Director - Program Design and Development

Magic Bus India Foundation; Navi Mumbai; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Impactful work in youth empowerment

Opportunity to innovate in education

Dynamic work environment

Job summary

Magic Bus India Foundation seeks a Director – Program Design & Development to drive curriculum innovation and strategic leadership for livelihood programmes in India. This role requires extensive experience in vocational education and a Ph.D. in relevant fields. Candidates should demonstrate expertise in curriculum architecture, pedagogical innovation, and stakeholder engagement.

Working with underserved communities, the role focuses on integrating AI and digital learning to enhance employability. This is a key position for those passionate about empowering youth towards sustainable livelihoods.

Qualifications

• Minimum 20 years of relevant experience in vocational education & skilling.
• Experience designing and scaling large livelihood and skilling programmes.
• Strong understanding of India’s skilling ecosystem.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic direction and design architecture of livelihood and skilling programmes.
• Ensure programmes are scalable, inclusive, and aligned with organizational priorities.
• Engage with government agencies, industry bodies, and educational institutions.

Skills

Curriculum architecture

Instructional design

Stakeholder management

Strategic leadership

Digital learning integration

AI literacy

Education

Ph.D. in Education or related fields

Tools

LMS platforms

EdTech tools

AI-enabled applications

Job description

Magic Bus India Foundation is one of India’s leading organizations working in education, skilling, employability, and livelihood development. Through its “Childhood to Livelihood” approach, Magic Bus supports adolescents and youth from underserved communities in completing education and transitioning into sustainable livelihoods through life skills, employability training, vocational skilling, entrepreneurship, and career pathways.

The Livelihood Programme works extensively with youth and women across urban, peri-urban, and rural geographies, equipping them with 21st-century skills, workplace readiness, digital capabilities, entrepreneurship skills, and access to employment and self-employment opportunities.

Position Summary

The Director – Program Design & Development will provide strategic leadership for the design, innovation, modernization, and continuous strengthening of Magic Bus Livelihood content, curriculum, and learning systems.

The role will lead the development of future-ready, industry-aligned, youth-centric, and scalable skilling ecosystems aligned to labour market trends, AI transformation, emerging technologies, and evolving livelihood opportunities.

The incumbent will drive curriculum architecture, instructional design, pedagogy innovation, digital learning integration, programme quality frameworks, and future workforce readiness across all livelihood interventions.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic direction and design architecture of livelihood and skilling programmes.
• Develop long-term programme roadmaps aligned with labour market trends, AI disruption, technology advancements, and youth aspirations.
• Ensure programmes are scalable, inclusive, outcome-oriented, and aligned with organizational priorities.
• Strengthen organizational capability in future-ready employability and livelihood solutions.
• Lead end-to-end curriculum development, competency frameworks, learning pathways, and assessment systems.
• Oversee development of learner handbooks, facilitator manuals, digital modules, implementation toolkits, and assessments.
• Ensure curriculum alignment with NSQF standards, Qualification Packs (QPs), National Occupational Standards (NOS), and industry competency frameworks.
• Introduce experiential, activity-based, and learner-centric pedagogical approaches.

3. 21st Century Skills & Employability

• Strengthen curriculum related to communication, workplace readiness, leadership, teamwork, financial literacy, problem-solving, and career preparedness.
• Build innovative employability frameworks to support youth transition into the workforce.

4. AI Integration & Future Skills

• Lead integration of AI awareness, AI literacy, and AI-enabled workplace readiness into programme design.
• Develop future skills programmes aligned with emerging industries and evolving job roles.
• Integrate AI-enabled tools into curriculum design, learner engagement, assessments, and productivity enhancement.
• Stay updated on trends related to AI, automation, EdTech, and future-of-work ecosystems.

