CSR Engagement and Communication Manager

The core mission is to turn CSR relationships into structured, expectable engagements. Day to day, that means owning the monthly, quarterly and annual CSR engagement calendar, mapping each partner's interests against the scholarship cycle, and pushing internal teams to close commitments on time. You'll also maintain the reporting tracker that shows every CSR deliverable (newsletter, annual report, LinkedIn shoutout or impact deck) from briefing to submission. A second axis is impact storytelling. You'll independently chase scholars for journeys, testimonials, placement updates, photographs and video, then curate them into partner-ready narratives and keep an organised repository of stories sorted by CSR partner. This isn't a writing-only role; it's evidence-gathering with editorial judgment. Finally, you coordinate scholar engagement, translating CSR commitments into clear briefs for the scholarship and scholar-engagement teams, so that scholar videos, thank-you notes and festive greetings happen without exposing scholars to inappropriate pressure. The overarching goal is that every CSR partner sees, on schedule, exactly the impact they paid for.

This is unusually broad exposure to the CSR compliance and reporting lifecycle in India for a role at this level. You'll learn how corporate social responsibility budgets are actually governed (the reporting calendars, the audit trails, the difference between a good story and a fundable one) which transfers directly to in-house CSR or ESG roles at companies that fund education. You'll also build a portfolio of impact assets: newsletters, annual reports, social posts, scholar profiles. Because the role lets you "own some aspects of content creation", you can develop an editorial voice rather than just coordinating other people's copy. Managing 25% travel across Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore and partner sites gives real field exposure to how scholarship programmes run on the ground. Finally, working 7–10 PM IST to overlap with US-based stakeholders builds a specific and marketable competency: cross-time-zone stakeholder management in a mission-driven, resource-constrained environment where influence, not authority, does the work.

The posting asks for 2–3 plus years in CSR management and a bachelor's or master's in business, management or development studies. More important than the degree is demonstrated experience of coordinating deliverables across teams you don't manage, the JD explicitly values influencing without authority and assessing risk under incomplete knowledge. If you've run a CSR reporting calendar, a donor communications cycle or a grants portfolio, that's the profile. On the craft side, you should be a competent writer and a stubborn follow-upper. Chasing a scholar in Coimbatore for a testimonial and a corporate partner in Mumbai for a signature within the same week requires tact and tenacity in equal measure. Comfort with spreadsheets, trackers and basic data hygiene matters more than fancy tools. Soft skills the role genuinely needs: cultural sensitivity when working with low-income scholars, patience with ambiguity in a fast-changing NGO, and a service mindset. The listing says it's ideal for someone switching from an MNC, so commercial polish plus genuine mission alignment is the sweet spot.

They've asked candidates to fill a Google Form as the next recruitment step, do that first, and treat it as part of the application, not a formality. Then, in your CV, lead with concrete evidence of CSR reporting cycles you have owned end-to-end: how many partners, what cadence, what deliverables, what slipped and how you recovered it. Numbers beat adjectives here, because the whole job is deliverable-tracking under deadline. For the narrative, study Shooting Stars Foundation's actual model: 1,600 scholars sponsored, 75,000+ youth reached with tech education, and a heavy US-school partnership dimension. In a cover note, connect one specific thing you've done to one specific thing they do, for example, how you've gathered beneficiary stories ethically, or managed a donor's quarterly report. Mentioning the 7–10 PM IST and 25% travel requirements upfront signals you've read the posting seriously. At interview, expect questions around influence without authority and prioritisation across competing partner demands. Prepare one story about a time a commitment nearly failed and you rescued it. Also be ready to talk about how you'd protect scholars' dignity while still producing compelling impact content: that tension sits at the heart of this role.

