EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Wadhwani Foundation seeks a senior, strategic, and entrepreneurial program executive to serve as its inaugural Vice President – Global Programs & Grants Management (Vice President). They will lead the Wadhwani Operating Foundation (WOF) and serve as grants management lead for the Wadhwani Charitable Foundation (WCF), driving program and grantmaking strategy across a global philanthropic enterprise.

Founded by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, the Foundation accelerates economic development in emerging economies by creating large-scale, family-sustaining employment through initiatives in entrepreneurship, workforce skilling, artificial intelligence, innovation, and social good across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The Vice President will join the Foundation at an important time of growth and evolution. The successful candidate will establish a sophisticated, globally coherent program, learning and evaluation, and grants management framework that enables the Foundation to pursue its ambitious mission while closely monitoring outcomes and making disciplined recommendations on grant allocations. Working closely with the Chairman, CEO, Governing Board, Finance and Legal leadership, and recipient-entity leaders, the Vice President will maintain clear documentation, approval authorities, and decision rights between WOF’s program-stewardship activities and WCF’s grant-making responsibilities. Recipient operating entities remain accountable for delivery, and WCF retains its formal grant approval and governance processes.

The ideal candidate will be a seasoned and entrepreneurial program executive with substantial technology sector experience; ideally complemented by exposure to/experience in AI. The successful candidate will bring exceptional judgement, executive presence, and a solutions and outcome-focused approach, along with a genuine commitment to the Foundation’s mission and global impact.

This is a remote position based in the United States, with a strong preference for candidates based in the San Francisco Bay area. The role requires regular travel in the United States and internationally. The salary range for this position is $300,000 – $350,000, includes a 25% bonus component, and comes with a generous benefits package.

ABOUT THE WADHWANI FOUNDATION

Wadhwani Foundation is the global philanthropic brand representing the work of Wadhwani Operating Foundation (WOF), the principal operating and program-stewardship organization, and Wadhwani Charitable Foundation (WCF), the principal philanthropic donor and grant-making entity. 

Founded by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani in 2001, its central mission is to accelerate economic development in emerging economies by creating large-scale, family-sustaining jobs. Through WCF and WOF, independent local non-profit organizations receive funding and strategic support to design and deliver high-impact programs in entrepreneurship, workforce skilling, artificial intelligence, innovation, and social good across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 

WCF advances research, innovation, entrepreneurship, workforce skilling, and social good through philanthropic grantmaking. WOF sponsors and supports high-impact programs delivered by independent local non-profit organizations. WOF and WCF work with affiliated and independent charitable organizations across multiple geographies. Each U.S. entity has distinct operating, grant-making, governance, and fiduciary responsibilities, while both are committed to the highest standards of legal compliance, ethical conduct, governance, and stewardship.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Vice President – Global Programs & Grants Management will lead an integrated portfolio function spanning WOF program strategy, performance and outcomes, and WCF grant strategy, governance and stewardship. The Vice President will translate the Foundation’s priorities into measurable program plans; establish credible monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) systems; evaluate funding proposals; and oversee grant diligence, agreements, disbursements, compliance and portfolio reviews. The role will connect evidence of beneficiary outcomes and operating performance to disciplined recommendations on grant allocation, renewal, scaling, restructuring or termination.

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Vice President will create clear annual plans, outcome targets, KPIs and credible MEL frameworks across programs; build dashboards and reviews that enable measurable improvements; build effective programmatic models scaled systematically; create robust grant-governance frameworks with clear reporting and accountability across WCF-funded entities; make timely, evidence-based grant allocations and renewal recommendations; and provide clear visibility for the Chairman and Governing Board into both program outcomes and the effectiveness of philanthropic capital.

Immediate opportunities for impact include:

Global Program Strategy and Performance

• Translate mission and strategic priorities into global program strategies, annual operating plans, outcome targets and KPIs across entrepreneurship, skilling, innovation, AI and future initiatives.
• Establish common planning and performance-management disciplines, with clear beneficiary definitions, theories of change, delivery models and pathways to scale, while allowing appropriate local adaptation.
• Lead periodic cross-country operating reviews of outcomes, milestones, budgets, adoption, quality and scale; work with entity leaders on corrective actions, owners and timelines.
• Recommend scaling, redesign, consolidation or discontinuation of programs based on credible evidence; promote replication of effective practices across countries and partners.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Analytics

• Design and institutionalize common MEL, beneficiary-outcome, impact-measurement and reporting frameworks across operating programs.
• Establish standardized KPIs, dashboards, evaluation methodologies and reporting standards, including measurement of outputs, outcomes, beneficiary progression and longer-term impact.
• Commission or guide independent impact assessments where appropriate; use data and AI-enabled analytics to identify performance gaps and improve effectiveness and productivity.
• Provide timely, objective program-performance evidence for WCF grant stewardship and Board-level funding decisions.

