Associate Manager – 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. It works 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. Swati Ramanathan and Ramesh Ramanathan co-founded Jana Group in 2001 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 ), municipal consulting services (through Jana Urban Services for Transformation Pvt. Ltd. ), banking and financial services for the urban poor (through Jana Small Finance Bank ) and affordable housing for the urban poor (through Janaadhar ). We are looking for a highly passionate, experienced, and competent professional to serve as Associate Manager – Policy & Insights (Organization Development), reporting to the Head, Urban Policy and working closely with Senior Manager – Organization Development.
In order to address the larger issues of human resource capacities in urban governance, Janaagraha has formed an approach including Organization Development, Shared Municipal Services and Cadre & Recruitment reforms. Janaagraha has ongoing implementation work with the Housing & Urban Development Department (HUDD), Government of Odisha; and is developing knowledge products capturing the principles of the same. The objective of this position is primarily take this forward, working towards wider reforms with Centre & State Governments.
What will the Associate Manager – Policy and Insights (OD) really do­?
Program Management
Support work as it emerges with the union, state, and city governments and other partners to ensure smooth translation of work across the strands:
Organizational development frame - goal-setting, competency assessments, learning management and performance measurement, all in an iterative design-based approach on a digital platform
Shared Municipal Services – building on existing work on revenue collection in Odisha and exploring ideas related to Finance, Infrastructure and other Services for cities.
Cadre & recruitment reforms – organization structures for city governance, adaptation to context, recruitment-procurement and requisite changes to cadre & recruitment rules
Provide end-to-end program management support for large-scale HR & Program Management platforms working with State Govts and technology providers.
Collaborate with stakeholders to validate user requirements, identify process improvement opportunities and ensure a user-friendly interface.
Develop a change management and roll-out strategies for implementation of reform agendas at union, state, and city governments
Engage with key stakeholders to deliver strategic benefits to projects.
Work with team to deliver on regular reporting needs of Donor, Govt. Dept and internal JCCD (informal and formal, as per templates); and necessary support to overall program management
Think ahead in conjunction with the seniors and colleagues for the planning and prioritizing of the various activities and constantly linking them to the broader goals of the program and organisation.
Data Analysis and Management
Facilitate data needs and requirements, including visualization and reporting tools for a competency based human resource management system for any program implementation.
Develop plans to analyze data to assess impact of interventions.
Validate research and data collected during project implementation and analyze to support decision-making.
Evaluate and establish protocols/frameworks for managing data quality, access, and verification.
Conceptualize and perform research and analysis on data gathered during the program, and present the outputs of the program in the form of reports, or other collaterals, effectively to convey meaningful insights to stakeholders.
Advancing Reforms through research & collaboration
Undertake due diligence on the policy landscape and existing evidence, and identify scalable, tested solutions to challenges on urban reforms.
Exploring other ideas for Innovative urban governance, through laws, policies and participative models and develop proposals or publishing papers.
Cultivate strategic partnerships with external stakeholders and create opportunities for the vertical by identifying synergies.
Support Head, Policy & Insight for advocating for replication of Janaagraha’s work in States elsewhere and exploring opportunities, with event participation and presentations/papers
Work with Senior Manager, Policy & Insights and other eco-system partners (donors, CSOs, think-tanks, etc.) to share ideas & progress for reforms, and support on establishing research partnerships.
Develop understanding of Stakeholder Landscape and work with them to synthesize stakeholders' feedback to develop strategic communication strategies.
Knowledge management and Communication
Work with Senior Manager, Policy & Insights on Thought Leadership of all work strands including preparation and upgradation of the knowledge products
Develop and finalize templates for work strands within OD track and capturing their real-time progress, that can be presented as a toolkit
Study and bring in other best practices on competency-based HR practices such as recruitment, capacity building and performance management.
Conduct research on policies, schemes and recommendations on HR reforms in India and sub- national level including developing the analytical framework and research design for the study, developing.
Create reports, slide decks, presentations and dashboards as deliverables to inform progress to government, donor and diverse stakeholders.
Record project learnings and create knowledge products for disseminating learnings and support in building JCCD repository.
Qualifications and Experience
A Master’s degree preferably in Public Policy / Development Studies / Business Management / Social Work / equivalent.
7+ years’ overall experience with 5+ years working closely with state and/or union governments in large-scale systems change or consulting projects, involving stakeholder relationships and program management.
Strong systems change / reform interest is needed, ability to adapt to differing contexts. Any knowledge and practice of the same is a big asset.
Experience and exposure of the following would be an added advantage
Quantitative data analysis and modelling (e.g. STATA, SPSS, etc.)
Organizational Development and Strategic HR
Urban governance and development in India
What competencies does it take to be Associate Manager – Policy & Insights (OD)?
Proven ability to handle several different projects/tasks at one time, complete tasks assigned, and meet deadlines.
Ability to work with flexibility / ambiguity – adapting to the changing needs of government environment.
Excellent interpersonal skills, can effectively engage with various stakeholders
Well-versed with MS Office tools, Organisational and Management Tools (e.g., Microsoft Workspace, Planner etc.) and Presentation Skills
Ability to understand complex concepts and topics quickly even with limited prior knowledge or exposure and a willingness to invest in learning new concepts, skills, and methods
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.
The position-holder will be based in Delhi and shall report to the Head – Urban Policy.

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