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Job Description: Manager - Research and Analysis

Position

Manager - Research and Analysis

Experience

6 – 8 years

Reporting To

Director Programs, Praja Foundation

Location

Mumbai

 

About Praja

Over the past 25 years, Praja Foundation has worked to enable accountable governance.  We partnered with the Mumbai Corporation to develop its first Citizen Charter, revamping their Citizen Complaint Grievances Mechanism (CGM). Complaint number 1916 remains functional with some enhancements.

Praja conducted a study on urban governance reforms Study to assess the implementation of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act. This pioneering study, led to the development of the Urban Governance Index (UGI) with the goal of creating a network of key influencers, thought leaders and, local government bodies to democratize city governments and improve service delivery.

In 2024, Praja launched the Urban Governance Index 2.0, which maps and ranks the status of urban governance across 31 cities from 28 states, 2 Union Territories, and the NCT of Delhi. The data compiled by UGI is regularly used by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), NITI Aayog, and the National Institute of Urban Affairs for their policy work.

Over the years, Praja has established close collaborations with state governments to facilitate policy changes across four key reforms that aim to strengthen urban governance structures. These reforms will promote structured discussion and deliberation in council and committee meetings, enhance the deliberation and leadership skills of elected representatives, ensure adequate financial resources for efficient public service delivery, and empower citizens to participate actively in local decision-making processes.

 

The Role

The Manager – Research and Analysis will be responsible for leading and managing a variety of analytical and research initiatives around Praja’s existing body of work to build the evidence on urban governance reforms in different states and cities. The role will require managing, strengthening, and supervising the function of conducting in-depth research, writing research papers and reports, and presenting complex information in simple terms to various stakeholders.

This role requires prior knowledge of public policy and urban governance, with a clear understanding of the functioning of urban local governments in India. It will also involve reaching out to relevant stakeholders, deepening relationships, and strategically building evidence for the reforms required to improve the functioning of Indian cities. The role will entail fieldwork and travel to different cities on short notice.

Main Responsibilities

  • Identify, define, design and implement the research program strategies, aligning to the organisation’s goals.
  • Define the metrics for the program success, coordinate, evaluate and track progress ensuring the quality and timelines.
  • Identify, analyse, and interpret trends or patterns from complex data sets, drawing valid inferences and presenting them successfully in the simplest form.
  • Support the leadership team as well as the Strategic Partnership team in advocacy and outreach of program outputs, aiming towards governance reforms.
  • Collaborate and coordinate with internal and external resources for the successful execution of the programs
  • Demonstrate a willingness to take responsibility and accountability for actions and their outcomes, treating work and resources as one’s own
  • Be willing to travel extensively within the city and outstation as required.

Qualification and Education

  • 6-8 years of primary research experience managing projects from inception to delivery of final presentations.
  • Understanding of Urban Governance concepts, issues, public policies, and the Right to Information Act.
  • Experience in managing quantitative and qualitative research with strong writing skills
  • Knowledge of developing, delivering, and evaluating evidence-based reports.
  • Experience of overseeing projects and ensuring they deliver on time and to budget.
  • Excellent writing, communication, and presentation skills. 

Must-Have Competencies

  • Analytical thinking - ability to extract key information from data and develop workable solutions for the problems identified
  • Build Effective Teams – ability to help a group to work together more effectively in pursuit of a common goal, provide guidance and support to the data and analysis team, ensuring data quality and adherence to timelines
  • Decision making – ability to make timely, informed decisions that take into account the facts, goals, constraints, and risks
  • Planning and organizing – ability to accurately scope out length and difficulty of tasks and projects; uses resources (people, funding, materials, support) to get things done

Please send your resume to hr@praja.org