Job Opportunity for State Program Manager at Evidence Action in Ranchi

Evidence Action- India Program

Position Overview

Job Title: State Program Manager, Jharkhand

Employment Status: Regular Full Time

Position Location: Ranchi, Jharkhand

Grade: Level 5

Number of positions: 1

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 & nutrition issues too.

The India program invites applications for the position of State Program Manager, Jharkhand to be based at the Ranchi office.

About the position:

The State Program Manager (SPM) will report to the National Program Manager at the Delhi Office for overall program related details, especially on policy advocacy and partnership management. S/he will be required to work in close coordination with other departments and team members at the Delhi Office for appropriate functions. The SPM will oversee and be responsible for the Technical Assistance (TA) towards the implementation of the Anganwadi and school based NDD and IFA supplementation programs in the state of Jharkhand.

The SPM is responsible for managing all aspects of the TA plans, including strategic planning, policy advocacy, development of operations plan, program management, supply chain strengthening, capacity building, community mobilization, and monitoring and evaluation. The SPM is the program lead to facilitate communication about progress and results at the state office. As for all staff, s/he must possess a sense of collaboration and mutual understanding and a willingness to assist colleagues.

The SPM will manage the state level programs related to government and stakeholder relationships, program management, program design and development, budgeting, program and financial review and evaluation activities. S/he should have the skills to supervise and guide state-based program staff as assigned.

Requirements

Program Management and Technical Assistance

• Lead the development of annual workplans and budgets for submission to Delhi Office.
• Share program reports and updates with Delhi Office on a frequent basis to monitor progress, identify and correct performance problems and recommend solutions.
• Manage the state budget in line with the organization’s standing financial policies. Share monthly financial reports to monitor expenditure against budgets.
• Oversee the management of contracts and budgets as per organization policy, with ultimate responsibility for ensuring programs are implemented within approved budgets and in accordance with organization’s compliance standards.
• Lead training and other capacity building initiatives along with the state team for implementation of programs with utmost quality. Build the capacity of state team staff.
• Supervise team members including full-time and short-term consultants, provide them technical and program guidance, and monitor performance and report to the Delhi Office. For regional coordinators, ensure timely and appropriate support is provided to districts. Review and approve travel plan, fees and claims and ensure timely submission of accurate documents.
• Analyse and assess project performance, capacity and demand data to inform changes to project plans and share information with Delhi Office on a regular basis.
• Assess, evaluate and document processes and the impact of the technical assistance programs.

Advocacy and Partnership Management

• Lead efforts to maintain a high level of support to Department of Health and other stakeholders as identified for effective implementation of the state-wide school and anganwadi based NDD and IFA supplementation programs.
• Lead advocacy efforts in Jharkhand, ensuring that the policy and advocacy priorities are aligned to make deworming and IFA sustainable interventions in the long term.
• Engage with development partners and identify areas for collaboration to strengthen the deworming and IFA programs.
• In coordination with the Delhi Office, identify, engage and advocate with government stakeholders at the state and district level for effective and sustained integration of interventions in annual work plans and Program Implementation Plans (PIPs).
• Contribute to the development of policy briefs, other advocacy / communication materials, including specific inputs into advocacy and communications strategy and campaigns.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify activities for improved planning, implementation and monitoring of activities under the NDD and IFA programs.

Strategic Planning

• Lead the design of NDD and IFA program components to increase deworming and IFA coverage in the state of Jharkhand.
• Help identify and address bottlenecks and gaps to ensure higher coverage and increased cost-effective across both the NDD and IFA programs.
• Lead the design and development of a sustainability plan for deworming efforts in the state, including an exit strategy for technical assistance for stakeholder requirements.
• Lead planning for and organize a broad range of advocacy efforts, such as dissemination meetings for sharing best practices, innovations and coverage results.
• Work with the state team and Delhi Office to build robust systems for field operations, especially related to training, community mobilization and independent monitoring.

Essential Qualifications, Experience, And Competencies

Essential:

• A Graduate with degree in medicine, business, social sciences, public health, health management or related disciplines;
• Work experience of minimum 8 years in managing program-related activities;
• Strong technical skills and capacity, with at least 5 years of practical experience managing health and/or nutrition initiatives;
• Experienced in data review and analysis as a rigorous practice;
• A critical, analytical, and process-oriented thinker with a willingness to form and adjust opinions based on evidence;
• Strong leadership skills to lead the state team and manage day-to-day administrative and human resource issues.
• Ability to manage tasks, teams, people and financial resources in a way that budgets, schedules, delivery requirements, and staff resources are used efficiently and per work plans.
• Proven ability to lead by example, whereby one is receptive to input from others and will respect, empower and energize teams.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels of the organization;
• Ability to work under pressure and adhere to deadlines and timely responds to requests;
• Experience with creating budgets, keeping program expenditures in line with approved budgets and strategic focus, following financial policies and procedures.
• 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 at least 30% of the time.

Desirable:

• Action-oriented, flexible approach and entrepreneurial problem-solving, with an ability to manage multiple competing deadlines;
• Self-motivated to actively ensure that evidence/data-based approach is deeply embedded into all programs;
• Prior experience in managing and implementing projects in Jharkhand;
• 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.