Senior Associate

Artha Global; Mumbai; On-site; INR 2,400,000 - 4,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Artha Global in Mumbai is seeking a Senior Associate to lead urban policy, research, and government engagement initiatives. You will shape workstreams, translate evidence into actionable strategies, and mentor junior staff across multiple projects.

The role requires senior expertise in urban planning, policy design, and stakeholder engagement, with a track record of delivering policy briefs and knowledge products for government and partners. Domestic travel may be required.

Qualifications

• ~10 years of urban policy/planning experience.
• Advanced degree in urban planning, development planning, or public policy.
• Ability to lead workstreams and manage multiple projects.
• Translate research into practical government recommendations.
• Experience engaging with governments on policy design or reform.
• Familiar with India's urban regulatory landscape and planning frameworks.
• Experience in domains like land, housing, mobility, climate resilience, or public finance.
• Strong written communication for funders and governments.
• Comfort with geospatial data and large datasets for collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Shape and lead multidisciplinary workstreams for integrated policy solutions.
• Develop proposals and establish strategic partnerships.
• Oversee project management, work planning, and QA across workstreams.
• Mentor analysts, associates, and interns.
• Lead end-to-end research and policy advisory projects from problem definition to outputs.
• Develop high-quality policy briefs and knowledge products on urban development.
• Design rigorous policy analysis using qualitative, quantitative, spatial methods.
• Translate research into clear policy briefs and presentations.
• Engage government, academic institutions, partners; manage stakeholder engagements.
• Facilitate consultations, workshops with government and experts.

Skills

Urban policy

Policy analysis

Stakeholder engagement

Project leadership

Geospatial data

Written communication

Mentoring

Research design

Education

Advanced degree in urban planning

Public policy background

Tools

Geospatial tools

Job description

We are seeking applications for the position of Senior Associate at Artha Global

August 17, 2026

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.

What you will do

• 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.

Research, Policy Analysis, and Implementation

• 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.
• Lead the development of high-quality policy research, briefs, and knowledge products on urban development and public policy.
• Design and undertake rigorous policy analysis using a combination of qualitative, quantitative, spatial, and institutional approaches, as appropriate to the project.
• 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.

Government & Stakeholder Engagement

• 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.

What we are looking for

Must-Have

• ~10 years of experience in the field of 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 in 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 that go to funders, partners and the government
• Comfortable working with geospatial data, other large datasets and tools — not as a primary skill, but enough to collaborate effectively.
• Prior experience at a think tank, policy research organisation, or in a government advisory role.

Location:

Mumbai (with domestic travel as required)

We are seeking applications for the position of Senior Associate at Artha Global