and board-level discussions, translating strategic bets into clear narratives, metrics, and decisions for senior stakeholders.
• Championing a culture of experimentation and rapid iteration across the organization, institutionalizing best practices for how new ideas get tested and scaled.
• Owning the end-to-end strategy for identifying and prioritizing new opportunities across education, technology, and industry collaborations that align with Masters' Union's long-term vision.

Ideal candidate will have

• 8-12 years of experience in strategy, entrepreneurship, or strategic consulting roles, with a track record of increasing scope and seniority.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling something from scratch — as a founder, in a corporate innovation team, or in a senior consulting capacity — including ownership of P&L or business outcomes.
• Prior experience leading and developing teams, with strong people management and mentorship skills.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, analytical rigor, and program/portfolio management skills across multiple concurrent initiatives.
• Outstanding communication and executive stakeholder management abilities, including comfort operating at founder/board level.
• Strong bias for action, high ownership, and comfort operating with ambiguity in a fast-scaling environment.