Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy is a Bengaluru-based non-profit working to transform the quality of life in India's cities and towns. Since 2001, Janaagraha has partnered with citizens and governments to strengthen the core systems of city governance—municipal finance, urban planning, citizen participation, and institutional reform—so that India's cities become more inclusive, sustainable, and liveable. Janaagraha is recognised for its credibility with government, depth of policy understanding, and rare ability to translate reform ideas into execution at scale.
Public finance management reforms have been a core focus area for Janaagraha since its inception and the PFM Program is working towards solving one the most important problems being faced by Indian cities: making them financially sustainable, efficient and accountable – by enabling systemic reforms through engagements with the Union, State governments, constitutional bodies, and other ecosytem organisations.
Our past and current portfolio of engagements includes advisory support to the XIII, XIV, XV and XVI Central Finance Commissions, partnership with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on PFM reforms, partnership with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on revamping the National Municipal Accounts Manual (NMAM), advisory support to State Finance Commissions of Karnataka, Odisha and Haryana.
The Senior Manager leads the evolution of CityFinance.in from a data repository into a national City Fiscal Platform and a cutting-edge municipal finance data analytics hub. As the owner of this transition, they will be responsible for the product's strategic direction, ensuring that the platform serves as a premier example of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for public finance data money and Digital Public Financial Management (DPFM). By establishing CityFinance as a Digital Public Good (DPG), they will drive national-level reforms, moving the platform toward becoming the high-adoption Single Source of Truth for municipal finance data. They will ensure that the Program, Tech and support teams operate in a synchronized, cross-functional model to deliver a transparent, scalable, and impact-driven ecosystem.
Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Roadmap & Organizational Alignment
- Own the Vision: Build and maintain the long-term strategic roadmap for CityFinance in alignment with Program goals and organizational leadership.
- Institutionalization: Work toward institutionalizing the platform within state and central government ecosystems, ensuring it is not just a repository but a tool for evidence-based policy making.
- Support Team Sync: Synchronize with support functions (tech, comms and other programme teams) on product milestones to prevent operational bottlenecks.
- Resource Optimization: Strategically deploy your team and external partners to ensure the execution backbone remains strong while pursuing high-level innovation and adoption of the platform.
2. Stakeholder Needs & Delivery Excellence
- The Bridge: Act as the primary interface between Public Finance Management (PFM) team and the Tech team, translating complex fiscal mandates into technical specifications.
- State & Central Partnerships: Manage relationships with MoHUA and State Urban Development Departments when required to ensure the platform meets grant compliance requirements (like XVI-FC) and/or state-specific data needs.
- End-to-End Oversight: Ensure all features from data ingestion pipelines to analytical dashboards are delivered to the highest standards of quality and accuracy.
- Accountability: Hold the tech team or vendors accountable for building intuitive, high-performance features that are prescribed for their specific audiences (ULBs, State officials, and Citizens).
3. Adoption & Ecosystem Growth
- The Go-To Platform: Drive platform adoption among retail investors, journalists, NGOs, and quasi-govt agencies and research institutions by positioning CityFinance as an essential utility.
- Data Analytics & Insights: Lead the creation of layman-friendly narratives and data stories. Ensure UI/UX supports easy discovery of complex datasets to bridge the data-to-decision gap.
- Transparency Advocacy: Leverage platform data to advocate for urban fiscal reforms, positioning CityFinance as the national benchmark for accountability and urban financial health.
Qualifications and Experience
- Advanced degree (Masters or MBA) in Finance, Economics, Engineering, Public Policy, Chartered Accountancy or a related field
- 8+ years of experience working in the impact sector, for-profit consulting government advisory, public policy with at least five years in senior management and leadership roles; experience in urban sector will be an advantage
- Strong systems change knowledge and practice including ability to adapt to differing contexts
- Demonstrated experience of working closely with state and/or union governments in policy design or implementation projects, involving stakeholder relationship and program management
Competencies
- Long horizon leadership: Staying committed through slow progress and delayed payoffs
- Execution without authority: Delivering outcomes through influence, credibility, and system design
- Perseverance & resilience: Navigating resistance, ambiguity, and setbacks
- Experience in managing relationships with governments at senior levels
- Experience in managing large teams with diverse professional backgrounds.
- High personal ownership: no delegation of accountability
- Thrive on ambiguity: agile and dynamic approach to program design and delivery amidst constant ambiguity and volatility
