Janaagraha Looking For Senior Manager – Public Finance Management at Delhi, Full Time

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).

The PFM team at Janaagraha strongly believes that improved public finance and accountability systems are critical for India’s Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to improve governance, ensure better planning and spending of resources, and consequently provide improved urban infrastructure and services. Our work includes both advisory to the Government and action-oriented research to inform the public finance discourse in the urban governance context. The team works with central government, state governments as well as city governments to support policy and implementation reforms.

The team, comprising of passionate and eclectic mix of young professionals, is working with the central government as well as multiple state governments on policy and implementation reforms. Our interventions are designed for own revenue augmentation, efficiency in expenditure, financial transparency & reporting. We also work on digital PFM solutions for improving the systems and processes.

To this end, we are looking to hire a highly motivated, passionate and committed professional as Senior Manager – Public Finance Management to lead our work with Urban Development Departments to drive systemic reforms in Municipal Finance and PFM.

What will the Senior Manager – Public Finance really do­?

A. Manage government engagement with state governments for designing and implementing PFM reforms

• Lead local teams in states with an objective of achieving systemic policy reforms in strengthening fiscal decentralization and facilitating overall improvement in financial sustainability and accountability of urban local governments
• Support in engagement with and persuasion of government functionaries for administering robust reforms in driving large-scale reforms in revenue mobilization, expenditure processes, monitoring of projects
• Support in actively working with State Governments and local governments with an objective of achieving Accounting & Audit reforms, and Standardization in Financial Reporting of Urban Local Bodies
• Develop thought leadership on reforms in Public Finance Management (PFM) cycle for implementation at State/ULBs
• Explore use of digital technology in planning, budgeting, works management, output/outcome monitoring and develop use cases for implementation
• Build knowledge products on key PFM issues for public consumption
• Work on building products for standardization of financial statements, budgets and other such reports
• Document and publish report on PFM best practices being followed in states and ULBs
• Proactively document work outputs, meeting actions, communications collaterals and any knowledge products that emerge over the course of the project
• Lead the team in ensuring smooth running of day-to-day operations, troubleshooting and managing relationships with all stakeholders in the state

B. Build thought leadership, undertake analytics, engage with stakeholders to transform the Public Finance ecosystem and narrative

• Continuously strive to transform municipal finance in India at scale and with speed and agility, through a whole of systems approach
• Building and nurturing relationships with senior government functionaries as well as urban governance sector experts
• Manage Government stakeholders as well as internal team of Associates to ensure timely delivery on commitments and client satisfaction
• Oversee implementation of program work plans and monitor compliance of grant/MoU conditions
• Support in communicating effectively and regularly with internal and external stakeholders, including Janaagraha senior management, government clients, donors etc.

Qualifications and Experience

• Chartered Accountant or Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, business administration, public administration, public policy or other directly relevant fields;
• 10+ years of experience (for senior manager) in government advisory, public finance, business consulting or in a non-profit;
• Experience of managing programme delivery in a dynamic environment.
• Prior knowledge of working with Government’s public finance systems (IFMIS, PFMS etc) and processes is desired.
• A good understanding of urban governance systems and nature of fiscal decentralisation in India a plus.
• Experience working with multi-cultural and geographically diverse teams.

What competencies does it take to be Senior Manager – Public Finance

• Excellent project plan formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Excellent ability to manage a diverse set of stakeholders, in and outside of government
• Ability to operate with minimal instructions & supervision
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice and interact with high level decision makers
• Excellent team management skills
• Excellent communication skills.

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.