This role sits squarely in the "S" of ESG rather than the environmental side. Shooting Stars Foundation's sustainability proposition is social mobility: breaking the cycle of poverty through education, with a particular emphasis on STEM and tech access for underprivileged students in developing countries. Every CSR report and scholar story you produce is, in corporate terms, social impact evidence, the same material a funder would use for BRSR or CSR-2 disclosures in India. You'll likely be the connective tissue between corporate partners' CSR mandates (education, skill development, gender inclusion are common eligible categories under Indian CSR law) and the foundation's programme reality. That means your storytelling has a compliance dimension as well as a marketing one: partners may need quantifiable metrics (scholars sponsored, graduation rates, placement outcomes) to justify their spend internally. Indirectly, the focus area also touches governance: maintaining accurate trackers, consent-appropriate use of scholar images and data, and transparent reporting rhythms. Those are unglamorous but they are exactly what makes a small NGO fundable year after year.

The most obvious tension is the working pattern: 7–10 PM IST overlap with US stakeholders is non-negotiable and baked into the 40-hour week, which effectively fragments the day and can bleed into personal time, with occasional weekend events on top. Add 25% travel across three cities plus field visits, and this is not a role for someone who needs a tidy 9-to-6 rhythm. A subtler challenge is influence without authority. You'll depend on the scholarship team, scholar engagement lead and branding lead to deliver scholar videos, notes and story assets, but you won't manage them. When their priorities collide with a CSR deadline, you'll need persuasion and escalation judgment rather than instruction. In a lean NGO, that gap between commitment and capacity is where deliverables slip. There's also an ethical friction worth naming: producing donor-facing content about young, low-income scholars without turning them into exhibits. Balancing partner expectations for heartwarming stories with scholars' dignity and consent is a recurring judgment call, and the role quietly depends on getting it right.

Mornings IST would likely be internal: reviewing the CSR engagement tracker, chasing outstanding scholar assets, briefing the scholarship or branding team on a partner requirement, and updating the reporting calendar. Because most of the day is self-directed, the discipline of maintaining trackers and repositories is what keeps the job from unravelling. Late afternoons often involve content work, drafting or editing a newsletter section, consolidating programme highlights, or reviewing a scholar story before it goes to a partner. Depending on the week, you might be coordinating logistics for a scholar video shoot or preparing an annual report chapter. The 7–10 PM block is reserved for overlap with US-based colleagues and partners: calls, alignment on commitments, and issue resolution. Travel days, roughly one week in four, would replace the desk rhythm with field interviews, partner meetings in Chennai, Delhi or Bangalore, and on-the-ground story gathering.

The most direct path is deepening into a CSR/ESG partnership lead role, owning the partner relationship itself rather than just the engagement calendar, either within Shooting Stars as the foundation scales, or in the CSR teams of the corporates it serves. Indian CSR law has created steady demand for people who understand both the compliance calendar and the storytelling side, and this role builds exactly that dual fluency. A second route is communications: the content portfolio you accumulate (reports, newsletters, social campaigns, beneficiary stories) can support a move into impact communications, brand or advocacy roles at NGOs, foundations or purpose-driven companies. Because the role sits at the intersection of programme and brand, you can lean either way. The 7–10 PM collaboration with US stakeholders and the exposure to a US-India education model also opens international NGO career options that purely domestic roles rarely do. High-visibility projects (an annual report, a major partner's impact review) tend to become the portfolio pieces that unlock the next step.

Internally, you'd work most closely with the Scholarship Team and the Scholar Engagement Lead, since much of your job is converting CSR commitments into briefs they execute, and pulling scholar stories back out of them. The Corporate Branding Lead is your partner on anything published, and you'd likely coordinate with programme and finance colleagues whenever reports need numbers or proof. Externally, CSR partner contacts are your primary audience, typically CSR or foundation managers at corporates who need timely, evidence-rich reporting and may have their own internal deadlines. Their expectations shape your calendar more than anything else. The third stakeholder group is the scholars themselves and, at times, their families and schools. You'd interact with them to gather testimonials, videos and updates, which requires care around consent, dignity and timing. Volunteers and community members, given the foundation's volunteer-driven model, may also surface as contributors to stories and events.