Senior Director of Programs for a Global Women’s Health Foundation

The client is a global health foundation that works to improve pregnancy and maternal care outcomes for mothers in developing countries by empowering to-be mothers, equipping health care providers and strengthening health systems that serve these underpriveleged patient groups. The foundation has 480 ambassadors, 70 expert advisors and over 50 global health fellows contributing over 35,000 hours of their time towards this mission. It is a USD 500 million global initiative. They are looking for a Program Director for India, that can lead the foundation’s operations in the country and potentially take on a global role within a few years.

Timing was a significant constraint from the outset as the vacancy was critical and urgent. Hence, Ray & Berndtson was given the mandate to work on the search and provide a shortlist within a week of getting the brief. The specifications of the role were clear – a woman candidate with management consulting or investment banking experience, a deep passion for maternal welfare issues and public & private sector experience was strongly preferred. Given such specifications, the pool of potential candidates was small. Finally, it was difficult to identify highly experienced candidates who were willing to take on a naescent initiative in India.

We mapped and interacted with all possible candidates with consulting and banking backgrounds with experience in the social sector. Suitable candidates also came from non-profit organizations but with past experience in consulting or banking. A shortlist of 5 candidates were interviewed within a week by the client’s Managing Director and Head of Talent Acquisition.

One candidate was made an offer after the interview rounds. She came from a banking background and had done extensive work with global foundations like the Gates Foundation. The candidate joined the company within one month. Today, she is driving several key initiatives of the foundation in India.