Head of Program and Operational Design

The Citizen Foundation · Karachi, Karachi District; Sindh, Pakistan

The Head of Program and Operational Design will lead the strategic design, development, and continuous improvement of TCF's Alumni Pathways journey, enabling students to navigate meaningful opportunities beyond Grade 10. The role will translate TCF's strategy into integrated programs, frameworks, and operating models across intermediate and tertiary education, counselling, parallel career pathways, livelihoods, alumni community engagement, and school engagement. It will ensure that these pathways are supported by effective student guidance, strong institutional partnerships, practical implementation frameworks, and robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning mechanisms, enabling alumni to make informed decisions, access relevant opportunities, and progress towards further education, meaningful employment, and sustainable livelihoods.

Program Strategy and Design

• Translate the Alumni Pathways strategy into an integrated program architecture and multi-year roadmap covering the student journey beyond Grade 10.
• Design and periodically refine program models, standards, and interventions for intermediate education, tertiary education, parallel career pathways, livelihoods, and alumni development.
• Ensure that academic pathways and career options are complemented by age-appropriate guidance on life planning, education choices, career exploration, and transition to adulthood.

Counselling and Student Journey

• Develop counselling approaches and tools that help students assess their interests, aptitudes, readiness, and options, and make informed pathway decisions.
• Design a coherent student journey spanning counselling, applications, admissions, scholarships, transition, and post-admission support, in collaboration with delivery teams.
• Define appropriate support models for students pursuing intermediate and tertiary education, as well as vocational, technology-enabled, freelancing, and other livelihood-oriented pathways.

Institutional Partnerships and Pathway Development

• Map relevant institutions and partners, and develop partnership strategies and relationship frameworks to strengthen access to intermediate, tertiary, vocational, technology, and livelihood opportunities.
• Design partnership models that facilitate student access, preparation, placement, and continued progression across education and career pathways.
• Work with relevant internal teams to translate partner opportunities into clear student pathways and sustainable program arrangements.

Implementation Support, MEL and Continuous Improvement

• Develop implementation guidance, tools and quality standards for programs delivered by the Alumni Pathways team and relevant partners.
• Define outcome measures and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) frameworks for the relevant portfolio areas, including College and HSU, alumni community engagement, counselling, parallel career pathways, intermediate education, digital engagement, livelihoods, alumni development, and school engagement.
• Review program performance and student outcomes, identify implementation gaps, and recommend evidence-based improvements.
• Coordinate with Data Systems and Insights team to ensure program requirements, outcome indicators, and reporting needs are translated into appropriate data definitions, dashboards, and reporting mechanisms.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work closely with College Delivery, Data Systems and Insights, and other relevant functions to align program design, implementation, measurement, and operational support.
• Provide clear program guidance, priorities, and implementation expectations to relevant teams and regional stakeholders.
• Contribute to annual planning, resource allocation and prioritization, and periodic strategy reviews for Alumni Pathways.