Job Application for Chief Operations Officer at Karya

About the Job

We expect the Chief Operations Officer to take on a critical leadership position, overseeing both internal and data operations:

Build a strong operations pipeline by:

Creating processes, synergies and collaboration mechanisms between the 4 core operations-involved teams: Tech, Impact Ops (worker identification & welfare), Human data ops, and Sales.
Ensuring operations-involved teams are regularly communicating and executing projects as per expectations (time, cost and quality).
Holding teams and members accountable for larger client deadlines and quality of deliverables
Codify the operations strategy into a playbook that can be replicated in numerous geographies.
Support the Co-Founders in expanding Karya engagements outside India, playing a critical role in determining Karya’s role and non-negotiables.

Create a strong internal working culture amongst all Karya teams, ensuring collaboration, respect and focus on impact by:

Engaging in a complete company diagnostic and bringing concrete suggestions for improvement to the co-founders, continuously working to listen and improve throughout your tenure as COO.
Ensure that all teams at Karya are meeting performance expectations through maintenance and updating of processes such as OKRs, performance reviews, end-of-project reviews etc.
Create opportunities for the Heads of Department and mid-management to professionally grow, ensuring they continuously align and role-model Karya’s values and work ethic.
Create and spearhead collaboration mechanisms for Karya’s mid-management to ensure they are delivering against key business metrics.
Provide “Quarterly Internal Pulse” reports to the Co-Founders on the operating condition of the company, highlighting suggestions and avenues for improvement.
Sit on and contribute to discussions of the Senior Leadership team (includes Co-Founders and Heads of Department)
Manage the overall strategy, purpose, and vision of the entire People & Culture Function (which includes HR functions), in close collaboration with the Co-Founders: benefits, payroll, PF, recruitment, onboarding/exit culture, learning and development, culture, performance management, and succession planning.

Represent Karya Externally:

Travel within India and to the US, Europe and Africa for meetings with funders, clients or donors.
Work closely with the co-founders to iterate and improve our fundraising strategies
Support the CEO in fundraising initiatives
Speak at global events and evangelize Karya’s work
Participate in key accelerator programs and mentorship opportunities such as The/Nudge, 100x at LSE, FastForward, etc.

You’re energetic and excited to take on the exciting journey of building an impactful tech nonprofit!
You have a willingness to take on new tasks with a general attitude that no task is too small, impossible, or cannot be improved.
You like to work autonomously and are excited by the ambiguity that a startup can bring
You role-model a success-oriented, respectful and accountable environment within the organization.
You enjoy taking on an operational challenge and always center compassion and respect for others in any solution you create.
Data doesn’t scare you! You have a strong grasp of data and are happy to use various data sources to inform your decision-making.
You have experience working with diverse teams - we are culturally, demographically, socially and geographically diverse and hope to continue growing!

Post graduate or graduate degree required.
5+ years of experience as a COO/CXO or equivalent, ideally in segments with large-scale operations involving oversight of 50,000+ people
Previous experience in management consulting or platforms is a plus.
Working knowledge of the social impact space in India is required.
Experience working with government partners and community organisations is an asset.
Experience in 0-1 establishment/improvement of company working processes
Ability to create collaborative work environments across multiple teams with people from diverse contexts and backgrounds.
Ability to embrace ambiguity and learning as a member of a small and energetic team.
Willingness to travel (40%) across India and internationally.