Manager – Municipal Finance

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 in a role that involves undertaking public finance policy based research at a Program level, and managing government engagements for driving policy-based reforms.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

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

KEY COMPETENCIES

  • 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

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

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.

This position is based out of Delhi.

Please write to us with your CV and a cover letter, along with a link to your updated LinkedIn profile at work@janaagraha.org with a copy to shreshtha.saraswat@janaagraha.org with “Manager – Municipal Finance” in the subject line