Job Description:
Position: Project Consultant – Urban
Location: New Delhi
Duration: 6 months (starting January 2026, with potential extension)
About The Convergence Foundation and its Network
The Convergence Foundation (TCF) is an Indian philanthropic foundation established by Ashish and Manisha Dhawan in April 2021. TCF builds on their legacy of impactful philanthropy, including the founding of transformative institutions like Ashoka University and the Central Square Foundation.
Our mission is clear: to transform the lives of all Indians through rapid, sustained economic growth and inclusive development.
We focus on three pillars
1. Direct engines of economic growth that enable job creation,
2. Human capital development through education and employability, and
3. Development Enablers that strengthen the philanthropic ecosystem and improve state capacity.
In each area, TCF works on building pioneering institutions to address India's most complex socio-economic challenges, while shaping the larger ecosystem by sharing knowledge, insights and learning with philanthropists, governments and key stakeholders. We believe government is the key actor for system change, and philanthropy and nonprofits play a strategic role in supporting it. The TCF Network includes 20+ organizations working systemically with government to address specific areas of Indias socio-economic development across our three pillars.
About the Project
Urban infrastructure is a critical yet under-leveraged driver of long-term economic growth in India. Despite its importance, there is limited clarity on how cities can be structured and supported to serve as engines of productivity, mobility, and opportunity. While many efforts exist at the project or policy level, systemic change interventions – those that address underlying institutional, financial, and governance constraints – are notably missing. This project aims to explore the intersection of urban development and economic growth, and design interventions that enable deeper philanthropic and institutional engagement in this space.
Position Summary
The project consultant shall support in preparing knowledge documents, data collection, and synthesizing field experiences into case studies for select Indian cities – with a specific lens of their implications for urban economic growth. This shall include capturing learnings from stakeholder consultations; developing an understanding of the context, systemic constraints, opportunity areas; and assessing the implementation effectiveness and processes, to draw insights for Indias economic trajectory.
Areas of Work:
The Project Consultant will:
- Collaborate with TCF leadership to understand priority areas, develop action plans, and conduct independent research to build perspectives on the subject.
- Prepare knowledge documents, collect data, and synthesize field experiences into case studies for select Indian cities — capturing consultations, documenting lessons, and synthesize their implications for urban and national economic growth. The scope includes urban infrastructure domains including land use, mobility, governance, housing, and municipal finance, public-private partnerships, with a focus on their economic impact.
- Study global and domestic models that link urban systems to economic performance.
- Track institutional, regulatory, and structural dynamics that shape infrastructure outcomes.
- Manage day-to-day communication with key stakeholders, external experts and government officers to collect data, validate and refine approaches, while documenting lessons learned.
- Move beyond literature review by synthesizing insights into clear, original frameworks.
- Produce well-structured memos and presentations for internal use.
Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities
- Masters degree from a top-tier institution in urban planning, governance, economics, development, or related fields.
- 1–2 years of experience in a challenging or high-growth environment, with the ability to independently collect data, engage stakeholders, conduct primary discussions, and deliver tasks.
- Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills
- Excellent planning and organizational abilities, with keen attention to detail, accuracy, and deadlines
- Exceptional writing skills that are clear, concise, and analytical in style
- Strong communication, interpersonal, and stakeholder-facing skills, including presentation and facilitation
- High level of flexibility and responsiveness, with the ability to shift priorities quickly as organizational demands evolve
- Operating style suited to a small-organization environment, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued
- Demonstrated intellectual curiosity, independent thinking, ownership, and professional sophistication
Compensation
Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy pay scales and will depend upon the candidates experience
Location
New Delhi, India