Job Opportunity for Chief Program Officer at Janaagrha in Bengaluru

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), 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 development sector or government leader to join us as Chief Program Officer, reporting to the CEO and serving as a member of the Management Committee. The Chief Program Officer will have oversight over all of Janaagraha’s implementation programs. Currently, implementation programs of Janaagraha comprise civic participation and municipal finance both of which are large programs undertaking systems change in partnership with multiple governments at city, state and union levels. In addition, the Chief Program Officer will also be responsible for delivery of strategic partnerships with state governments. Presently, Janaagraha has a strategic partnership with Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha. In due course, new programs in climate, public health and gender (which are emerging areas of focus for Janaagraha), and strategic partnerships with new states may get added to the above ambit.

What will the Chief Program Officer really do?

A. For Municipal Finance and Civic Participation Teams

• Accountable for delivering on the program agendas committed to donors and governments
• Oversee program design and development for municipal finance and civic participation teams
• Support Program Heads, manage program partnerships, conduct internal program reviews
• Foster a culture of cross-sharing and learning amongst the municipal finance, civic participation and state teams 

B. On Program Design and Program Management

• Support state engagements on program design and program management to deliver on commitments to government and donors
• Build and maintain relationships with senior government officials, supervise and ensure adherence to key deliverables and timelines across focus states
• Work with Head – Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation and provide necessary inputs for program monitoring and evaluation
• Foster a culture of cross-sharing and learning amongst the state engagement teams

C. Other Responsibilities

• Anchor collaboration of municipal finance and civic participation teams with the governance team on the development of public goods
• Synthesize learnings from programs and support the decision-making (by management committee) on refining the systems reform model for municipal finance and civic participation
• Work with Chief Development Officer and provide necessary inputs to fundraise and develop project proposals

Qualifications and Experience

• A Master’s degree preferably in Development / Policy / Management / equivalent. The higher degree is preferred, but can be relaxed for candidates with exceptional track record
• 20+ years of overall experience, with 10+ years in the social development / urban development space, and at least 5 years in senior management roles
• Strong systems change knowledge and practice including ability to adapt to differing contexts

What competencies does it take to be Chief Program Officer

• Systems thinking and practice with respect to large scale public systems; ability to connect the dots between programs and critical reform agendas and achieve synergies in efforts
• Program management of large projects in partnership with governments
• Rich experience in program management, project management, team management (including learning and development), managing senior government and donor relationships
• Effective budget management skills to work with available funding to deliver maximum impact.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Digital and Media skills

What Janaagraha offers

At Janaagraha, you will be part of a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and passionate citizens who apply cutting-edge systems practices aimed at transforming quality of life in India’s cities. We offer a dynamic, driven and vibrant work environment for development 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 skills and competencies to social challenges.