Salary: INR 25,00,000 - 32,50,000 pro rata, per annum

Hours: 37.5 hours per week (5 days a week) excluding lunch breaks

Location: Mumbai, India with the possibility of remote work in India. Candidates must have a valid right to work in the country you are applying. This is a remote role with regular office working at least once per month or as needed for priority internal and external meetings.

Benefits: various opportunities for flexible working, generous time off policies, and other sector-competitive benefits.

About the role

Forum is at an exciting time in our evolution, offering opportunities for unprecedented impact. We believe that the energy, food and market systems are at pivotal crossroads. Their transitions will either be deep, deliberate and urgent, tackling the root causes of the challenges we face today in producing and using energy, food and in the purpose business. Or they will fall short, with ‘solutions’ addressing specific problems in isolation, going neither far or fast enough, while simultaneously risking unintended consequences. Forum’s ambition is to drive a socially just and ecologically safe transition to a renewable energy system, a regenerative food system and a market system that is aligned to enabling a just and regenerative future.   

In this role, you will be responsible for implementing, shaping and adapting Forum’s strategy for impact in India - from development and design of major system change projects to implementation and monitoring, deeply engaging a wide range of stakeholders. To be successful in this role, you need significant programmatic experience and fabulous team-working skills, combined with the ability to form strong relationships with a range of actors (corporates, investors, civil society, public agencies) and a love of working with complexity and leading through ambiguity in uncertain times.  

You will also lead various functions of our flagship programme the Responsible Energy Initiative in India, which is working to shape a just transition to renewable energy that is ecologically safe and socially just in India and Southeast Asia. You will therefore come with experience in working in the energy system. The rest of the role will be across a variety of areas including food and the market system. Experience in one of these areas and / or sustainable finance and / or systemic practice will be beneficial.  in India and Southeast Asia.

About you

To thrive in this role, we think that you will need the following characteristics: 

• Deep content knowledge: 

• Deep expertise in the energy transition, and  

• Expertise in one or more of the following: transitions in market systems and the purpose of business, food and regenerative agriculture, sustainable finance, systemic practices. 

• Expert level systems change project and program development, design, leadership and management skills 

• Expert level research, synthesis and analytical skills 

• Fantastic facilitation and impactful workshop design capabilities 

• Great relationship building and people management aptitude 

• Proven experience in income generation / business development 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills 

• Strong commitment to Forum’s purpose, culture and values, including equity and justice 

• Can juggle working across a number of different projects and teams 

• Effective at highly distributed and networked ways of working, and adept at using digital platforms 

• Familiar with processes and methodologies commonly used in applied systems change - which might include system mapping, design thinking, strategic futures methodologies social innovation, collaboration, transition theory, etc. 

• Enjoy working with a diverse set of people across different geographies 

• Able to develop and maintain strong stakeholder relationships and networks 

• Have a curious and analytical mind, naturally making connections and understanding how things fit into the bigger picture - a systemic thinker 

• Strong sustainability ethos and proven ability to turn it into action  

• A global perspective on sustainability as well as on organisational culture 

• The ability to support, coach and inspire people inside and outside Forum 

• A tendency for self-reflection, continual learning and development 

• Creative and innovative 

• Adaptive and resilient in the face of complexity and uncertainty 

• Proactive – able to work independently 

• Flexibility and willingness to work internationally and travel, if required 

• Fluent and clear written and spoken English, additional languages would be beneficial 

We do not have an ‘ideal’ candidate in mind as we recognise and value the range of diverse experiences that people can bring to a role. If you do not meet all the requirements outlined in the job description but still believe you have the right mix of skills and experience to thrive in this role and further Forum’s ambitious goals for change, we encourage you to apply. 

Forum for the Future works in a space of complexity where there are no easy answers – an ideal candidate will be comfortable with uncertainty and be able to hold space for exploration and innovation. Resilience is a key personal attribute that is necessary to the role.

If this piqued your interest, please read on and apply to join our team. We look forward to receiving your application! 

