SHANTILAL SHANGHVI FOUNDATION / MUMBAI
Strategy Analyst
Foundation-level role · Reports to Senior Strategy Advisor · Full-time · Mumbai · 3-5 Years Strategy Consulting Experience
ABOUT SHIKHA
An organisation building the infrastructure for better education across India
Shikha was founded eight years ago on a specific diagnosis: Indian education, across boards and segments, optimises for the wrong outcomes. It prepares children for exams. It does not develop curious, capable, persevering human beings. And this is not a problem confined to underfunded schools. It runs across the mid and lower-mid segment, through chains and standalone schools alike, and produces graduates who do not contribute to the country's innovation and productivity at anywhere near the level that India's scale should enable.
Shikha's response has been to build from scratch: a bespoke, scalable, world-class curriculum grounded in the Indian context, a 21 century relevant pedagogical framework and new, tech supported models of teacher development tested over eight years at the model school in Mumbai, and supportive AI tools for teachers. The model is now being taken into other schools, across both government and private settings, with active partnerships in place.
The thesis is simple and ambitious: fix education for a meaningful slice of India, and you move the needle on India's growth story and the prosperity of its people. The urgency has never been greater; a world shaped by rapid technological change demands children who can think independently, solve creatively, and adapt continuously. India's current education system is not building them.
Shikha operates through four complementary entities: Shikha Academy (model IGCSE school for underserved students), Shikha Institute (school scaling, research, teacher development), Shikha Labs (AI products for schools), and Shikha Publishing (educational content). The organisation is founder-led, well-funded, and at an inflection point between proof-of-concept and scale.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Working directly with a founder building something that matters
Karishma Shanghvi founded Shikha eight years ago with the conviction that Indian children deserve fundamentally better, and has since built the school, the curriculum, and the systems to prove it is possible. She holds an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education, is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Technology at IIT Bombay, and sits on the Board of Trustees at Ashoka University. She brings both deep practitioner knowledge and an ambitious vision for what Indian education can become.
You will work at the foundation level, across the full portfolio, on the problems that matter most: defining the minimum viable school environment, designing the market segmentation for scale, building the theory of change, making the case to government and philanthropic partners.
You will work closely with a Senior Strategy Advisor and directly with the founder. For the right person, this is an accelerated path into senior strategy and leadership in the social sector.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
The work
- Strategy development: build and refine the strategic frameworks that guide Shikha's portfolio decisions, including the school MVP definition, segmentation model, and phased scaling plan
- Research and analysis: commission and synthesise market research, landscape analyses, and evidence reviews that inform how and where Shikha deploys its model
- Decks and communication: build the documents and presentations Shikha uses with government partners, philanthropists, and peer organisations — clear, well-structured, analytically grounded
- Meeting support and follow-through: attend key strategic meetings with the founder and advisor, capture decisions and actions, and ensure follow-through across workstreams
- Monitoring and evaluation: support the design of the M&E framework for the active strategic pillars, including baseline and endline measurement for the proof-of-concept phase
- Stakeholder preparation: prepare briefs and materials for partnership discussions and philanthropic engagements
- Cross-portfolio work: work across the Institute, Labs, and Publishing entities as needed, maintaining a portfolio view rather than a vertical one
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
The profile
MUST HAVE
- 3-5 years in management consulting at a recognised firm (MBB, Leading development consulting firms, or equivalent)
- Strong structured problem-solving: can break a complex question into components, identify what matters, and build the analysis
- Quantitative skills: comfort with data, segmentation analysis, and building impact or financial models
- Excellent written communication: clear and concise, without being told what to cut
- Deck-building ability: structuring an argument visually and logically, not just formatting
- Self-starter who thrives in ambiguity: comfortable in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment where the brief is not always defined
- Genuine motivation for the mission: this is not a social sector stint before returning to corporate
GOOD TO HAVE
- Prior exposure to the education sector, whether through engagements, research, or personal interest
- Experience working with foundation or philanthropic organisations
- Familiarity with government systems or social sector programme design
- Additional local languages proficiency
COMPENSATION AND STRUCTURE
The terms
CTC
Competitive
LOCATION
Mumbai
REPORTS TO
Senior Strategy Advisor
TYPE
Full-time
Compensation is competitive for the social sector and reflects the consulting background and analytical rigour required.
Shantilal Shanghvi Foundation / Strategy Analyst / Mumbai / 2026
Work Location: In person