5. Vocational & Industry-Aligned Skilling

• Lead development of vocational and domain-skilling programmes aligned with current and future employer demand.
• Collaborate with employers, Sector Skill Councils, and ecosystem stakeholders to ensure industry relevance.
• Integrate behavioural, workplace, and technical competencies into programme design.
• Support pathways for placements, apprenticeships, internships, and career progression.

6. Digital & Advanced Skilling

• Lead design and development of digital and advanced skilling programmes in areas such as:
• Data Analytics
• Power BI
• Tableau
• Advanced Excel
• AI-enabled workplace applications
• Digital productivity tools
• Build industry-aligned learning pathways and employer partnerships to improve youth employability.
• Lead development of entrepreneurship and self-employment curriculum for youth and women.
• Build enterprise development frameworks, business readiness modules, and ecosystem support systems.
• Integrate market linkages, financial literacy, digital commerce awareness, and enterprise mentoring into programme design.

8. Digital Learning & Instructional Design

• Lead blended learning ecosystems including CBT, WBT, e-learning, mobile learning, and technology-enabled training solutions.
• Oversee integration of LMS platforms, EdTech tools, multimedia learning content, and AI-enabled learning approaches.
• Drive innovation in digital pedagogy and learner-centric instructional design.
• Lead research on labour market trends, emerging sectors, AI disruption, entrepreneurship ecosystems, youth aspirations, and future-of-work trends.
• Introduce evidence-based programme innovation and global best practices.
• Build systems for programme effectiveness, learner outcome tracking, and continuous improvement.
• Define programme success indicators and measure learner outcomes, employability outcomes, and programme impact.
• Conduct programme reviews, implementation audits, field observations, and stakeholder feedback assessments.
• Strengthen systems for programme documentation, scalability, and replication.

11. Stakeholder Engagement & Ecosystem Building

• Engage with government agencies, Sector Skill Councils, industry bodies, academic institutions, donors, and technology partners.
• Represent Magic Bus in national and international forums related to skilling, employability, and workforce development.
• Build strategic partnerships to strengthen programme quality and scale.

12. Team Leadership & Organizational Capability

• Lead and mentor curriculum specialists, instructional designers, programme managers, researchers, and content developers.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, quality, and continuous learning.
• Build organizational capability in advanced pedagogy, AI-enabled learning, and future workforce readiness.

Qualifications & Experience

Educational Qualification

• Ph.D. in Education, Skill Development, Workforce Development, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Management, HRD, Instructional Design, or related disciplines.
• Additional qualification in curriculum design, instructional technology, digital learning, AI applications, or workforce development preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 20 years of relevant experience in:
• Vocational education & skilling
• Youth employability programmes
• Experience in designing and scaling large livelihood and skilling programmes.
• Exposure to EdTech ecosystems, government systems, Sector Skill Councils, employers, multilateral agencies, and donors preferred.
• Strong exposure to AI-enabled learning ecosystems, blended learning, digital learning platforms, and future-of-work frameworks preferred.

Knowledge

• Strong understanding of India’s skilling ecosystem, NSQF, QPs, and NOS frameworks.
• Expertise in programme design, pedagogy, instructional design, and adult learning principles.
• Knowledge of blended learning, EdTech platforms, CBT/WBT/e-learning models, and digital learning ecosystems.
• Understanding of AI trends, automation, future workforce models, and youth development challenges.

Core Competencies

• Strategic and systems thinking
• Curriculum architecture and instructional design expertise
• Innovation and change leadership
• Research and analytical capability
• Stakeholder management and partnership building
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Team leadership and mentoring

Personal Attributes

• Visionary and innovation-oriented leader
• Strong commitment to youth empowerment and inclusive livelihoods
• High ownership, accountability, and execution excellence
• Strong collaboration and ecosystem-building orientation
• Ability to work in dynamic environments with minimal supervision
• Willingness to travel

Why Join Magic Bus

This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of youth employability and livelihood ecosystems in India by designing transformative, scalable, and future-ready learning systems that impact millions of young people from underserved communities.