Managing Director, GFI India

The Good Food Institute India (GFI India) is at the forefront of the movement to use food technology and markets to solve some of the world’s biggest problems, from climate change and global hunger to antibiotic resistance and pandemic risk. We do this by building the smart protein sector from the ground up.

How You Will Make a Difference

GFI India's Managing Director will lead our efforts to boost the smart protein sector with a focus on the unique opportunities in India. The Managing Director will be responsible for strategic direction setting, governance, and organizational growth. This role oversees the organization’s strategic program functions, leads the Executive Team in India, and is a member of GFI’s Regional Leadership Group (alongside GFI’s global President and the leaders of the six GFI affiliates around the world).

The Managing Director, GFI India will be responsible for:

Strategic and functional oversight

• Establishing GFI India as the authority on the science, policy landscape, and business of smart protein in the region.
• Leading GFI India’s program areas, empowering in-house experts to steward their work with accountability while providing clear goals, appropriate guidance, and transparency to build trust and ensure individual and team excellence.
• Leading the strategic planning process and the cyclical setting of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), prioritizing and evaluating work, evaluating new ideas and opportunities, and ensuring all staff are engaged in tasks that are aligned with the organization’s goals.
• Leading the strategic conversation for GFI India in cross-affiliate strategic initiatives and working with global colleagues to converge on global mission and implementation alignment. 

External engagement 

• Maintaining awareness of risks and changes in the external environment that affect the sector and GFI in India, escalating critical issues to the Board as appropriate. 
• Serving as a key external-facing representative for donor engagements, media interviews, and high-level government, scientific, or industry events, and meetings.
• Developing, driving, and implementing strategic initiatives to forge relationships with high-level government agencies, key academic and research stakeholders, funding bodies, regulatory bodies, and mission-aligned consortia, as well as businesses, to advance the alternative protein sector in India.

People, finance, and governance

• Leading GFI India’s multifunctional team by example, demonstrating the highest ethical standards, creating a vision of success, and motivating and inspiring the team to achieve our mission and vision.
• Working in close collaboration with GFI India’s Operations lead to provide direction on financial management, budgets, internal controls, and robust corporate governance.
• Overseeing financial reporting and budgets regularly, working with team members and Asia leadership to align with programmatic goals.
• Acting as a partner and counsel to GFI India’s Operations lead to ensure staff policies, procedures, and administrative processes are reviewed and improved promptly for operational efficiency.
• Ensuring the organization fulfills all its legal, statutory, and regulatory responsibilities.
• Ensuring GFI India is championing diversity, equity, and inclusion as a part of its organizational culture.

Who We’re Looking For 

An ideal candidate for the Managing Director, GFI India position will have experience that reflects the following:

• Experience: 
• An advanced degree or equivalent experience in environmental studies, public health, food systems, science, political science, law, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in leadership positions with at least 5 years in executive management; experience in the nonprofit sector preferred.
• Experience and comfort in successfully running a complex organization and being accountable for cross-programmatic and cross-functional strategic planning and execution.
• Experience building coalitions and developing consensus among stakeholders with different but complementary objectives.
• Experience and comfort in building and coaching teams and guiding, developing, and retaining leaders. 
• Experience with financial management, reporting, and budgeting oversight.
• Skills and behavioral attributes: 
• Strong support for GFI’s philosophy and mission; demonstrated interest in plant-based & other alt proteins, public health, environmentalism, climate change, animal protection, or hunger relief.
• A commitment to GFI’s values: believe change is possible, do the most good we can, share knowledge freely, act on evidence, and invite everyone to the table.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and organizational skills, with experience and comfort communicating with a range of stakeholders. 
• An optimistic and collaborative spirit with a start-up mentality, flexibility, resilience, open-mindedness, and a sense of humor.
• Ability to work well independently and in concert with a larger group, and be comfortable working with a rapidly evolving and growing team. 
• Outcomes-focused mentality with a track record of delivering results. 
• Cross-cultural competency: an ability to understand and effectively communicate with team members from different cultural backgrounds.
• Comfort working remotely and in-person as required and in a rapidly growing and evolving organization.
• A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to building an inclusive workplace where everyone feels like they belong.

We want the best people and we don’t want biases holding us back. We use a third-party anonymizing tool to redact personal information from submitted applications — including name, location, contact details, and several other factors — to reduce bias and increase fairness in our process. We strongly encourage people of every race, color, orientation, age, gender, origin, and ability to apply. Since we value a diverse workplace, we prioritize an inclusive climate absent of discrimination and harassment during the application process and after you join the team. 

Research indicates that men tend to apply for jobs when they meet just 60% of the criteria, while women and people from other marginalized groups only apply if they are a 100% match. If you are passionate about GFI’s mission and think you have what it takes to be successful in this role even if you don’t check all the boxes, please apply. We’d appreciate the opportunity to consider your application. 

The Fine Print

• Terms of employment: Full-time
• Reports to: Bruce Friedrich, Founder / President & GFI India Board Member
• Line management: Minimum 5 staff, with oversight of consultants as required
• Location: GFI India is a hybrid workplace, however, there is a preference for a candidate based in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, or Bangalore.
• Travel: Regularly within India for meetings and events, up to twice a year for international travel as required. 
• Benefits: Hugely meaningful work at the forefront of a fast-growing, intellectually challenging sector. Working in a warm, inclusive, and high-impact team environment. Health insurance plan, work-from-home equipment allowances, mental health support budget. Flexible working - GFI India is a hybrid workplace, and we meet 3 times a year in person at retreats to bond as a team. Outside of this, the team travels in groups for external meetings, as relevant.
• This is an India-based position: In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in India and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. 
• Salary: Up to INR 45,00,000 per annum (commensurate with experience)

Important Dates

Application deadline: October 2, 2024

Target start date: November 2024

Application Instructions

GFI uses an anonymized hiring system that redacts key identifying personal information from all applications. We use this tool as part of a wider effort to reduce bias in our hiring process. Following these instructions will help to ensure your application is not delayed by a failed redaction. 

• Where possible, limit the creative formatting of your documents. If the name on your resume is an inserted image file or is styled with large spaces between each letter, for example, the redaction is likely to fail. Colors and designs are OK, but wherever possible, the text itself should just be regular text. 
• Please use consistent names. It helps to ensure that the name you use in your resume and cover letter is the same as the name you type into the application below. For example, if your name is Ziana, please sign your cover letter as “Ziana” rather than “Zi.” 
• Submit PDF or .docx files only. Other file formats, like .txt, are likely to fail redaction. 
• Please do not include personal identifying information in your responses to the application questions. Referencing past education, work experience, and mission-alignment is OK. 
• Please do not contact the role’s supervisor or any potential member of the hiring team. If you have questions, please email careers@gfi.org. 

Thank you for helping us to ensure that the redaction process works smoothly and to review your application as quickly as possible!