Senior Manager - Financial Accountability (Public Finance)

Position: Senior Manager, Financial Accountability

Team: Public Finance Management (PFM)

Reporting to: Director, Public Finance

Location: Delhi

Experience Range: 8-12 years

Past experience in: Public Finance Management, Municipal Finance, Thinktanks, Public Sector Consulting, Gov-tech, Development Sector

About Janaagraha

At Janaagraha, we believe that India's future will play out in our cities. Cities have the critical task of propelling our country's economic growth while mitigating pervasive inequities and grappling with complex challenges of climate change, all while looking to reinvigorate a spirit of citizenship. We are a 23-year-old non-profit working towards this urban future by ensuring that the right systems are in place for urban India. Systems that enable us to plan, design, build, govern, fund and manage our cities, and thereby transform the quality of life in India's cities and towns.

We partner extensively with union and state governments, and the broader civil society ecosystem to translate our ideas into action. We have a track-record of large-scale change using the "city systems" approach across all our focus areas and our current partners include key union government agencies (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, NITI Aayog, Finance Commission) and the state governments of Odisha, Assam and Uttar Pradesh. We publish reports such as the Annual Survey of India’s City Systems (ASICS), which captures the status of laws and rules pertaining to urban governance across the states and union territories in India, besides the constitutional and national level governance framework. Our observations from our deep work across the sub-sectors of urban governance and development, position us to identify key reforms and measures to shape better cities for future, even while addressing the current challenges.

We also firmly believe that our journey is as important as our destination, and have crystallised our organizational values into our Culture Codes, which guide our approach and our behaviours.

About the Public Finance Management (PFM) Team

The Public finance 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.

We directly work with the union, state and urban local governments for advocating, developing reform roadmaps and products, and engendering on-ground change through systemic reforms for “change-at-scale”. Over the years, we have worked with and supported government stakeholders at both central and state level on financial management reforms ranging from resource mobilization, designing inter-governmental transfers, urban infrastructure financing, municipal accounting, budget and expenditure management.

Position Summary

The Senior Manager, Financial Accountability will act as subject matter expert and lead our work with the CAG, Union and State governments on revising municipal financial management framework including National Municipal Accounts Manual. Moreover, the Senior Manager will also work on developing a framework and plan for at scale digitalization of financial management in Urban Local Governments (ULGs) in India. This is an exciting opportunity for an impact-minded senior professional looking to design and drive policy reform at scale, with significant exposure to senior government officials, policy makers, and public finance ecosystem leaders.

Key Responsibilities in detail

1. Managing Janaagraha’s work on Financial Accountability

Lead Janaagraha’s work on Financial Accountability in ULGs

Lead the work on revision of Financial Management Framework including National Municipal Accounts Manual and Strategy for Digitalization of Public Finance Management in ULGs

Develop strategy, implementation roadmap for implementation of revised framework and digitalization across all ULGs in India

Develop evidence-based policy recommendations and reform frameworks for strengthening Financial Accountability

Liaise with CAG, Union and state governments, concerned ULG officers, domain experts and practitioners to develop the framework and roadmap for implementation

2. Thought Leadership & Advocacy

Author high-impact policy briefs, research reports, advocacy documents, and thought leadership pieces that shape public discourse on Financial Accountability

Write regularly across different formats and platforms to amplify PFM team's work and Janaagraha's policy positions

Support organizational narrative development and customize policy communications for different audiences including government, donors, media, and civil society

Engage with a variety of eco-system stakeholders on the Public Finance agenda including government, funders, civil society.

3. Team Leadership & Institutional Excellence

Lead and mentor junior researchers and policy analysts within the PFM team

Set high standards of operational excellence across product development, project management, stakeholder relationship management, and reporting

Contribute to annual planning processes, quarterly reviews, and institutional governance mechanisms

Support talent development, capacity building, and knowledge management systems within the organization

What would make you a good fit for the role

Strong Academic Foundation: Master's degree in Public Policy, Economics, Development Studies, Public Administration, Digital Technology or related field from reputed institutions

Extensive Policy Experience: 8-12 years of experience in Municipal Finance, Public Finance, Digitalization of Public Finance.

Subject Matter Expertise: Robust understanding of Municipal Finance and Public Finance in the Indian context, including but not restricted to Digitalization, Accounting, Fiscal Decentralization

Strategic Thinking: Ability to synthesize complex information, develop informed perspectives, and translate research insights into actionable policy recommendations

Communication Excellence: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with proven ability to create high-quality policy outputs including policy briefs, advocacy materials, and presentations.

Stakeholder Management: Demonstrated track record of building relationships and engaging effectively with senior government officials, elected representatives, civil society leaders, and diverse stakeholder groups.

Agility: Comfort working and delivering in dynamic, ambiguous environments while managing multiple priorities and tight deadlines.

Mission Commitment: Deep intrinsic motivation to contribute to solving urban governance challenges at scale and desire to build a career in impact-oriented work

Language Requirements: Excellent command over written and spoken English is essential; proficiency in additional Indian languages is desirable.

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.