Manager - People and Culture

About Janaagraha

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy is among India's most credible and execution-oriented city systems institutions, with over two decades of impact across governance, finance, infrastructure design, data systems, and citizen engagement. Unlike advisory bodies, Janaagraha stays engaged from design through implementation and institutionalisation.

Janaagraha's work rests on the people who do it. The People and Culture (P&C) function exists to find those people, bring them in well, and help them stay, grow, and contribute over long tenures. It covers talent acquisition, onboarding, engagement, learning and development, organisational culture, and statutory compliance.

The Manager – People and Culture is the operating head of all P&C systems. Performance management and appraisal, learning and development, organisational culture, compensation and benefits, and statutory compliance all sit under this role. This role is a systems builder, as well a process administrator. The Manager works closely with program leadership across Janaagraha and reports to the Director – People and Culture. A couple of team members support execution on talent acquisition, onboarding, and engagement.

Janaagraha is looking for someone who can design systems that last, make fair calls on sensitive matters, and bring evidence into people decisions. The role is based in Bengaluru.

What will the Manager – People and Culture really do­

Performance Management

• Run the annual goal-setting and review cycles on time and to a consistent standard, across all programs and levels.
• Work with program leadership and the Director – People and Culture to manage the appraisal cycle and close it well.
• Commission or conduct compensation benchmarking against relevant sector peers, and bring clear evidence to annual revision decisions.

Learning and Development

• Assess staff learning needs across levels and disciplines, and build a coherent annual learning calendar that covers both program and managerial competencies.
• Choose delivery models sensibly (internal faculty, external partners, self-paced, cohort-based) based on what the need actually requires.
• Develop a leadership pipeline so that senior transitions within Janaagraha are planned.
• Gather honest feedback on what works and what does not, and refresh learning offerings accordingly

Organizational Culture

• Build and hold a cohesive culture across Janaagraha's locations, anchored in the Culture Codes.
• Introduce and refresh policies and practices that make Janaagraha a more inclusive and welcoming workplace.
• Lead the DEI agenda through specific initiatives grounded in staff experience.
• Design and lead organisation-wide communication (Town Halls, Open Houses, and similar forums) so that staff across offices stay connected to Janaagraha's mission and to each other.

Compensation and Benefits

• Ensure monthly salary payouts and annual revisions are accurate and on time.
• Bring evidence into decisions on benefits (insurance cover, flexible benefit plans, and similar), weighing value to staff against cost to the organisation.
• Keep Janaagraha in full compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, including audits. Stay ahead of changes in law.
• Maintain the HRM system and work to have it used and trusted across the organisation.
• Analyse pay data to reduce internal inequities and improve fairness across roles and levels.

Qualifications and Experience

• MBA or an equivalent Master's degree in management with Human Resources as specialization
• Between 8-12 years of across performance management, learning and development, and organisational culture.
• Prior experience in a not-for-profit or mission-driven organisation is welcome but not required.

What competencies does it take to be Manager – People and Culture

Non-negotiable

• Systems thinking applied to people. The Manager should see how hiring, development, appraisal, compensation, and culture reinforce or undercut each other, and design accordingly.
• Judgement on sensitive matters. Performance disputes, pay grievances, and complaints about staff behaviour all land with this role. The decisions that follow need to be fair and timely, and on record, even when they cannot be tidy.
• Comfort with data. The Manager should read engagement surveys, pay benchmarking, attrition patterns, and learning outcomes as a matter of routine, and present them to leadership honestly, including when the numbers are not good.
• Operational discipline. Goals, recruitment, appraisals, benefits renewals, and audits all run on their own cycles through the year. The Manager needs to keep all of them on time.
• Working knowledge of Indian labour law and not-for-profit compliance — FCRA, provident fund, professional tax, gratuity, and the audits that accompany them.
• Steadiness under pressure. The Manager should hold conversations on resignations, complaints, performance concerns, personal crises with care and clarity.

Cultural and contextual fit

• Respect for Janaagraha's mission and the work its teams do.
• Discretion. The role handles confidential information daily.
• A collaborative working style with program leadership and staff.

Janaagraha Culture Codes

Everyone at Janaagraha is expected to live the organisation's Culture Codes, which shape how work gets done.

• I take ownership – I follow through relentlessly.
• I apply systems thinking – I focus on root causes, not symptoms.
• I practice urgent patience – I act decisively while respecting long timelines.
• I choose depth – I value rigour over superficial wins.
• I engage constructively – I collaborate across differences.
• I strive to excel – I hold a high bar for quality.
• I care – I lead with integrity, empathy, and respect.

What success looks like (12 to 18-month view)

• Goal-setting and appraisal cycles run on time every year, and staff feel they are fair.
• Janaagraha has a working learning calendar that covers both program competencies and managerial skills, with evidence of what it is producing.
• Compensation is benchmarked, reviewed, and explainable. Internal pay gaps have been identified and are being closed.
• Monthly payroll, statutory filings, and audits run without surprises.
• DEI shows up in specific interventions and in measurable changes to staff experience.
• Town Halls, Open Houses, and other organisation-wide communications happen reliably, and staff actually attend.
• The HRM system is trusted and used across the organisation, and is audit-ready at any point.

Location and application

Bengaluru-based; full-time, in-office presence expected.

Please write to us at [Confidential Information] with your CV, a short covering letter, and a link to your updated LinkedIn profile. Use Manager – People and Culture as the subject line.