Ecosystem Activation Lead

Wfnen; Chennai District; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Wadhwani Foundation seeks a State Resource Capacity Lead to build and manage a high-quality pool of experts, mentors, and practitioners for skilling and entrepreneurship programs. The role serves as the state-level extension of national networks, ensuring timely access to locally grounded expertise aligned to outcomes.

The post requires balancing local context with central standards, coordinating with cross-functional teams, and driving data-informed decisions to scale impact across the state.

Qualifications

• Experience building, managing, or operating expert, mentor, or practitioner networks.
• Experience working with or supporting small businesses, micro-entrepreneurs, or growth ventures.
• Experience delivering outcomes through external experts or partners.
• Ability to coordinate with central teams and adapt to local context.

Responsibilities

• State-Level Resource Capacity: maintain a robust pool of vetted experts, mentors, and practitioners; ensure coverage and readiness across programs.
• Skilling Resource Enablement: ensure reliable access to sector-relevant facilitators and mentors to boost employability and industry exposure.
• Knowledge & Insight Curation: curate state-relevant assets and integrate them into AI-enabled platforms; maintain quality standards and metrics.
• Expert Network & Capacity Building: design and manage pools of practitioners aligned to program outcomes and local needs.
• Contextual Judgment: assess local relevance and balance central standards with state-specific needs.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: work with program, ecosystem, and central teams to align resource supply with execution demand.
• Systems Thinking: operate within interconnected skilling, small business, academic, employer and policy ecosystems; identify leverage points for scale.
• Data- and Insight-Informed Decision Making: use data and ecosystem insights to prioritize partnerships and improve effectiveness across time.

Job description

• Functional Area Sales / Business Development / Client Servicing

Job Description

OrganizationOverview

The WadhwaniFoundation is an entrepreneurial philanthropy focused on enablinglarge-scale job creation by strengthening entrepreneurship, skilling, and smallbusiness growth across the Global South. The Foundation builds systems-levelsolutions that combine AI-enabled platforms, structured programs, and deepecosystem partnerships to drive measurable economic outcomes. Its work spansmultiple geographies and engages governments, employers, industry bodies,financial institutions, and entrepreneurship enablers. The operating modelemphasizes scale, execution rigor, and collaboration across public and privateecosystems to deliver durable impact.

RoleOverview

The State ResourceCapacity Lead is responsible for building, managing, and activating ahigh-quality state-level pool of experts, mentors, and practitioners thatenables effective delivery of skilling and entrepreneurship initiatives. Therole ensures that programs have timely access to relevant, locally groundedexpertise aligned to small business growth, employability, and enterpriseoutcomes. Operating as the state-level extension of national resource networks,the role balances local relevance with central quality standards, withaccountability for resource readiness, utilization, and contribution tooutcomes.

Responsibilities (with example deliverables)

1. State-LevelResource Capacity

• A robust, state-specific pool of vettedexperts, mentors, and practitioners aligned to skilling, small businessgrowth, and entrepreneurship program needs.
  
• Clear ownership of resource availability,coverage, and readiness across programs operating within the state.
  

2. Skilling ResourceEnablement

• Reliable access to sector-relevantfacilitators, industry mentors, and practitioners who enable learneremployability, workplace readiness, and industry exposure.
  
• Consistent expert participation inmasterclasses, mentoring, and applied learning interventions withmeasurable utilization and engagement.
  

5. Knowledge &Insight Curation

• A curated set of state-relevant knowledgeassets (local reports, sector insights, practitioner content, tools)aligned to business, skilling, and enterprise needs.
  
• Structured sourcing and integration of theseresources into the Foundation’s AI-enabled platforms for scalable use.
  
• Clear quality standards, performance tracking,and utilization metrics for experts and mentors at the state level.
  
• Strong coordination with central teams toensure consistency, while adapting resource deployment to local contextand program demand.
  
• Expert Network & Capacity Building
  Ability to design, grow, and manage pools of practitioners and mentorsaligned to defined program outcomes and local context.
• Contextual Judgment
  Ability to assess localrelevance of expertise and knowledge, balancing central standards withstate-specific needs.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  Ability to work effectively with program, ecosystem, and central teams toalign resource supply with execution demand.
• Systems Thinking
  Ability to understand and operate within interconnected systems spanningskilling, small business growth, academic institutions, employers, andpolicy environments, identifying leverage points for scale and impact.
• Data- and Insight-Informed Decision Making
  Ability to use data, ecosystem insights, and performance signals toprioritize partnerships, course-correct execution, and improve ecosystemeffectiveness over time.

Experience

• Expert or Mentor Network Exposure
  Experience building, managing, or operating within expert, mentor, orpractitioner networks supporting skilling, entrepreneurship, or enterpriseinitiatives.
• Small Business Contexts
  Experience working with or supporting small businesses,micro-entrepreneurs, or growth ventures in applied, execution-orientedsettings.
• Partner-Led Delivery Models
  Experience delivering outcomes through external experts or partners ratherthan direct line management.
• State or Regional Operating Contexts
  Experience operating in state or regional ecosystems with variedinstitutional capacity, sector mix, and local dynamics.