Director of Ecosystem Development

Job Title: Director of Ecosystem Development
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Location: Must reside in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore (India)
Website: www.cities-RISE.org

About citiesRISE

citiesRISE was founded in 2017 as a multi-stakeholder initiative to respond to the scale and complexity of challenges in youth mental health. We are committed to accelerating interventions and systems that support young people’s inner development (e.g., meaning, belonging, hope) towards the collective wellbeing of youth, society, and our planet. We work as a system orchestrator connecting work and partners across three pillars: Research and Development, Scaling Innovations, and Field Building.

citiesRISE’s network of city research and innovation hubs spanning India, Kenya, Colombia, and the U.S. designs, tests, and scales inner development-based mental health creation interventions that combine the best of contemporary science, ancient/indigenous knowledge system, and experiential learnings. In 2025, our interventions reached 150,000+ young people. In parallel, we build national-global infrastructure (e.g., learning capacity, delivery capacity, advocacy, funders collaboratives, field building research) for aligning and accelerating the work of a wide range of youth-facing systems, organizations, and youth leaders.

citiesRISE’s work in India

As home to the world’s largest population of young people, India is a priority geography for citiesRISE. 2017-2023, we demonstrated significant proofpoints for on-the-ground interventions and research resulting in foundational partnerships for ecosystem building including with the Government of India’s National Institute of Urban Affairs, Rural India Supporting Trust and Grand Challenges Canada. In 2024, citiesRISE committed to a systems orchestration role, with priorities for helping advance the India ecosystem including:

• Boldly championing young people’s inner development as central to mental health and wellbeing and as a foundational priority across every system that young people interact with.
• Defining and creating alignment around shared outcomes, language, and measures anchored in inner development that work across multiple sectors.
• Activating and equipping a wide range of youth-facing systems, organizations, and youth leaders with adaptable interventions, assessment tools, and the capacity to continuously learn and improve.
• Connecting work and stakeholders across the national, state, and local/communities levels.
• Mobilizing young leaders, supporting their leadership, and strengthening youth-systems linkages.
• Mobilizing system leaders, funders, and other stakeholders to create enabling environments for inner development.

Position Summary

The Director of Ecosystem Development will lead ecosystem development work in India as part of the broader system orchestration portfolio. They will steward relationships with new and existing funder, government, and other system leader partners at the local, national, and international levels. The Director will have the ability to inspire as a thought leader, shifting paradigms in youth mental health and wellbeing. They will play a key role on the citiesRISE leadership and strategy team and liaise closely with the citiesRISE teams in India, Kenya, and the U.S. This position will report directly to the CEO and will work closely with our India-based leadership team.

Position Responsibilities

There is significant momentum already in the work in India. This role is ideal for the candidate who can navigate the mobilization of funding and new types of financing for our partners and city/community sites along with a big bold vision for the field and overall platform.

Responsibilities will include:

Ecosystem Development

• Developing and executing a strategy for cultivating, and generating support from the philanthropic and investment communities in partnership with the CEO and other stakeholders, with the goal of launching a pooled fund by the end of 2026.
• Leading on the ideation and design of citiesRISE’s ecosystem development work, with the goal of launching a Centre for Inner Development by the end of 2026. This Centre will support the wider sector by championing the Core Capacities for inner development, and creating public goods that will catalyze this work in priority sectors for young people (e.g. education, nature, mental health), e.g., via a shared advocacy platform, common metrics.
• Establish an advisory group made up of allied funders, young people, researchers and other stakeholders to act as champions and a sounding board for the pooled fund and the Centre.
• Supporting and determining how best to utilize the CEO, Board, citiesRISE network, and other stakeholders to drive support and ensure alignment of all outreach. This will include close collaboration with the citiesRISE team and its partners to maximize the value of partnerships and ensure the mission of the organization is thoughtfully represented and realized.
• Preparing and briefing leaders and stakeholders to participate in activities that drive support. Collaborate with the team to ensure necessary collateral and communications support to the partnership development function.
• Designing and carefully overseeing donor diligence, reporting, and evaluation efforts.
• Facilitating efforts for joint partnerships, alliances and multi-stakeholder events to amplify support. Collaborating with other partners and cities/communities to pool resources and investment.

Thought Leadership and Field Building

• Elevating the public profile of citiesRISE and developing opportunities for thought leadership by representing citiesRISE in high-level meetings and platforms.
• Developing and implementing key messaging and plans for citiesRISE communications for key milestones (e.g. convenings, city launches) and motivating key partners to engage and collaborate.
• Coordinating with external consultants and partners who are helping build the citiesRISE brand and story.

Experience/Qualifications

citiesRISE is looking for candidates who demonstrate a passion for breaking new ground to lead social change. Beyond that, we are seeking a candidate who has proven experience in philanthropy engagement, thought leadership, mobilizing partnerships and resources, and a demonstrated ability to both lead and build the capabilities of a platform driving transformative change in the world.

Qualifications include:

• 15 years of professional experience, including a minimum of seven years originating, building and cultivating partnerships, fundraising and donor management for nonprofit, corporate, foundation, NGO, government entities or similar organizations.
• Authentic connection to the mission of building healthy communities and a passion for the work of citiesRISE.
• Experience in related fields such as mental health, urban development, systems change, youth engagement, and technology innovation.
• Strong ability to drive progress, have vision, promote innovation, and display ownership under ambiguous and dynamic conditions.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, cultivation, persuasion and negotiation skills; expertise in building long-term relationships and value.
• Strong ethical standards and a commitment to the culture and values of citiesRISE.
• Strong political acumen and experience in influencing philanthropic and non-profit leaders, senior officials, private sector executives, and individual investors.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally.

Compensation and Benefits

This is an outstanding opportunity for a highly motivated professional to assume a pivotal role in the evolution of a fast-growing, highly respected initiative. We are seeking an individual of exceptional quality with a respected track record. Compensation and benefits will be competitive and commensurate with experience.

citiesRISE provides equal employment opportunity to all individuals regardless of their race, color, creed, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by state, federal, or local law. Individuals from all backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

To Apply

Email resume and cover letter to jobs@cities-rise.org with subject line: Director of Ecosystem Development. References will be requested as needed.

Job Type: Contractual / Temporary
Contract length: 24 months

Work Location: Remote

Application Deadline: 12/12/2025