Job Opportunity for EAII Advisors Senior Associate Program Management Unit (PMU) at Evidence Action in New Delhi

Position Overview

Job Title: Senior Manager, Safe Water Operations

Employment Status: Full Time

Position Location: New Delhi

About EAII Advisors

EAII Advisors, Evidence Action’s technical partner in India, supports the implementation of the school and Anganwadi-based National Deworming Day program, as well as iron and folic acid supplementation programs, across 11 states by providing technical assistance to applicable state ministries of health, education, and women and child development. Moving forward, EAII Advisors aims to expand its impact by collaborating with more state governments on these existing programs, as well as supporting new public health, water, & nutrition programming.

EAII invites applications for the position of Senior Manager, Safe Water Operations in New Delhi.

About Evidence Action

Evidence Action aims to be a world leader in scaling evidence-based and cost-effective programs to reduce the burden of poverty for hundreds of millions of people in the poorest places. Last year Deworm the World reached 280 million people with deworming medications, partnering with governments to launch, scale, and sustain mass school-based deworming programs, including in India. Meanwhile, Dispensers for Safe Water provided 4M people across rural Africa with clean water, saving thousands of young lives. The approach relies on an innovative and human-centric design to deliver clean water at the source. These serve as just two examples of the work Evidence Action is undertaking.

In addition to running these scaled programs, Evidence Action leverages its unique Accelerator to develop the next generation of programs. These programs are rigorously tested to ensure exceptional scale, cost-effectiveness, and clear evidence of impact. In 2019 we launched an ambitious new strategy, intending to double our impact over the next five years, with much of that impact coming from new programs identified and scaled through the Accelerator.

Evidence Action has a presence across 9 countries, with major offices and/or technical partners in Nairobi, Kenya; Delhi, India; and Washington, D.C. Evidence Action’s programs have been recognized by GiveWell, the Skoll Foundation, the Life You Can Save, Giving What We Can, and covered in the Economist, NPR, and the New York Times.

About India Safe Water Now

Evidence Action’s Safe Water Now program provides safe drinking water to over 10 million people across rural Uganda, Malawi, and Kenya. Recent evidence highlights that water treatment may be among the most cost-effective interventions available to save young children’s lives, reducing all-cause child mortality by about 25%. The Dispensers for Safe Water (DSW) program, based on research by a Nobel-winning economist, utilizes an innovative and human-centric design to deliver clean water at the source in rural settings, achieving usage rates which are 5x that of comparable interventions. Evidence Action recently launched a next generation technology, In-Line Chlorination (ILC) in Uganda and Malawi, targeting rural, peri-urban, and urban communities, which has the potential to be even more cost-effective. Over the past year, we’ve more than doubled our footprint in East Africa and are actively exploring opportunities for expansion into new countries.

In addition to its longstanding work in East Africa, Evidence Action, through its technical partner in India, EAII Advisors, is launching a major technical assistance program to help the government of India reach 17.5 million people across multiple states with safe water. This complements the Indian government’s effort to bring water access to every household in the country.

About the Position

Evidence Action is looking for someone to join our India Safe Water Expansion team as Senior Manager Safe Water Operations (SMSWO). Reporting to the Program Director, Safe Water, the SMSWO will be responsible for overseeing the overall operations and implementation of the program at the national level. S/he will work closely with the program team, partners, and stakeholders to ensure the smooth and effective operation of the program.

Evidence Action is looking for a diversified program manager who can operate and coordinate at scale and in time sensitive environments.

The Senior Manager Safe Water Operations will be required to travel to state-based programs for about 40% of the time. Travel is primarily during business days, while occasional weekend engagements may be expected.

Responsibilities

Program Implementation and Management

• Lead statewide deployment and scale-up of water treatment devices across all intervention states, ensuring smooth functioning of day-to-day program operations.
• Oversee state program teams, directly supervising State Program Managers to ensure timely and effective execution.
• Coordinate with our program strategy team to effectively transition planning and tasks from the strategy portfolio to the operations portfolio.
• Collaborate with Program Director, Deputy Program Director and teams to develop strategic plans, goals, and objectives for the SW program. Ensure that the program is aligned with the organization’s mission and vision.
• Oversee procurement, supply chain management, installation and maintenance of water treatment devices across the select program states.
• Lead in developing and managing program work-plans and timelines with team/individual responsibilities assigned to ensure timely and high-quality deliverables for internal and external purposes.
• Lead the development of guidelines, trackers and tools to be used by state teams for program implementation and monitoring.
• Ensure that the Program Director and other internal stakeholders are kept up to date on progress against the program work plan and timelines.
• Support the development and review of program activities and reports with state offices on a monthly/quarterly basis and identify and correct performance issues
• Work closely with the finance team to develop program budgets and monitor expenses. Ensure that program activities are financially viable and cost-effective.
• Carry out field visits to state offices to provide program and technical support as needed.

Program Design & Development

• Conduct scoping exercises to identify and assess areas of expansion, evaluate various program benefits and risks associated with providing technical assistance to state governments on safe water, and develop mitigation strategies to overcome any such risks.
• Coordinate with state-based teams and work with stakeholders (including departments of water, Jal Jeevan Mission) to ensure that the design and implementation of Evidence Action programs follow standard protocols and are aligned with Government efforts to improve program quality and effectiveness.
• Support the design of M&E processes and developing data collection tools, in support of and coordination with the MLE team.
• Identify Human Resource needs at national and state level and work with the HR team for recruitments as necessary.
• Provide inputs/support other teams in the design and development of program communication and training materials for uses as per the guidelines issued by the government.

Stakeholder engagement and partnership building

• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships and networks with multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder platforms to engage a diverse set of actors (e.g. social activists, NGOs. technical agencies, and media, academia, and civil society, members of the medical community, Social Service Organizations) and identify opportunities for strategic engagement to advance Evidence Action’s priorities in India
• Attend meetings with governments, other technical agencies and partners related to promoting –
• Evidence Action programs’ integration and expansion, as well as disseminating results and lessons learned.
• Report to and support the Program Director on stakeholder alignment, replication, mainstreaming and scaling up of best practices and evidence.
• Engage with national Jal Jeevan Mission representatives, state Jal Jeevan Mission representatives, state departments of water, NGO partners, suppliers, manufacturers, and others;

Requirements

• Post graduate degree in development, social sciences, public health or related disciplines.
• Minimum 8+ years of experience working with national / international organizations, particularly on program delivery.
• Demonstrated successful experience in leading, building and managing high performing teams through a culture transformation towards empowerment, transparency and accountability.
• Strong knowledge of public sector (preferably Water) systems, structures and programs.
• Experience successfully implementing and rapidly scaling large-scale programs.
• Experience overseeing complex program operations.
• Highly motivated to achieve exceptional quality of results, and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Strong analytical, communication, presentation and documentation skills in English are essential for reports and brief writing.
• Ability to synthesize information clearly and produce good quality documents keeping to tight deadlines.
• Exceptional ability to work with minimal supervision, while also proactively and regularly communicating upward relevant progress updates and bottlenecks requiring attention or support from leadership.
• Willing to travel at least 40% of the time.
• Experience of technical and advisory services to Governments or working with Governments on development sector (preferably Water/WASH sector) at any level will be a bonus.
• Action-oriented, flexible approach and entrepreneurial problem-solving, with an ability to manage multiple competing deadlines.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels of the organization.
• Strong interest in the development sector and desire to be a part of a young and diverse team.

Disclaimer: The duties and responsibilities described are not a comprehensive list and that additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time.

Benefits

Compensation: Competitive and commensurate with the individual’s credentials, experience, and previous pay scale.