Chief Executive Officer at Janaagraha, Bhubaneswar:Apply by 20 June 2023

About the Organization 

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 neighborhoods 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), municipal consulting services (through Jana Urban Services for Transformation Pvt. Ltd.), banking and financial services for the urban poor (through Jana Small Finance Bank) and affordable housing for the urban poor (through Janaadhar).

Reports to: CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER

About the Opportunity

Janaagraha is looking for a highly passionate, experienced and competent professional from the development sector to serve as Chief Executive Officer for their programs in Odisha, reporting to the Chief Program Officer. Janaagraha presently has an ongoing strategic partnership with the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD), Government of Odisha covering civic participation, municipal finance and organisation development with state-wide footprint across all 115 urban local bodies.

The CEO – Odisha will be the single point of contact for all of Janaagraha’s work in Odisha with primary responsibility for stakeholder management (government, donors) and program management (internal program teams). The position will have a small team of project manager(s) and associate(s) reporting to it, but with heads of programs being accountable to this position for delivery of their respective outputs and outcomes

This position is based out of Bhubaneshwar and will report to the Chief Program Officer. This engagement will be for an initial period of 3 years with a probation period of 6 months.

Roles and Responsibilities

A) Program Management

• Accountable for delivering on the outputs and outcomes, adhering to timelines, and ensuring high quality work as committed to both governments and donors
• Ensure effective and efficient project management systems and processes with government and internal program teams
• Communicate effectively with heads of civic participation, municipal finance, and organization development teams to ensure coherent and coordinated project delivery
• Work closely with Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation team for timely monitoring and evaluation of state programs, documentation and dissemination of learnings, and incorporation of the same into future program design and implementation
• Ensure deliverables produced are of high quality and are accompanied by a roadmap for adoption at scale outside of Odisha
• Regularly communicate to donors, government, and with program teams on project delivery and status and curate and implement a communication strategy and plan for Janaagraha’s work across Odisha.

B) Stakeholder Management

• Be Janaagraha’s single point of contact for interactions with the Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha
• Develop and maintain healthy working relationships with the Principal Secretary of HUDD and his/her senior team.
• Meet regularly with the government stakeholders to provide as well as receive feedback on project progress, identify newer opportunities for systems change, and identify and address any roadblocks or escalations on a priority basis.
• In case of additional/ad hoc tasks from government, co-ordinate with heads of civic participation, municipal finance, and organization development teams to ensure alignment between tasks, bandwidth and resources.
• Represent Janaagraha in external forums, events and meetings, participate in policy dialogue; discuss policy initiatives, and/or present policy papers/ideas.
• Engage with the urban governance ecosystem, creating opportunities in Odisha with government, other donors, advocating for systems approach for reforming municipal ecosystems
• Work with the Development Team at JCCD for long-term fundraising & development strategy for Odisha, and give inputs for programs in other states and relevant proposals.

C) Team Management

• Work with the Program Heads to create a vibrant work culture in the team that aligns with the organisation values, visions, and goals, while creating an enabling ecosystem to ideate boldly and creatively, to rapidly convert ideas to action plans and to execute the same at scale and with agility
• Work with internal stakeholders to identify learning and development requirements for the team and deliver on the same in partnership with human resources team.
• Serve as custodian of governance and head of operations for the Odisha operations covering general administration, information technology, human resource management, funding, cash flows and donor reporting

Note: The roles and responsibilities outlined above are not meant to be an exhaustive list of tasks. The need for flexibility is required and the job holder is expected to carry out any other related duties that are within the employee’s skills and abilities whenever reasonably instructed.

Qualifications and Experience:

• A Master’s degree preferably in Development / Policy / Management / equivalent. The higher degree is preferred, but can be relaxed for candidates with exceptional track record.
• 15+ years’ experience in the development sector with preference for urban development, with at least five years in senior management roles
• Strong systems change knowledge and practice including ability to adapt to differing contexts
• Candidates with direct government experience in any civil services are particularly welcome
• Experience in working closely with state and/or union governments in large scale systems change or
  consulting projects, involving stakeholder relationship and program management would be a big plus

What competencies does it take to be CEO – Odisha

• Systems thinking and practice with respect to large scale public systems; ability to connect the dots between programs and critical reform agendas and achieve synergies in efforts
• Program management of large projects in partnership with governments
• Rich experience in program management, project management, team management (including learning and development), managing senior government and donor relationships
• Effective budget management skills to work with available funding to deliver maximum impact.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Digital and Media skills

How to Apply

• Interested candidates can send in their CVs along with three references and a cover note to Ceoodisha2023@gmail.com.
• The last date to send in your application is June 20th 2023.
• Please note only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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