Job Opportunity for EAII State Safe Water Lead at Evidence Action in Bhopal

 Position Overview 

Job Title: State Safe Water Lead

Employment Status: Full Time

Position Locations: Madhya Pradesh

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 State Safe Water Lead in Madhya Pradesh.

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:

The State Safe Water Lead (SSWL) will be responsible for overseeing and implementing the Safe Water program within the state as the most senior EAII Advisors staff member in the state for safe water program. Reporting to the Director Programs, the SSWL[2] will be required to work in close coordination with other EAII Private Limited Departments and team members at the Delhi Office or state offices for appropriate functions. S/he will ensure the provision of safe and chlorinated water to the communities, while also addressing issues related to water quality, availability, and accessibility. The SSWL will collaborate with various stakeholders, including government agencies, NGOs, community organizations, and relevant experts, to develop and execute comprehensive strategies to promote safe water practices and improve the overall water infrastructure within the state. S/he will be responsible for management of all aspects of the water program in their respective state including installation and maintenance of devices, data collection, analysis, coordination with external partners like governments contractor management, supplier management, device operation, community engagement, Safe Water project implementation, and Safe Water project scale up. S/he will manage a state team of several dozen to over a hundred direct reports, depending on the stage of the program.

Roles & Responsibilities of the position

Safe Water project Implementation

●        Lead and operate across all phases of the Safe Water project from Safe Water project establishment to implementation to scale up.

●        Oversee installation, operation, and maintenance of water treatment devices in the states

●        Represent Evidence Action and EAII Advisors Private Limited in engagements with Jal Jeevan Mission state representatives, state departments of water, NGO partners, suppliers, manufacturers, communities and others

●        Lead water treatment training and sensitizations for state governments, area governments, facility managers, water service committees, and communities

●        Hold suppliers and contractors accountable for work, agreements, and warranties under contract

●        Manage and facilitate the data collection and information management firm(s) in his/her state to capture baseline, Safe Water project conduct, and post-Safe Water project information

●        Oversee assessment of each device’s installation process, operational feasibility, and device efficacy of water treatment technologies in your state

●        Keep Safe Water project leadership team informed of progress, challenges, and forecasting for locations within your state

●        Iterate and improve program design by capturing and documenting lessons learned, challenges, and recommendations on devices, Safe Water project design, and Safe Water project implementation

●        Maintain consistent communication and collaboration with other state teams and national team to ensure learnings are shared effectively

●        Form a final recommendation and report to your state level government and Jal Jeevan Mission on the performance and efficacy of the water treatment technologies in their designated intervention points

Program Management & Leadership

●        Lead state team members distributed across locations throughout the state. Effectively employ his/her regional coordinators on location and action

●        Continually assess where challenges may arise in Safe Water project development, implementation, and scale up. Place self and regional coordinators at greatest points of friction to mitigate those challenges

●        Manage human resources requirements throughout the Safe Water project team

Requirements

Essential Qualifications, Experience, and Competencies

Essential

●        A Graduate with degree in business, water, social sciences, public health, health management or related disciplines;

●        Work experience of minimum 10+ years in managing program-related activities;

●        Strong technical skills and capacity, with at least 4 years of practical experience managing water and/or health initiatives; Demonstrated experience working with contractors and suppliers;

●        Strong leadership skills to lead the state team and manage day-to-day administrative and human resource issues.

●        Experienced in data review and analysis as a rigorous practice;

●        Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels of the organization;

●        Ability to effectively report performance, challenges, and progress to the Safe Water project leadership team

●        Ability and willingness to operate in time constrained and uncertain environments;

●        Ability to work under pressure and adhere to deadlines and timely responds to requests;

●        An experienced tech savvy professional with exposure of working on varied tech platforms including Microsoft Office/Google, cloud-based applications, virtual platforms etc;    

●        Willing to travel up to 30% of the time.

Desirable

●        Prior experience in managing and implementing projects in the state,

●        Demonstrated experience supporting development or public health or WASH/water projects;

●        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.

All contracting arrangements will be made through EAII Advisors Private Limited. EAII is an equal opportunity employer. Employment at EAII is based solely on an individual’s merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. EAII does not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, caste, creed, colour, religion, gender, origin, disability, marital status, or any other basis protected by law.

All candidates applying for the position should upload a resume along with cover letter mentioning current and expected salary.

We may end this search process earlier than the specified close date in case of exceptional candidates. Due to resource constraints, we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.