Program Manager – Sama

Program Manager – Sama Digital Foundation

For someone who has worn many hats, and still shows up for the community every single day.

Location: Pune, with regular travel to field sites across India
Type: Full-time
Reports to: Founder & CEO
Experience: 4–7 years across varied roles (development sector, startups, CSR, field programs or similar)

About Sama

Sama Digital Foundation is a Section 8 nonprofit based in Pune. We started with a simple insight: corporate e-waste and the gender digital divide are one problem. We refurbish decommissioned corporate laptops and put them in the hands of people who need them most.

So far, 18,000+ laptops have reached 3.5 lakh+ people across 22 states. We work with 51+ NGO partners and with corporate partners including Amazon, Microsoft, Accenture, Capgemini, Eaton and Macquarie. Our work runs through three pathways:

• Digital labs in government schools and colleges.

• Sama Saathi, village-level digital service centres run by locally trained women, our Sanchalikas.

• Build for Good, our national student hackathon.

We are working towards 100,000 recurring laptop deployments a year by FY30. We need people who can help us get there without losing sight of the person at the end of every device.

The Role

We are looking for a Program Manager who is part operator, part relationship-builder and part storyteller. You will own how our programs run on the ground. That journey starts with a laptop leaving a corporate office. It ends with a woman in Yavatmal using it to earn, or a student in a government college building their first project.

This is not a role for someone who wants a narrow lane. You will move between a partner call, a field visit, a spreadsheet and a team huddle in the same day. If that sounds energising rather than exhausting, keep reading.

What You'll Do

• Run programs end to end. Plan, launch and manage deployments across digital labs, Sama Saathi centres and partner NGOs, with clear timelines, budgets and owners.

• Build and nurture NGO and community partnerships. Onboard new partners, keep existing ones engaged and help them scale their own work using Sama's model.

• Be present in the field. Visit sites regularly and listen to Sanchalikas, students and teachers. Bring what you learn back into how we design programs.

• Track what matters. Own program metrics, especially laptop usage and outcomes. Work with our tech and product team to improve how we measure impact.

• Support Sama Saathi's growth. Help identify, enable and support local entrepreneurs as we grow towards 50 Saathis by 2027.

• Coordinate with corporate partners. Prepare deployment updates, impact reports and site visits for CSR partners.

• Capture stories. Work with our storytelling team to surface real before-and-after stories from the communities we serve.

• Strengthen systems. Write SOPs, fix broken processes and help the team work more efficiently as we scale.

Who You Are

• You have worked across different kinds of roles and can connect the dots between them. That might include operations, partnerships, field programs, community engagement, training, CSR or startup generalist work.

• You genuinely care about community. You have spent time with the people you serve, and you know that real change happens on the ground, not only in reports.

• You are comfortable with ambiguity and can bring structure to messy, fast-moving situations.

• You talk easily with a government school principal, a CSR head and a first-time laptop user. You adapt to each without losing who you are.

• You are comfortable with data. You can work with spreadsheets and dashboards, and you are curious about what the numbers are really telling you.

• You take ownership. When something falls through the cracks, you pick it up.

Must Have

• 4–7 years of experience, with exposure to at least two or three different functions.

• Hands-on experience running programs or projects with communities, schools, NGOs or field teams.

• Fluency in English and Hindi. Marathi is a strong plus.

• Willingness to travel frequently, including to rural areas.

Good to Have

• Experience in digital inclusion, education, livelihoods or women's empowerment programs.

• Exposure to CSR partnerships or corporate stakeholder management.

• Experience at an early-stage organisation where you built things from scratch.

Why Sama

• Work directly with the founder and shape programs as we grow from thousands of people reached to lakhs.

• See the impact of your work up close, in schools, villages and the lives of Sanchalikas.

• Join a small, committed team that values ownership, honesty and learning by doing.

• Be part of an organisation solving two problems at once: e-waste and the digital divide.

How to Apply

Send your CV to [email address] with the subject line "Program Manager – Sama". Along with it, write a few lines about a moment in your work when you felt deeply connected to a community, and what it taught you. We read every one.

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