Associate Director - Programmes (Tax policy, Financial Markets) The Convergence Foundation (TCF)

Theconvergencefoundation; Delhi; On-site; INR 800,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

The Convergence Foundation is looking for an Associate Director to lead its financial markets and tax policy initiatives. This senior role involves developing programs, managing external relationships, and providing strategic insights to enhance India's economic competitiveness.

With 12–15 years of experience, candidates should have strong analytical skills, be relationship-driven, and comfortable with complexity. The position offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of philanthropy and policy.

Qualifications

• Strong interpersonal skills; able to engage in senior external meetings.
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership and lead workstreams.
• Experience with policy, financial markets, taxation, or economics.

Responsibilities

• Anchor financial markets and tax work.
• Build relationships with government officials and ecosystem partners.
• Convert ideas into structured initiatives.

Skills

Strong strategic thinking

Interpersonal and relationship-building skills

Analytical skills

Ownership of workstreams

Education

12–15+ years of work experience

Job description

Associate Director - Programmes (Tax policy, Financial Markets)

Role: Associate Director - Programmes (Tax policy, Financial Markets)

About The Convergence Foundation and TCF Network

About The Convergence Foundation and TCF Network:

The Convergence Foundation (TCF) is an Indian philanthropic foundation established by Ashish and Manisha Dhawan in April 2021. TCF builds on their legacy of impactful philanthropy, including the founding of transformative institutions like Ashoka University and the Central Square Foundation.

Our mission is clear: to transform the lives of all Indians through rapid, sustained economic growth and inclusive development.

To achieve this, we focus on 3 pillars

• Direct engines of economic growth that enable job creation,
• Human capital development through education and employability, and
• Development Enablers that strengthen the philanthropic ecosystem and improve state capacity.

In each area, TCF works on:

• Building pioneering institutions to address India's most complex socio-economic challenges.
• Shaping the larger ecosystem and sharing knowledge, insights and learning with other philanthropists, governments and key stakeholders

We believe that the government is the key actor for system change, and the role of philanthropy and nonprofits is to strategically support the government. The TCF Network includes 20+ organisations all working systemically with the government, committed to addressing specific areas of India's socio-economic development, across our three pillars.

About the Role

We are hiring an Associate Director to anchor and scale TCF's work in Financial markets and tax policy/administration, two of the most critical levers for improving India's economic competitiveness. The role will involve converting early-stage momentum into concrete programs, driving external engagements, and owning relationships with key partners in government, industry, and civil society.

The ideal candidate is a senior professional (12–15+ years) with strong strategic thinking, external-facing comfort, and the ability to lead a portfolio end-to-end. This is not a technical role, but it requires someone who can deep-dive into complex topics, frame problems clearly, and coordinate with subject matter experts. Over time, this individual is expected to own and lead the portfolio, with TCF leadership offering strategic support.

Key Responsibilities

• Anchor TCF's work in financial markets (focused on enhancing availability and cost of capital in India) and tax, including both policy-level and administrative reforms.
• Build and manage external relationships with government officials, regulators, industry bodies, and ecosystem partners.
• Serve as a front-facing representative of TCF in meetings, conferences, and engagements, especially where senior leadership is unable to attend.
• Convert ideas into structured initiatives by working with advisors, technical experts, and implementation partners.
• Provide first-level analytical depth and framing on emerging topics to enable strategic decision-making.
• Coordinate with grantees and partners, ensure delivery milestones are met, and troubleshoot operational issues.
• Explore opportunities for expansion into adjacent verticals over time, such as regulatory reform or capital markets (as and when capacity allows).

What We're Looking For

• 12–15+ years of work experience with exposure to policy, financial markets, taxation, and/or economics.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills; must be able to hold their own in senior external meetings.
• A structured thinker with strong analytical skills; someone who can quickly understand unfamiliar topics and synthesize learnings.
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership and independently lead workstreams, while keeping leadership informed and engaged.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and fast-changing contexts.

Preferred Background

• Experience in management consulting, governance-focused organizations, or policy think tanks.
• Exposure to financial markets (banking, bond markets, derivatives, ECBs etc.) and/or tax systems is a plus but not mandatory.
• CA/CFA background is desired but not must