Technical Advisor to ACS (Urban Digital Transformation)

Arthan; Khordha; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Arthan is seeking a Technical Advisor for the Housing & Urban Development Department in Odisha, focusing on digital public infrastructure. The role involves leading as a solution architect for urban governance initiatives and ensuring effective technical governance across systems.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in solution architecture and a passion for leveraging technology for social impact. Successful candidates will work closely with government officials and contribute to significant digital transformations that enhance service delivery for citizens.

Qualifications

• Strong track record as a solution architect for large digital platforms.
• Knowledge of urban governance and public financial management.
• Familiarity with data models and analytics use-cases.

Responsibilities

• Act as principal solution architect for HUDD digital systems.
• Translate departmental requirements into clear technical architectures.
• Ensure compliance with architecture standards across all systems.

Skills

Solution Architecture Expertise

Technical Governance

DPI and Open-Platform Orientation

Advisory and Communication Skills

Data and AI Awareness

Education

Minimum 15 years work experience

Job description

Engagement: Secondment to Government of Odisha, Housing & Urban Development Department (HUDD)

Duration: 12 months, extendable by a second year by mutual consent

Reports to: Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), HUDD (functional)

Employer: Partner organization

Do you want to be the technical anchor for one of India's leading state-level urban Digital Public Infrastructure programmes? We are seeking an experienced solution architect and technical advisor to strengthen SUJOG and related systems as a unified DPI for urban governance in Odisha. If this is you, we'd love for you to join us. Your work will shape how cities across Odisha deliver services to over a billion citizens.

The Context and the Mission

Urban governance in Odisha is undergoing a significant digital transformation through SUJOG and related platforms. As these systems scale across schemes and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), there is a growing need for strong technical stewardship to keep them robust, scalable, interoperable, and free of unnecessary fragmentation and vendor lock-in. Too often, digital systems accumulate one-off customisations and parallel builds that increase long-term cost and complexity while diluting the value of a shared platform.
This secondment exists to anchor SUJOG and other digital systems as a unified Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for urban governance in Odisha—ensuring departmental priorities are translated into trusted, reusable, standards-based digital solutions, and that safe, cost-effective digital adoption accelerates across HUDD and ULBs.

The Role

As Technical Advisor to the ACS (Urban Digital Transformation), you will be seconded by the partner organization to the Housing & Urban Development Department and positioned in the Office of the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), HUDD, as part of the Digital Urban Governance Acceleration Unit. You will function as a senior technical advisor to the ACS, placing considered recommendations on architecture, platform evolution, standards, and implementation approaches before the Department for examination and action by the competent authority.
You will functionally report to the ACS, HUDD and work under their overall supervision. For day-to-day coordination, you will work closely with the Senior Advisor to ACS (Urban Governance & Digital Systems) in the governance pod. For all administrative matters (including payroll and contract management), you will report to the partner organization, which remains your employer throughout the secondment. An Annual Outcomes Plan will be prepared jointly by the ACS, the Senior Advisor, and eGov Foundation, with quarterly work plans and reviews against agreed KPIs, supplemented by brief weekly check‑ins as required.

What You'll Do

Architecture and Platform Stewardship

• Act as the principal solution architect for key HUDD digital systems, including SUJOG, SUJOG Works for MSBY, Digital Door Numbering, the Unifi ed Administrator Dashboard, AI Innovation Hub use‑cases, revenue systems, and related platforms.
• Translate programme and departmental requirements into clear technical architectures and roadmaps, consistent with DPI and open‑platform principles.
• Define and enforce architecture standards and non‑functional requirements (performance, availability, resilience, security, observability, cost efficiency) across all major systems used by HUDD.
• Maintain an up‑to‑date architecture map of HUDD's digital landscape, including integrations with identity, payments, State Finance (IFMS), SFC, the General Administration & Public Grievance Department, and other relevant systems.