About Forum for the Future

Forum for the Future, one of the world’s leading international sustainability non-profits, works to create a just and regenerative future. We have a 27-year track record in influencing change on the issues that matter most. We inspire change-actors to step up their ambition, stretch their vision and find pathways that are systemic, strategic and capable of tackling the root causes of our current crises.   

We focus on influencing three pivotal transitions: to renewable energy, to a sustainable food system, and in the purpose of business. We have partnerships with influential organisations in business, civil society, government and philanthropy and drive national and international multi-stakeholder projects from four offices: North America, UK/Europe, India and Southeast Asia.

About the team

We are a multicultural team of 80 people internationally, with between 10-15 currently based in India. This role is based in the India team. 

 As a Principal Strategist, you will primarily contribute to our work in India and will work closely with people based in our India and Southeast Asia teams. You will work as part of our program team on the Responsible Energy Initiative that is contributing to driving an ecologically safe and socially just energy transition in India and Southeast Asia, and as a team member on other projects and programs looking at energy, food and the purpose of business. Like all members of staff in Forum, you will be part of two international learning Collectives: one focusing on a particular transition, and another focusing on a particular systemic practice e.g. Futures. 

Our work environment

We believe in being courageous, adaptive, inquisitive, respectful, empathetic and playful. You can read more about our organisational values here. These values help build our common culture, shape our shared purpose and guide us in all actions and decisions.  We are inspired by the world in which we live and those with whom we share it and seek to act justly in all we do.

We enjoy working in teams, collaborating, and learning from each other. We are a dynamic, flexible and supportive team of people who care about each other’s wellbeing and the world around us.

At Forum, we aspire to foster positive team spirit and to provide the best possible working environment for all our staff; one that is based on the highest standards of ethics, honesty, integrity, openness and transparency. We work as a close knit, dynamic, and supportive team. We offer various opportunities for flexible working to help you manage your work life balance.

We are an inclusive organisation that encourages applications from across our diverse communities. We’re committed to building a team of capable and thriving people from all walks of life. If you have a disability and require any support to assist you through the recruitment process, please get in touch with recruitment@forumforthefuture.org 

If this role interests and excites you, we would love to hear from you! 

Together we can reinvent the way the world works.

Application process

To find out more about this vacancy, please download and read the full job. description.

Job description

Application deadline is 11.59pm IST, 12 February 2023

We use the Applied platform because it is designed to reduce bias in our recruitment process. To apply for this job, we ask you to answer a few work-based questions. Please therefore read the application questions carefully and answer them in the space provided (250 words) to clearly demonstrate your understanding of the role, and how your skills and experience will enable you to thrive and deliver in this post in Forum for the Future

The Applied platform includes instructions on how to use the portal. Once you start your application you will be presented with a dashboard which helps you to track your progress and reminds you of the closing date for the application. As you complete sections you can draft and save your responses to review and submit when you are ready to (as long as you’re within our required application deadline).

Please note:

Some of the personal data you provide to Applied when you apply for a role with Forum for the Future will be passed on to us for the purposes of (a) reviewing your application; (b) inviting you for interview; and/or (c) offering you a job and getting you set up as an employee. For full details on how we collect and use your personal data please visit our privacy notice here.

If your application is not successful, any personal data provided to us by Applied (including any personal data relating to equal opportunities monitoring as set out above) will be retained by Forum for the Future for no longer than 12 months after the application deadline has passed, at which point your personal data will be securely deleted. We only keep your information for that period in order to allow us to comply with relevant legal obligations.

Please note:

If you do not already hold the right to work in the respective countries and/or require sponsorship in order to continue working in the country, you should think carefully before applying. This is because we will be unable to sponsor you.

Equal Opportunities

Forum for the Future wholeheartedly supports the principle of equal opportunities in employment. We promote and support equality, diversity and inclusion both in our own workplace and through our work with our partners and the wider public.  We actively support and promote diversity as an essential component of sustainability, and as a key element of our organisational values.  We oppose all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, caste, religion or belief. We encourage applications from under-represented groups, including those who identify as disabled, LGBTQ, ethnic minorities, and come from diverse social and educational backgrounds.