Associate Manager - Urban Policy

About Janaagraha

Janaagraha is a non-profit trust, established in 2001, working towards the mission of transforming quality of life in India’s cities and towns. We work with citizens to catalyse active citizenship in city neighbourhoods and with governments to institute reforms to city governance (what we call “City-Systems”). Janaagraha is part of the JANA Group - one of India’s best-known groups of not-for-profit institutions working towards the mission of fixing India’s cities, and it presently works across citizen participation and city governance reforms (through

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy ), city planning and design (through

Jana Urban Space Foundation ), banking and financial services for the urban poor (through

Jana Small Finance Bank ) and affordable housing for the urban poor (through

Janaadhar ).

The Policy & Insights (P&I) team forms the core thought leadership backbone for Janaagraha, bringing insights from research into public domain and advising the programmatic activities of various program teams within the organization, including Municipal Finance, Civic Participation and Advocacy agendas. With strengths in Field Research and Secondary research across Municipal Law, Policy, Practices and related areas, P&I works towards policy reform in urban development through research and thought leadership. P&I also incubates newer areas of intersectional work before they mature into programs for reform design and implementation. This position Associate Manager, Urban Policy holding key aspects as outlined below and reports to the Senior Manager, Policy & Insights at Janaagraha.

What will the Associate Manager- Urban Policy really do? ­

As part of the Policy & Insights Team, the Associate Manager – Urban Policy will take forward the evidence-based policy reforms mission at Janaagraha in key areas of urban governance (what we refer to as “city-systems”) which includes –

Setting the agenda of city-systems reforms and evidence building in areas of Municipal Laws & Policies affecting different areas of planning, decentralisation of powers and devolution of 3Fs and empowering Cities; Participatory democracy, Hyper-local governance, transparency and accountability; Organisational Development and other areas impacting capacity of city systems

Support Janaagraha’s work with CAG, Niti Aayog etc and other outreach to the ecosystem and Research Roundtables; and represent Janaagraha at similar high-level events at Centre, State and with eco-system partners including government, funders and CSOs

Break new ground with urban policy insights on rural-urban transition and convergence including urbanisation trends, census, intersection of economic growth and urbanisation, governance of land, spatial analytics, exploring the intersection of health, climate, and gender with city systems framework, governance and district linkages, and such other catalytic policy agendas.

Write regularly in different formats providing voice to P&I teams’ work

Work closely with Directors and Senior Managers to identify and implement transformational urban policy agendas

Qualifications and Experience

Relevant Master’s degree (preferably related to Urban Governance, Urban Policy, Development studies) with 5+ years overall experience in policy research on urban and local governance and policy, or urban development programs, preferably with leading organizations.

Robust understanding of urban policy and governance in the Indian context is necessary and will be basis of consideration

Knowledge of

urban governance mechanisms,

urban finance, decentralisation, local government elections and public service delivery models

Basic understanding of research methodologies, involving public datasets and / or field surveys preferably in urban development.

Published work in urban policy or governance.

Experience in

data-driven decision making

Familiarity with tools like

GIS, urban simulations,

or participatory planning methods.

Team and program management experience of leading complex multi-stakeholder projects and diverse teams is desired

What competencies does it take to be Associate Manager – Urban Policy

Passion for deep secondary research and policy reform

Attention to detail across policy research, data analysis and writing

Ability to communicate Janaagraha’s Policy reform and insights work across a variety of stakeholders and formats.

Good command over written and spoken English is necessary and further Indian languages desired.

What Janaagraha offers

At Janaagraha, you will be part of a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and passionate citizens who apply cutting-edge technologies and practices aimed at social change in India’s cities. We offer a dynamic, driven and vibrant work environment for professionals who are passionate about investing their time, skill sets and energy to transform quality of life in India’s cities. At work, you will be exposed to a unique combination of policy, practice and platforms and will have abundant opportunities to learn and apply professional skills to social challenges.

Remuneration

Janaagraha is an equal opportunity employer and offers a highly dynamic and enabling work environment. We provide competitive remuneration commensurate with relevant experience, skill-sets and background.

This role will be preferably Bengaluru based. New Delhi can be considered with willingness to travel as required to Bengaluru and project locations.