Job Opportunity for Project Lead – Water at Evidence Action in New Delhi

Job Title: Project Lead, India Safe Water Pilot Project, Delhi Office, EAII Advisors Private Limited

Employment Status: Fixed Term Employment

Term: 1 year

Position Location: New Delhi

Number of Position: One

Level: 5

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 7 countries, with major offices 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.

In India, Evidence Action’s technical partner EAII Advisors provides technical assistance to select state government’s ministries of health, education, and women and child development to implement the school and Anganwadi based National Deworming Day program and Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation program to improve children’s health, education, and long-term development. In the long term EAII Advisors aims to expand to provide technical support to more state governments and on other public health, water, & nutrition issues too.

The India program invites applications for the position of National Program Manager to be based at the Delhi office of EAII Advisors.

About The Position

The Project Lead for India Safe Water Pilot – project will be inspired by the mission of measurably improving the lifelong prospects of hundreds of millions of people across India through proven and scaled interventions. S/he will coordinate with Evidence Action’s global teams, EAII Advisors personnel in Delhi and across the country, state and national-level government officials. Evidence Action and EA Advisors Private Limited are partnering with Jal Jeevan Mission to pilot the feasibility of water treatment devices across three Indian states.

The Project Lead will be a strong problem-solver and people manager overseeing all aspects of an India safe water pilot. S/he will be adept at stakeholder management, including existing partnerships with the national government, state governments, Evidence Action global team members, and the EAII Private Limited team. The Project Lead must be capable of thinking strategically, looking “up and out” to effectively plan ahead and coordinate with necessary entities. S/he will be an exceptional people leader, empowering pilot staff to take ownership of their respective states, pilot locations, and selected technologies. With guidance from the Evidence Action Global team and support from the EAII Private Limited Team, s/he will also oversee the testing of Jal Jeevan Mission approved water treatment technologies in both single village schemes and multi-village schemes.

The Project Lead must be proficient at handling state-based programs, liaising with government stakeholders and NGOs, managing contracts and working with suppliers, implementing an information management firm, and conducting review and evaluation.

The Project Lead will also support the global team to facilitate transparent communication about progress and results to the government, NGO partners, and other stakeholders.

The incumbent will be required to travel to state-based pilot sites for up to 50% of time. Travel is primarily during business days, while occasional weekend engagements may be expected.

Responsibilities:

Pilot Implementation

• Manage a pilot team of 10 individuals across Delhi, three states, and eighteen locations
• Lead and operate across all phases of the pilot from pilot establishment to implementation to scale down and transition
• Ability to establish and implement team training curriculum to bring newly established team quickly up to the pilot
• Represent Evidence Action and EAII Advisors Private Limited in engagements with national Jal Jeevan Mission representatives, state Jal Jeevan Mission representatives, state departments of water, NGO partners, suppliers, manufacturers, and others
• Oversee budget implementation and keep global team representatives updated of budget spend vs. budget planned
• Hold suppliers and contractors accountable for work, agreements, and warranties under contract
• Manage the data collection and information management firm(s) to capture baseline, pilot conduct, and post-pilot information
• Oversee assessment of each device’s installation process, operational feasibility, and device efficacy of water treatment technologies
• Lead weekly calls with global team leadership providing status updates and appropriately forecast where challenges may arise
• Maintain a learning perspective and throughout the process capture and document in written form lessons learned, challenges, and recommendations on devices, pilot design, and pilot implementation
• Help inform a final recommendation and report to state level governments and Jal Jeevan Mission on the performance and efficacy of the water treatment technologies in their designated intervention points

Program Management & Leadership

• Continually assess where challenges may arise in pilot development, implementation, and scale down. Place self and leadership team at greatest points of friction to mitigate those challenges
• Establish and implement timelines for each state
• Willingness to operate in constrained timeline
• Support leadership team visits to Delhi and pilot sites
• Manage human resources requirements throughout the pilot team

Requirements

Essential Qualifications, Experience, and Competencies

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field with at least 10 years of professional experience of progressively increasing responsibility;
• Demonstrated experience in day-to-day management of project activities, preferably in the context of scaling water interventions in India;
• Demonstrated experience leading pilots and program or product testing;
• Demonstrated experience working with the government in India;
• Demonstrated experience managing teams across multiple states;
• Ability and willingness to operate in time constrained and uncertain environments;
• Excellent spoken and written English. Ability to synthesize information clearly and produce good quality written documents keeping to tight deadlines;
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to engage with internal and external stakeholders within India and globally;
• Exceptional ability to work with minimal supervision, while also proactively communicating relevant progress updates and bottlenecks requiring attention or support from leadership;
• Availability and willingness to travel within India up to 50% time.

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.