About us
WRI India, an independent knowledge organisation registered as India Resources Trust, provides objective information and practical proposals to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable development. Through research, analysis, and recommendations, WRI India puts ideas into action to build transformative solutions to protect the earth, promote livelihoods, and enhance human well-being. Know more: wri-india.org
Program Overview for Sustainable Cities and Transport
WRI India's urban development work aims to transform the way cities are planned and designed to ensure that urban development benefits people, nature and climate. We focus on integrated solutions to long-standing urban challenges, leveraging evidence-based data, applied research and our network of partners and experts. We collaborate at all levels with the government, city administrations, urban stakeholders and partners to help cities become resilient, low-carbon and liveable while balancing their socio-economic goals. Our work seeks to shape a future where cities work better for everyone.
Job Highlight:
India's climate adaptation investment landscape is at a critical juncture. Public programs- AMRUT, PMAY, urban forestry schemes, and state-level climate funds- are expanding rapidly, but investment decisions remain largely uninformed by economic evidence on the multiple benefits of natural infrastructure. At the same time, growing interest from development finance institutions, green bonds, blended finance mechanisms, and philanthropy has not yet translated into investment-ready NbS pipelines in Indian cities.
This role creates a strategic position in WRI India's Cities Program where you will have direct access to WRI India's on-ground implementation experience, its policy relationships, and its global network, and will be positioned to produce economic evidence with real consequences for how Indian cities plan, budget, and invest in resilience. You will use your expertise in valuing natural infrastructure, quantifying adaptation co-benefits, and building investment cases that meet the standards of government planners, development finance institutions, and private capital markets. The role draws directly on WRI India's rich pilot experiences- treating on-the-ground implementations as living laboratories for economic valuation, global NbS research and connects that evidence to India's policy ecosystem and climate finance architecture.
Equity and distributional impact are not peripheral concerns in this role. India's most heat-exposed, flood-prone, and air-polluted urban communities are overwhelmingly low-income, and the economic case for natural infrastructure must be built to capture and advocate for the benefits that accrue to them.
What will you do:
Economic Research, Valuation & Evidence Building
Lead the economic valuation of WRI India Cities Programme pilots - including urban NbS interventions, cooling solutions, urban greening, and hybrid infrastructure - quantifying benefits such as increased productivity, improved air quality, flood mitigation, urban cooling, carbon sequestration, and community health outcomes.
Develop and maintain cost-benefit models, ecosystem services assessment frameworks, and tools tailored to Indian urban contexts, drawing on global methodologies (TEEB, InVEST, SEEA) and adapting them for local data environments and policy audiences.
Build economic evidence for natural infrastructure that explicitly captures distributional and equity dimensions - quantifying who bears adaptation costs, who receives benefits, and how NbS investments can be designed to maximise outcomes for vulnerable communities including informal settlements, outdoor workers, and women.
Synthesise evidence from WRI India's on-ground pilots with India-specific data (national accounts, urban health and mortality data, NFHS, NSSO, urban local body expenditure data) and global NbS economic literature to produce robust, India-grounded valuations.
Produce high-quality research outputs - working papers, technical reports, policy briefs, and peer-reviewed publications, that position WRI India as a leading voice on the economics of urban natural infrastructure in India and the Global South.
Climate Finance, Investment Readiness & Policy Engagement
Work closely with the climate finance team to help build investment cases for natural infrastructure projects at city and state scale - developing bankable project structures, articulating financial returns and risk profiles, and translating economic evidence into formats accessible to development finance institutions (World Bank, ADB, NDB, GCF, AIIB), green bond issuers, and blended finance vehicles.
Analyse and engage with India's public finance architecture for urban resilience - including AMRUT 2.0, National Urban Livelihood Mission, NDMA climate risk funds, and city and state climate action budgets- identifying entry points where economic evidence can shift program design and resource allocation toward natural infrastructure.
Support the development of economic frameworks for WRI India's
Liaise with WRI’s Climate, Economics and Finance (CEF) Unit, Cities4Forests, and the RKE teams to connect WRI India's evidence base with global economic research, financial instrument development, and international advocacy on NbS finance.
Engage proactively with government counterparts in urban local bodies, state urban development departments, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, NDMA and NITI Aayog to ensure economic evidence is designed to inform real planning and budgetary decisions.
Contribute economic analysis and investment narratives to program fundraising - supporting grant proposals, concept notes, and donor pitches with evidence-based economic arguments and realistic mobilisation scenarios.
Pilot Learning, Monitoring & Adaptive Management
Work closely with implementation and field teams to design monitoring and evaluation frameworks for pilot NbS interventions - ensuring that economic and equity data are collected systematically and can feed directly into valuation models and replication cases.
