Head - State Program (Assam)

Years of Experience : 15+ years
Reporting to : Director, State Programs
Salary : Competitive
Organization : Non Profit / Impact Sector

About the Organization -

Founded in 2001, this non for profit organization operates with the mission to work with citizens and governments to transform the ‘quality of life’ in India’s cities and towns. The term ‘quality of life’ as defined has two dimensions - the first is the ‘quality of urban infrastructure and services,’ that is, roads, drains, transport, water supply while the second is the ‘quality of citizenship’ that is, the role that urban citizens can play by participating in civic matters.

It believes building robust city systems is the key to robust cities. The core main pillars of work constitute civic participation (enabling active citizen participation in city governance), municipal finance (improving financial sustainability and accountability) and policy and insights (reforming city systems and strengthening state capacities).

The organization has an ongoing strategic partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs (DoHUA), Government of Assam. While the Urban Space Foundation offers expertise to selected ‘light house infrastructure projects’, the State’s flagship urban transformation program ‘Doh Shaher Ek Rupayan’ is supported through municipal finance, participatory governance, leadership development, policy analysis, program design and organization development. The foundation also approaches the programs through a climate and gender perspective with the city systems framework covering economy, environment, equity and engagement of citizens at its core.

The initiative has made considerable impact over the last 23 years - for example the city of Bangalore allocated INR 120 crores through MyCityMyBudget in 2020-21. In Odisha, platforms for participation catalyzed 1.6million citizens in 2900 urban poor settlements in the state.

It’s also been awarded, and recognized for commendable work, for instance the IChangeMyCity received the Google Global Impact Award in 2013, the Swachhta app developed for Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs was judged as the ‘Best Sanitation App’ at India Today Safaigiri Awards 2017, and many more.

The organization is currently backed by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Brown University, Rainmatter Foundation, TPG, GIZ and UK Online Giving Foundation.

About the Role -

This is a senior leadership role that represents the organization in the State of Assam. It’s a role that relies heavily on building relationships both externally (government and donors) and internally (internal domain and program teams), key expertise in program development and delivery as well as core leadership abilities, in order to drive impact and involve more participation in the sector.

The position also encompasses managing a team of 10-12 people - associates, managers and state leads, and being the face of the organization, comes in with extensive travel within the state.

This is a brilliant opportunity for someone to network heavily at the intersection of government, bureaucracy, donors, and state as well as be in a central position to drive long term systematic impact for the State of Assam through quality program intervention and delivery.

Key Responsibilities -

Stakeholder Management

-Be the single point of contact for the organization in interactions with Government of Assam, Department of Housing and Urban Affairs as well as donors
-Build a strong relationship with government stakeholders and identify new opportunities for systematic change, discuss ongoing project feedback and address any roadblocks on priority basis
-Co-ordinate with internal, specialized teams within the organization in case of any ad hoc government projects and check for alignment, feasibility, internal resources and strengths. In case a project cannot be taken up, communicate effectivity keeping relationships intact
-Represent the organization in external forums and engage/present in policy dialogues, initiatives
-Work towards creating opportunities in Assam by engaging with Urban Governance ecosystem, advocating for systems approach for reforming municipal ecosystems
-Collaborate with the development team for long term fundraising and development strategy for Assam and provide insights for other states

Program Management

-Ensure high quality and timely delivery of work as committed to both government and donors
-Create efficient and effective program management systems with all stakeholders involved
-Communicate and collaborate with leaders of civic participation, municipal finance, organization development, policy and councilor leadership development teams for co-ordinated project delivery
-Work closely with monitoring and evaluation teams of state programs for documentation, evaluation and dissemination of learnings and outcomes for state programs

Team Management

-Guide and monitor the State Team for overall project management, reporting and delivery
-Build an internal culture that is in alignment with the organization’s vision, goals and values and is strong on creative ideation and execution, at scale
-Identify learning and development opportunities for the team, in collaboration with the Human Resources vertical
-Lead overall governance and operations for Assam overseeing IT, HR, funding, donor reporting and cashflow

What makes you a role fit -

-Experience in program conceptualization, design, and quality, time bound implementation
-Experience in building and managing relations with senior government stakeholders - state/union government
-5+ years of experience in leading and managing a senior member team
-10+ years of experience in working in the development sector, in community engagement
-Knowledge of systems thinking, budget management and presenting policy insights/papers
-Someone who has a long term interest in Assam and can travel frequently

What makes you a cultural fit -

-Ability to be non-judgmental and mature
-Ability to handle pressure and be resilient
-Ability to motivate people and communicate well