The Head of Sandbox is a senior leadership role (Deputy Vice President level) responsible for the strategic direction, execution, and continuous improvement of Foundation's entire grant-making strategy and operations for the Sandbox portfolio.
This role requires a blend of strategic leadership, operational oversight, team management, and a focus on learning and compliance. A key, unique responsibility is leading a longitudinal investment study of the foundation's past 10 years of grants.
The position's main duties can be grouped into the following key areas:
Strategic Leadership & Portfolio Oversight:
Setting the strategic direction for the Sandbox portfolio, balancing innovation with proven approaches.
Overseeing the identification of new NGO partners and managing existing grantee relationships.
Collaborating with the Edelweiss group CSR Team for Annual Action Plans, CSR committee presentations, and reporting.
Grants Operations & Optimization:
Reviewing and refining end-to-end grant-making workflows for speed, transparency, and compliance.
Managing the planning, tracking, and coordination of grant disbursements and ensuring alignment with budgets and legal requirements.
Partnering with IT and data teams to enhance grant management systems and dashboards.
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL):
Partnering with the MEL function to embed data-driven decision-making.
Overseeing portfolio-level performance tracking and grantee outcome measurement.
Longitudinal Investment Study (Unique Focus):
Leading the design and implementation of a comprehensive study examining the foundation’s investments and outcomes over the past 10 years.
Integrating study outcomes into future strategic planning and grant-making models.
Team & Stakeholder Management:
Leading and mentoring a team of 4 direct reports (grants managers), fostering a high-performing culture.
Acting as a key liaison with grantees, philanthropic peers, government bodies, and the Executive Team/Board.
Compliance, Risk Management & Governance:
Ensuring grants comply with all legal, regulatory, and fiduciary standards.
Implementing systems for identifying and mitigating operational and reputational risks.