Develop standardised economic data collection protocols for WRI India's urban pilots, enabling consistent benefit tracking across sites and over time.
Produce learning briefs and replication toolkits that distil economic evidence from pilots into practical guidance for cities, government agencies, and implementing partners seeking to scale NbS investment.
Contribute to Cities portfolio by identifying shifts in the evidence base that should inform program strategy.
Capacity Building, Partnerships & Thought Leadership
Build the economic analysis capacity of Cities program staff - providing mentoring, and peer review to ensure economic thinking is embedded across and not siloed in this role.
Develop and maintain partnerships with Indian academic institutions, think tanks and international research organisations to strengthen the evidence base and extend WRI India's reach in environmental economics.
Represent WRI India at national and international forums on urban resilience economics - contributing to conferences, working groups, and expert panels.
Engage with India's emerging ESG, sustainable finance, and green bond ecosystems, positioning WRI India's economic evidence as a resource for private sector actors seeking credible NbS investment frameworks.
What will you need:
Postgraduate degree in environmental economics, ecological economics, natural resource economics, development economics, or a closely related field. PhD preferred; Master's with substantial applied experience considered.
Minimum 10 years of progressive professional experience in environmental or climate economics, with significant applied work on natural infrastructure, ecosystem services, or urban resilience.
Demonstrated expertise in economic valuation methods - including cost-benefit analysis, ecosystem services valuation, benefit transfer, avoided cost modelling, participatory or community-led valuations and health economic analysis - with published or cited applied outputs.
Proven track record of producing economic evidence that has influenced policy decisions, investment structures, or program design in a government, DFI, research, or non-profit context
Familiarity with India's urban policy ecosystem - including national urban missions, state-level climate finance instruments, and urban local body budgeting, or, with a comparable emerging economy context and demonstrated ability to engage with Indian institutions.
Strong quantitative and modelling skills, including proficiency in economic modelling software and tools (R, Python, Stata, Excel-based models); experience with spatial economic analysis or GIS-integrated valuation is an advantage.
Experience with climate finance architecture - including GCF, ADB, World Bank, green bonds, or blended finance and ability to develop project documentation and investment cases to DFI standards.
Excellent writing skills with a portfolio of published research, policy reports, technical briefs, or practitioner-facing knowledge products.
Potential Salary and Benefits: INR 26,00,000 to IR 34,00,000
Salary shall be commensurate with experience, skills, and internal parity. WRI India offers a generous and comprehensive benefits package.
Location: Bangalore, Delhi or Mumbai
Duration: 1 Year Term Hire (Extendable based on performance and project requirements)
Start date: As soon as possible
List of Documents to be attached:
Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interview purpose.
How to Apply
Qualified applicants should apply online at www.wri.org/careers. All applications must be submitted online through this career portal in order to be formally considered. Only select applicants will be contacted for interview. There will be a writing test conducted with final candidates. Please do not contact program staff directly for this position.
Kindly note that WRI India’s recruitment process does not involve any payment at any stage. Applicants will never be asked to share bank account or financial information as part of the application. All official communication and offer letters are issued only through authorised WRI India email IDs.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) @WRI India
WRI India values and promotes diversity, equity and inclusion across all areas of our work and workforce. Integrating these values into our actions fosters a progressive and collaborative culture and can also enhance our impact. It is our responsibility to create a welcoming working environment for people of diverse cultures, backgrounds and experience to learn together. We are responsible for fostering a safe and inclusive workplace where questions, concerns and information about diversity, equity and inclusion are part of our ongoing dialogue and development.
Learn more about WRI India’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Click Here
People-centric to the core:
We keep our people at the center of everything we do - from a welcoming work environment to benefits and a culture that encourages staff to stay healthy, happy, engaged, and growing.
Some of the non-monetary benefits that our staff get:
Health benefits: We cover health insurance for you and your loved ones for up to INR 8 lakhs
Term Insurance: Our term insurance policy covers life coverage of 50 lakhs per staff member
Employee Assistance program: Promoting mental well-being and supporting staff in achieving a satisfying work-life balance
Health & Nutrition: Personalized diet recommendation from a certified dietitian based on the physical health condition and lifestyle
Flexible work schedule: Alternative work arrangements for all who are eligible by nature of their job
Learning culture: Workshops and trainings to empower staff, encourage new learning opportunities
Rest and Recharge weeks: We encourage staff to take time off to rest, rejuvenate, upskill, and pursue their interests.
Our leave policy: Avail personal time off at 36 per year, along with public holidays, maternity, paternity, and adoption leaves.
Click here to know more about our benefits Careers | WRI INDIA (wri-india.org)
Equal employment @WRI India
We believe in equal employment, it is our policy to recruit and provide opportunities for advancement in all job classifications without regard to caste, religion, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, parental status, or disability.
