Janaagraha - Manager - Open Works

Manager-Open Works

I. About Janaagraha

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (Janaagraha) is a Bangalore based not for profit having the mission of transforming quality of life in India's cities and towns. It defines quality of life as comprising quality of infrastructure and services and quality of citizenship. Janaagraha, along with its sister organisation Jana Urban Space foundation operates programs all of which are based on a robust City-Systems framework. To achieve its mission, Janaagraha works with both citizens and governments in advocating policy, creating platforms for citizen engagement and forging partnerships to attain scale.

Over its ten year existence, Janaagraha has built a proven track-record in systemic change in city-systems and in catalysing citizen engagement.

Janaagraha was founded by Swati and Ramesh Ramanathan and has a team comprising engineers, management graduates, public policy professionals, urban planners and designers, social science researchers and a military veteran driven by a passion for transformative change. Its staff strength is in excess of one hundred and fifty.

Janaagraha leadership comprises a Management Committee that oversees day to day operations, a stellar Governing Board comprising leaders across business, social sector and community engagement, management consulting and government and a Board of Trustees.

II. Job Description

Janaagraha is looking to on-board a Manager for its Open Works vertical in the Advocacy and Reforms, Research and Insights cluster. The position will be based in Bangalore and will report to Coordinator-Advocacy, Research and Insights. As Manager-Open Works, your role would comprise the following:

- Leading a team of 3 members to deliver Open Works, Budget Briefs and Ward Quality Score in select Indian cities;

Open Works is an Open Data initiative on Civic Works of Municipal Corporations, Budget Briefs are engagement tools on city budgets for citizens and councillors and Ward Quality Score is an objective measure of quality of life in cities and towns at a hyper-local level. Please refer http://ichangemycity.com/wqs and http://ichangemycity.com/budget for further details. These are currently operational in Bangalore, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad.

- Planning and executing strategies for the team, based on pre-agreed deliverables and initiatives;

- Planning and executing large-scale data intensive projects that involve collection, analysis and presentation of hyper local data on quality of life through extensive field surveys, collection, analysis and presentation of data and metrics on public service delivery and civic infrastructure and works of municipal corporations and other civic agencies through RTIs/other

- Planning and implementing online disclosures and communications of Open Works, Budget Briefs and Ward Quality Score, including achieving convergence with ichangemycity.com.

- Designing communication strategies, protocols and channels for engaging with citizens and elected representatives on Open Works, Budget Briefs and Ward Quality Score

- Engaging with citizens, elected representatives and senior administrators on Open Works

III. Qualifications and Experience

- A Post Graduate in Engineering or Science or Business Management or Finance/equivalent;

- At least 8 years of professional work experience;

- Candidates from alternative academic backgrounds with outstanding academic and career accomplishments and relevant work experience would also be considered.

IV. What we look for in Manager-Open Works

- High levels of motivation and passion for transparency and accountability in cities, especially Municipal Corporations and other public service delivery agencies in cities;

- Strong quantitative and analytical capabilities, very strong project management skills

- Working knowledge of online tools and practices in respect of data and infographics and basic understanding of design and communications (essentially Open Data practices)

- Leadership qualities required to manage a team of professionals and manage large projects that are time and effort intensive

- Good communication skills- both written and verbal

- Ability to work across multi-disciplinary teams

- Willingness to extend oneself to accomplish work objectives with tight deadlines, simultaneously pursuing excellence

- Positive attitude, flexibility and ability to adapt to a dynamic work environment

V. 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. Janaagraha offers 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.