Grant Strategy, Governance and Portfolio Management

• Develop and institutionalize WCF’s global grant-making strategy, funding policies, approval authorities, due-diligence standards and grant procedures.
• Lead review of annual and multi-year proposals, assessing mission alignment, organizational capability, governance, financial stewardship, compliance readiness, funding needs and expected outcomes.
• Oversee standardized grant agreements, approval, disbursement, reporting, amendments, renewal and closeout processes; monitor utilization against approved budgets and milestones.
• Prepare evidence-based funding recommendations to the Chairman and Governing Board, including conditions, risks, milestones and renewal criteria.
• Maintain portfolio-level views of funding, concentration, risk, performance, and mission impact.

Grant Assurance, Compliance and Risk

• Maintain a grant-assurance framework covering legal, regulatory, financial, governance, reputational and execution risks across jurisdictions.
• Work closely with Finance and Legal on documentation, controls, audits, compliance and remediation; ensure grant records meet applicable requirements.
• Challenge underperforming grants and recommend corrective action, restructuring, suspension or termination through the appropriate WCF decision process.

Executive, Board and Entity Partnership

• Advise the Chairman, CEO and Governing Board on program strategy, portfolio performance, funding priorities, grant governance and capital stewardship.
• Prepare integrated program and grant portfolio reviews, Board papers, funding recommendations, risk assessments and strategic insights.
• Build constructive partnerships with recipient-entity leaders while preserving accountability: entities deliver programs, WOF stewards program performance, and WCF governs grant allocation and stewardship.
• Strengthen cross-country management capability through common tools, operating disciplines and knowledge sharing.

Staff Management

• Lead recruitment and hiring for Programs and Grants Management team including identifying organizational needs, defining roles, interviewing candidates, and onboarding and training new staff.
• Supervise, coach, and evaluate team, including assigning and prioritizing work, supporting performance and professional growth, and fostering a results-oriented and accountable work environment that supports high performance and retention.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The Vice President – Global Programs & Grants Management will be a seasoned, strategic, and entrepreneurial program executive with substantial technology sector experience. Experience in and exposure to AI and the development of this technology is also strongly preferred considering the Foundation’s advanced AI-powered platform and AI-powered solutions. While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

• 15+ years of senior leadership experience across global philanthropy, international development, grant-making, large-scale nonprofit or mission-driven program operations.
• Substantial experience in and/or exposure to technology with the ability to make informed programmatic decisions about leveraging technology to scale; experience and/or exposure to AI strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated leadership of complex, multi-country program and/or grant portfolios, with measurable outcomes at scale.
• Deep expertise in program strategy, performance management, MEL, impact measurement, grant governance, due diligence, donor stewardship, compliance, and risk.
• Experience establishing outcome frameworks, KPIs, dashboards, funding models, operating reviews, and accountability systems across geographies.
• Ability to use program and financial evidence to inform funding decisions, improve delivery and scale, and develop effective models.
• Experience engaging Boards, Trustees, executives, governments, funders, auditors, legal advisors and geographically distributed operating teams.
• Strong strategic, analytical, financial, operational, judgment, stakeholder-management and change-leadership capabilities.
• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Public Policy, International Development, Finance, Social Sciences or a related field; advanced qualifications preferred.

WORK LOCATION, COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Work Location: Wadhwani Foundation is a remote-first organization with U.S. offices in Los Gatos, California. While team members are located throughout the United States and internationally, there is a strong preference for candidates who reside in/near the San Francisco Bay Area to enable on-site presence in the office. This role will require regular domestic and international travel (approximately 4-5 weeks per quarter).

Salary and Benefits: The salary range for this full-time, exempt position is $300,000 – $350,000, includes a 25% bonus component, and comes with a generous benefits package.

TO APPLY

More information about Wadhwani Foundation may be found here: www.wadhwanifoundation.org.

This search is being led by Ellen LaPointe and Sharon Gerstman of NPAG. Due to the pace of this search, candidates are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Candidates may submit their cover letter, outlining their interest and qualifications, along with their resume via NPAG’s website.

Should you have questions, candidate nominations, or if you need assistance or accommodations in the application process, please contact Sharon Gerstman at [email protected].

The Wadhwani Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.

Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.