Technical Governance, Vendor Accountability and Platform Evolution

• Serve as the internal technical owner for SUJOG and associated platforms, while execution remains with vendors and partners.
• Hold vendors and system integrators accountable for stable performance, reliability, security, and data quality, using agreed SLAs, monitoring dashboards, and regular technical review forums.
• Ensure all solution designs, modules, integrations, and enhancements follow platform/DPI principles (modular, API‑driven, configurable, reusable, standards‑based), avoid unnecessary one‑off customisation, and reuse existing SUJOG DPI components wherever possible.
• Review and provide technical recommendations on core change requests and platform evolution items for consideration and approval by the ACS/HUDD.
• Support HUDD in mitigating vendor lock‑in by promoting open standards, open APIs, shared data models, and adequate documentation.

Solution Design for Key Programmes

• Architect and oversee implementation of SUJOG Works for MSBY and other schemes, ensuring the system can generate trusted data for effective public financial management.
• Work with programme, finance, and engineering teams so digital systems support transparent works and project management, reliable performance and workload data at officer and ULB levels, and traceability of expenditure from sanction to completed asset.
• Design and technically guide digital solutions for revenue augmentation (tax and non‑tax), including improved mapping of properties, assets, and services into billing and collection modules.

Partner Enablement and Ecosystem Support

• Act as a technical advisor to TASU, system integrators, and implementation partners working with HUDD on urban digital systems.
• Conduct architecture and design reviews, solution walkthroughs, and technical clarifications, without engaging in day‑to‑day coding.
• Develop and maintain reference architectures, templates, guidelines, and checklists that partners and vendors must follow when working on HUDD systems.
• Ensure feedback loops from ULBs and field teams are captured and fed into product/solution evolution and bug‑fix priorities.

AI, Data and Analytics Enablement

• Work closely with the AI Innovation Hub and Airawat Research Foundation (ARF) team to define and prioritise AI and analytics use‑cases relevant to HUDD (e.g. performance analytics, complaint clustering, risk flags for projects and revenues).
• Ensure appropriate data models, integration pipelines, and APIs are in place to support these use‑cases while maintaining data quality and privacy.
• Provide technical leadership for the design and implementation of executive dashboards, including the AI‑enabled Administrator Dashboard, for the ACS and senior officials.

Internal Advocacy and Support to Emerging Institutions

• Proactively advocate within HUDD for greater and smarter use of digital platforms for citizen‑centric urban service delivery across schemes and programmes.
• Identify and propose new use‑cases and reforms where SUJOG DPI and related systems can meaningfully reduce manual work and improve outcomes for staff and citizens.
• Provide technical inputs to any Centre of Public Service Excellence (CPSE)‑like function within HUDD, especially on innovation pilots, standards, and integration across municipal engineering, HR, and financial workflows.
• Provide strategic coordination to develop institutional mechanisms such as the proposed CPSE, utilising the Odisha Urban Academy as the anchor for knowledge and execution in innovation, policy design, analytics, monitoring, and collaborative governance.

External Representation and Knowledge Sharing

• Represent HUDD, along with designated department officials, in key technical conferences, workshops, and knowledge platforms at state, national, and international levels, showcasing Odisha's digital urban governance and SUJOG DPI as a lighthouse.
• Contribute to case studies, technical notes, and presentations that document Odisha's experience and inform other states and partners.

You're a great fit if you have

• Solution Architecture Expertise: A strong track record as a solution architect for large, multi‑stakeholder digital platforms, with the ability to translate departmental requirements into clear, scalable, interoperable architectures. A minimum work experience of 15 years is preferred.
• DPI and Open‑Platform Orientation: Deep familiarity with platform/DPI principles—modular, API‑driven, configurable, reusable, standards‑based design—and a conviction for reducing fragmentation and vendor lock‑in.
• Technical Governance and Vendor Accountability: Experience setting and enforcing non‑functional requirements and SLAs, and holding vendors and system integrators accountable for performance, reliability, security, and data quality.
• Domain Understanding: Knowledge of urban governance, public financial management, or related government systems, and how digital platforms support service delivery, works management, HR, and revenue.
• Data and AI Awareness: Familiarity with data models, integration pipelines, analytics, and AI use‑cases, with an appreciation for data quality and privacy.
• Advisory and Communication Skills: The ability to advise senior government leadership, conduct design reviews, and represent the Department in technical and knowledge‑sharing forums; excellent written and verbal communication.
• Passion for Social Impact: A commitment to using technology for public good and lasting change at scale.