Job Opportunity for Manager – Municipal Finance at Janaagrha in Delhi

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).

Municipal finance reforms have been a core focus area for Janaagraha since its inception and the Municipal Finance Program is working towards solving one the most important problems being faced by Indian Cities: making them financially sustainable and accountable. We directly work with States and cities for engendering on-ground change through driving systemic reforms and further work towards translating these on-ground reform successes into usable “products” on Cityfinance to bring about “change-at-scale”. Over the years, we have worked with and supported government stakeholders at both central and state level across property tax, urban infrastructure financing, municipal accounting, among other areas. Janaagraha’s current/recent past engagements include:

• MoUs with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on strengthening Municipal Finance

• MoU with the Government of Odisha on a wide range of reforms – from accounting and audit to budget and treasury management and urban infrastructure financing.

• Janaagraha has recently also worked with MoHUA to build and launch a dedicated portal – www.cityfinance.in – which serves as a national framework of standardized, timely and credible financial information on cities (ULBs), in addition to facilitating benchmarking, comparison and peer learning between cities (ULBs) on a range of financial and operating indicators

• MoU with various knowledge partners on creating thought-leadership around municipal finance subjects like tax dispute resolution and building a digital ecosystem for tax collections and treasury management

We are looking for a competent professional to be a part of the Own Revenue Team in the Municipal Finance Program, based out of Delhi in a role that involves undertaking public finance policy based research at a Program level, and managing government engagements for driving policy-based reforms.

What will the Manager – Municipal Finance really do­?

A. Managing State/City Engagements for Own Revenue Enhancement

• Conceptualise and deliver robust governance reforms for augmenting revenue mobilization through engagement and persuasion of local and state government functionaries
• Manage Government stakeholders and liaison with other teams for ensuring timely delivery on commitments and client satisfaction
• Create blueprints of the revenue reforms implemented at the State/city level and build templates for national advocacy engagement
• Actively work with the Cityfinance Product Management team for translating the said blueprints into products/modules on Cityfinance
• Actively work with the larger Municipal Finance team with an objective of achieving large-scale reforms in strengthening revenues of local governments, specifically on strengthening the property tax policies, laws and operations 

B. Advocating for Municipal Revenue enhancement at national level

• Work with the Municipal Finance team to deliver on own-revenue enhancement commitments made as part of the MoU with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and other engagements
• Deepen knowledge and analytical firepower on Municipal Revenues and identify contemporary trends and advocacy agendas
• Draft research-based thought leadership pieces by analysing trends in own revenue sources and fiscal sustainability of urban local bodies
• Draft policy collaterals like toolkits, case studies, ready reckoner documents, etc. as per requirement
• Identify and work with small cohorts of knowledge partners/consultants on joint advocacy agendas

C. Municipal Borrowing and Infrastructure Financing:

• Create thought leadership on financing of urban infrastructure projects
• Identify key stakeholders at central government/ State government level & engage with them, explore synergies with an aim to amplify & strengthen municipal borrowings market & urban infrastructure financing in India
• Work with product team to continue development of features on cityfinance for publishing a shelf of projects and develop matchmaking platform for connecting lenders/investors with project development ULB/ authority

Qualifications and Experience

• Post Graduate or equivalent in finance, economics, business administration, public policy or a Chartered Accountant
• 5+ years of experience in public policy research, government advisory, public finance, business consulting or in a non-profit
• Candidates from alternative academic backgrounds with outstanding academic and career accomplishments and relevant work experience would also be considered
• Proficiency in MS Office suite particularly Excel, Word and PowerPoint, with a working knowledge of analysis of data & visualization

What competencies does it take to be Manager – Municipal Finance

• Existing knowledge or ability and willingness to quickly grasp concepts of Public Finance, Infrastructure Financing and Urban Governance
• Past experience or ability to manage high-stake projects in partnership with external stakeholders, especially senior government officials
• Excellent interpersonal and oral and written communication skills – including strong presentation skills
• Willingness to extend oneself to accomplish work objectives with tight deadlines, simultaneously pursuing excellence
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of individual projects
• Positive attitude, flexibility and ability to adapt to a dynamic work environment

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.