Director – Transforming Bengaluru

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About the Organization

Janaagraha began as a movement to promote participatory democracy at the neighbourhood level. We soon discovered, however, that citizen participation alone was not enough.

Governments must also be equipped to deliver infrastructure and services, build their own capacity through training and technology, fully empower elected leaders, and ensure high standards of accountability and transparency.

Job Description

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy is among India’s most credible and execution-oriented city systems institutions, with over two decades of impact across governance, finance, infrastructure design, data systems, and citizen engagement. Unlike advisory bodies, Janaagraha stays engaged from design through implementation and institutionalisation. Bengaluru is its home city and a strategic priority.  The Director – Transforming Bengaluru will work very closely with the CEO, the Director – State Programs, and Heads of other Programs and will be part of the organisation’s senior leadership group.

The enactment of the Greater Bengaluru Governance (GBG) Act, 2024 hasfundamentally altered how India’s most important city will be governed. Institutions are being created; roles are being clarified; systems must now be built and made to work.  The window between legislation and institutional maturity is short. Success will depend not only on policy brilliance, but on execution excellence over 5–10 years.  The Director – Bengaluru is the integrator who ensures this transition delivers real improvements in daily urban life as to ensure Bengaluru regains its famed quality of life and delivers it to all its citizens.

This is an out-and-out implementation and execution leadership role at city scale.  The Director – City Transformation, Bengaluru is accountable for turning reform intent into sustained, on ground outcomes across Bengaluru – working through institutions, systems, people, and partnerships rather than formal authority. This is not a policy think-tank role, an advocacy position, or a short-term transformation assignment. It demands long-term ownership, perseverance, and operational discipline.  For the right candidate, this role offers the chance to deploy decades of leadership experience on problems that matter to millions—and to leave a lasting civic legacy.

Job Responsibilities

Program Design and Delivery

• Owning Janaagraha’s Bengaluru agenda end to end and leading all aspects of program design for Jana’s Bengaluru programs.
• Translating reform ideas into pilots, pilots into programs, and programs into permanent city systems.
• Driving delivery across walkability, flooding resilience, clean air, transparency, civic participation, leadership capacity, and metropolitan governance, working closely with respective program teams at Janaagraha.
• Embedding reforms through laws, policies and institutions so they outlast individuals and administrations.
• Maintaining momentum through political cycles, leadership changes, and institutional friction.

Program Management

• Designing and operationalising institutions, processes, dashboards, and governance mechanisms.
• Ensuring quality, timelines, and accountability across multiagency environments.
• Creating, refining and maintaining all internal program planning documents (Annual Plan, Milestones, Project Management Tracker), constantly synthesising the progress and bigger picture for the team and the organisation.

Stakeholder Management and Ecosystem Building

• Acting as Janaagraha’s most senior Bengaluru facing leader with government and civic institutions.
• Building trust while holding a firm execution line.
• Leading complex negotiations and resolving cross-agency bottlenecks.
• Support the development team / strategy team in existing and new fundraising conversations for Bengaluru with relevant collateral, presence in meetings etc as needed.
• Putting in place a partnerships frame for the Bengaluru program, lead conversations with senior leaders from potential / existing partner organizations and maintain partner relations.
• Developing and implementing an ecosystem-building strategy in Bengaluru for Janaagraha to unite leaders from government, philanthropy, business, citizen groups and academia around common agendas and priorities.

Team & Performance Leadership

• Leading a multidisciplinary Bengaluru team across program management, design, data, community engagement, and partnerships.
• Setting a high bar for execution discipline, follow through, and quality.
• Building leadership depth and succession within the team.

Education Qualification/Required Skills & Experience

• This role is designed for very senior leaders whohave already proven themselves in large, complex environments.
• CXOs / Business Heads from infrastructure, real estate, mobility, utilities, energy, climate, logistics, or allied sectors
• Leaders who have scaled operations across multiple geographies and stakeholders
• Executives experienced in working with regulators, governments, boards, and external partners
• Leaders ready for a mission driven role without compromising on execution rigour
• Public policy background is not required.  Institutional intelligence, execution maturity, and leadership credibility matter far more.

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