Senior Vice President – Operations

Farmers for Forests Inc.; Jabalpur; On-site; INR 1,350,000 - 1,650,000; Full time

Job summary

Farmers for Forests Inc. in Jabalpur, MP, seeks a Senior Vice President – Operations to oversee field operations, procurement, and data-driven program execution. The role requires 8+ years in operations, strong leadership, and willingness to travel extensively within Madhya Pradesh.

You will mentor a high-performing team, manage budgets, and collaborate with government partners to scale forest protection projects. Based in Jabalpur with significant travel, this is a full-time leadership position.

Qualifications

• Entrepreneurial, growth-driven professional with startup experience.
• Excited about building a company and a team in rural India.
• Able to work in unstructured environments with diverse teams.
• Willing to base in Jabalpur and travel 70%+ to field locations.
• MBA in Operations or rural management preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead field operations and manage field teams, procurement and inventory.
• Ensure SOP adherence, quality, budgeting and project lifecycle management.
• Manage government relations and stakeholder communications.
• Drive scalable operations across Madhya Pradesh with travel as needed.

Skills

Entrepreneurial mindset

Growth mindset

Team leadership

People management

Adaptability

Collaborative

Jugaad thinking

Education

MBA in Operations

Job description

F4F is a Hybrid Social Enterprise working to protect and increase India’s biodiverse forest cover in close collaboration with rural communities. Founded in December 2019, F4F is one of the few organizations in India working in the forestry sector and using a payment-for-ecosystem services model for its environmental protection and restoration activities.

We have also featured on DW TV and Scroll's Eco India series as well as DW Hindi . We have also been selected as one of India's top innovators working in the ecosystem restoration and conservation sector by the World Economic Forum .

Job Description

Role Overview

Farmers for Forests (F4F) is seeking a full-time employee for the Senior Vice President – Operations position to manage field operations in the organization. The Senior Vice President – Operations will be responsible for supporting the COO in managing the operations team and supporting the VPRC in field data collection. We are looking for someone with 3–6 years of experience in a similar role.

About Us

F4F is a hybrid social enterprise working to protect and increase India’s biodiverse forest cover in close collaboration with rural communities. Founded in December 2019, F4F is one of the few organizations in India working in the forestry sector and using a payment-for-ecosystem-services model for its environmental protection and restoration activities.

F4F was incubated at Mulago, Fast Forward, NSRCEL-IIMB, The Nudge Institute and Shakti – The Empathy Project. Our work has been supported by several organizations, including Accenture, ACT Grants, Opus Software Solutions, Rainmatter Foundation and Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies.

We have also featured on DW TV and Scroll’s Eco India series, as well as DW Hindi. We have also been selected as one of India’s top innovators working in the ecosystem restoration and conservation sector by the World Economic Forum.

Position

The Senior Vice President – Operations will be based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, and will be responsible for ensuring that F4F’s field operations across Madhya Pradesh run smoothly and efficiently, with travel to field locations across the state as required.

The day-to-day job will involve managing field teams, procurement, inventory management, quality implementation, SOP adherence, government relations, etc. There is significant travel involved in this position. We will only consider applicants able to travel or spend at least 70% of their time in field locations.

You will also be working closely with local implementation partners and our government partners in district administrations and the forest department.

Operations Strategy & Scale: Lead the overall operations strategy and build systems that enable F4F to scale projects efficiently across geographies.

Team Building & Leadership: Build, mentor and lead a high-performing operations team with clear structures, KRAs, KPIs and accountability at every level.

End-to-End Operations: Oversee the complete project lifecycle, from planning and budgeting to implementation, monitoring, quality assurance and closure.

Client & Stakeholder Management: Lead relationships with key clients, donors, investors and implementation partners, ensuring timely delivery, satisfaction and resolution of escalations.

Budget & Cost Management: Drive effective budget planning, plan-versus-actual tracking and cost optimization to ensure projects are delivered within approved budgets.

Procurement & Supply Chain: Oversee procurement strategy, vendor management, inventory and logistics to ensure timely availability of quality inputs at optimal costs.

Data & MIS Management: Establish robust data and MIS systems for tracking project progress, budgets, expenses, plantation, survival, inventory and team performance.

Process & SOP Development: Develop and continuously improve SOPs, systems and processes to ensure standardized, efficient and high-quality execution across projects.

Performance & Quality Management: Establish operational benchmarks and review project performance against targets, driving corrective actions to improve quality, productivity and outcomes.

Cross-Functional Coordination: Ensure seamless coordination between Operations, Finance, Procurement, Technology, Biodiversity, Carbon and Fundraising teams for effective project delivery.

Risk Management & Problem Solving: Identify operational risks and bottlenecks proactively and lead timely interventions, escalations and solutions to ensure business continuity.

Innovation & Operational Excellence: Identify technology-enabled and innovative operating models that improve productivity, reduce costs and strengthen F4F’s ability to scale its impact.

Requirements

• Someone who is entrepreneurial, self-motivated and operates with a growth mindset.
  
• Someone who doesn’t give up easily—the work we do is full of challenges and requires a fair amount of out-of-the-box and jugaad thinking.
  
• Someone who functions well in an unstructured, start-up environment.
  
• Someone who is excited about building a company and a team.
  
• Someone who is passionate about rural development, ecological restoration and fighting climate change.
  
• Someone who enjoys working with a diverse set of people and managing large teams, and is collaborative.
  
• Someone who is comfortable taking on all types of tasks (including the unglamorous and menial ones) and is humble, generous and kind.
  
• Someone with an MBA (Operations, Agriculture, Rural Management).
  
• Someone with 8–12 years of experience overall and with extensive experience working in rural India.
  
• Someone who has valid driving licences for both two-wheelers and four-wheelers.
  
• Someone who is willing to be based in Jabalpur and travel to field locations across Madhya Pradesh, as required by project and field operations.
  

Salary: The salary band for this position starts at INR 15 LPA. The actual salary will be mutually decided based on the candidate’s experience, skills and fit with our team and culture.