Senior Associate (Urban Policy)

About the role

Artha Global, through its Centre for Emerging Cities, is deepening its urban policy, research, and government engagement agenda to help address complex urban challenges. Our organisation’s work spans economic development, city transformation, climate resilience, technology and innovation, combining rigorous research with practical policy advice and implementation support. We are looking for a senior professional with a strong urban planning background to lead workstreams, shape new initiatives, engage with governments and partners, and translate evidence into actionable implementation strategies.

Responsibilities

• Shape and lead multidisciplinary workstreams to develop integrated policy solutions.
• Contribute to proposal development and strategic partnerships for new initiatives.
• Support project management, work planning, and quality assurance across workstreams.
• Guide and mentor analysts, associates, and interns on multiple projects.
• Lead end-to-end delivery of research, policy advisory, and implementation support projects—from problem definition and research design to stakeholder engagement and final outputs.
• Develop high-quality policy research, briefs, and knowledge products on urban development and public policy.
• Design and undertake rigorous policy analysis using qualitative, quantitative, spatial, and institutional approaches.
• Develop analytical frameworks, generate insights, and formulate evidence-based policy recommendations.
• Translate complex research into clear, solution-oriented policy briefs, reports, and presentations for diverse audiences.
• Build and manage relationships with government, academic institutions, development partners, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders.
• Support the design and facilitation of consultations, workshops, and technical discussions with government, experts, and partner organisations.

Requirements

• ~10 years of experience in urban policy/planning or a closely related field.
• An advanced degree in urban planning, development planning, public policy, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead workstreams and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Ability to frame complex urban problems, identify policy opportunities, and translate research into practical recommendations for government.
• Experience engaging directly with governments on policy design, implementation, or institutional reform.
• Deep familiarity with India’s urban regulatory and governance landscape, including planning frameworks, land management, and state and local government processes.
• Experience working on one or more urban policy domains such as land and planning, housing, mobility, municipal governance, infrastructure, climate resilience, economic development, or public finance.
• Strong intellectual curiosity and the ability to quickly understand new policy domains and emerging urban challenges.
• Ability to independently frame policy questions, work through ambiguity, and drive workstreams from concept to execution.
• Strong written communication—this role produces outputs for funders, partners, and the government.

Skills

• Comfortable working with geospatial data, large datasets, and tools—enough to collaborate effectively (desirable).
• Prior experience at a think tank, policy research organisation, or in a government advisory role (desirable).

Location: Mumbai (with domestic travel as required).