Senior Fellow – India Urbanization

JOB SUMMARY:

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a non-profit, bipartisan public policy organization established in 1962 to provide strategic insights and practical policy solutions to decision makers concerned with global security and prosperity.  Over the years, it has grown to be one of the largest organizations of its kind, with a staff of some 250 employees, including more than 120 analysts working to address the changing dynamics of international security across the globe.

The Chair in India and Emerging Asia Economics (India Chair) serves as CSIS’s focal point for policy-relevant work on India, with a longstanding emphasis on strengthening U.S.-India economic engagement, supporting Indian economic reform, and advancing cooperation with India at the national and subnational levels. The Chair’s work is highly action-oriented, emphasizing stakeholder engagement, policy-relevant convening, and practical solutions over purely academic research.

As India undergoes rapid and uneven urbanization, cities will increasingly shape India’s economic growth, climate resilience, infrastructure needs, and governance outcomes. The Chair seeks to deepen its work in this area by launching a dedicated urbanization and urban governance workstream.

CSIS seeks a senior, part-time leader to design, build, and lead an India-focused urbanization and urban governance workstream. The role is well suited to a professional with approximately 10 or more years of experience in urban policy, urban planning, development finance, public administration, or Indian governance. This is a temporary role, with the potential for extension contingent on performance, particularly the successful development of a sustainable fundraising pipeline. The Senior Visiting Fellow will be expected to play a leading role in securing financial support for the workstream, including cultivating donor relationships and generating project funding.

The successful candidate will bring a strong understanding of urban planning and urban systems, combined with familiarity with India’s urban governance challenges, including fragmented authority, municipal finance constraints, service delivery, and center–state–city relations. The work will emphasize policy-relevant insights and practitioner engagement, rather than academic research alone.

This role involves agenda-setting, partner engagement, and shaping funded projects, with limited administrative and research support available.

This role will be supported by a dedicated Program Coordinator/ Research Assistant on our full-time staff. This PC-RA will support a second “Senior Fellow” building out a separate workstream (strategic technology policy). The Senior Fellow will be expected to be in the office two days per week.

This is a part-time term appointment, and the hired candidate will be paid an hourly rate of $83.33-85.00 commensurate with experience. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Essential functions include but are not limited to the following

Workstream Development and Leadership

· Design and lead a new India urbanization and urban governance policy workstream, aligned with CSIS priorities and India Chair strengths.

· Identify priority policy themes such as:

o Urban planning and land use

o Municipal governance and institutional capacity

o Urban infrastructure and service delivery

o Municipal finance, own-source revenues, and access to capital

o Center–state–city coordination and reforms affecting cities

· Translate urban challenges into clear policy frameworks and actionable recommendations.

Lead Visible/ Impactful Public Policy Work

· Produce and guide policy-relevant outputs (commentaries, briefs, memos, convening readouts), emphasizing actionable recommendations rather than academic research.

· Engage senior stakeholders across U.S., Indian, and partner-country governments, as well as the private sector and civil society.

· Organize events (in-person, virtual) to elevate key policy issues.

· Represent CSIS and the India Chair in high-level meetings, workshops, and private-roundtable discussions on urbanization issues.

Building Ongoing Work

· Identify and cultivate partnerships with key potential donors- foundations, high net worth individuals, companies, and others.

· Establish a pipeline of funded projects to sustain and grow the urbanization workstream over time. Successful efforts will lead to an extension and shifting to full-time status.

· Prepare one or more proposals that comply with CSIS project standards and “arms-length standards” with donors and pitch to potential donors.

Partner and Ecosystem Development

· Identify and cultivate partnerships with:

o Indian urban institutions and reform-minded city leaders

o Development banks, foundations, and bilateral donors

o Planning, infrastructure, and urban services practitioners

· Help position CSIS as a trusted platform for linking Indian urban reform priorities with global best practices and financing partners.

KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION, AND EXPERIENCE:

Required:

· Approximately 10 or more years of professional experience in urban planning, urban policy, development, governance, or a related field.

· Demonstrated understanding of Indian urban governance structures and challenges, including municipal institutions, finance, and implementation constraints.

· Ability to connect technical urban issues to policy and political economy realities.

· Proven ability to engage senior policymakers, practitioners, and funders in a constructive, solutions-oriented manner.

· Comfort working independently and setting strategic direction in a part-time role.

· Proven network in India with policymakers, foundations, and companies working on urban policy and planning

· Ability to work at CSIS HQ for 14 hours per week

Preferred:

· Direct professional experience working in or with Indian cities or state governments.

· Direct experience with successful fundraising for a nonprofit highly preferable

· Familiarity with India’s major urban reform initiatives and financing mechanisms.

· Experience working with multilateral development banks, donors, or private-sector infrastructure actors.

· Prior experience in a think tank, government, international organization, or policy-facing advisory role.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORK CONDITIONS:

The physical demands are representative of those that must be met by an employee working in an office environment.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.  The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

· Occasional travel (domestic and international, including to India) may be required.

· CSIS operates on a hybrid work model, with in-office collaboration expected during the workweek.
 
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.
 
Equal Opportunity Employer. 

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested applicants should submit a resumé and cover letter at https://careers.csis.org/.