Communications & Capacity Building Officer – WASH via DevNetJobsIndia

AGA KHAN FOUNDATION (INDIA)

POSITION DESCRIPTION

ABOUT THE AGA KHAN FOUNDATION (INDIA)

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) brings together human, financial and technical resources to address some of the challenges faced by the poorest and most marginalized communities in the world. Special emphasis is placed on investing in human potential, expanding opportunity and improving the overall quality of life, especially for women and girls. The Foundation primarily works across seven thematic areas – agriculture and food security, climate resilience, education, early childhood development, work and enterprise, health, nutrition and WASH, and the strengthening of community institutions to lead development interventions. AKF is a member of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of 11 development agencies addressing the needs of poor and marginalized communities in more than thirty countries where it operates.

AKF started its operations in India in 1978, and today implements programs in both rural and urban areas across six states (Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Delhi).

PROGRAMME DETAILS

Recognized by the Ministry of Jal Shakti as a Key Sector Partner, AKF has been supporting the government with the implementation of the flagship drinking water scheme of Jal Jeevan mission since 2021. Most recently, with the formation of the Rural WASH Partners’ Forum (RWFP) – a platform through which development partners and CSOs lend their technical expertise to the Ministry on JJM and SBM phase II, AKF has been given the responsibilities to contribute as the Thematic Lead for Source Sustainability and has also been selected as a Lead Partner for accomplishing the JJM &SBM objectives in the 3 states of Bihar, UP and Telangana.

Responding to the above call of the national government, AKF is proposing to support JJM and SBM-II in the 3 selected states of Bihar, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh to help strengthen implementation mechanisms at the state and district levels. Towards this goal, AKF will lend technical support at state and district levels, while also strengthening community level processes around O&M, water quality, source sustainability measures, SLWM and toilet retrofitting.

Position

Summary

AKF seeks to recruit an enterprising, and enthusiastic Communication & Capacity Building Officer – WASH in Lucknow, Patna and Telangana who will lend overall strategic and technical support for implementation and coordination of the proposed WASH Initiative. The position will closely liaise with the government departments of JJM and SBM-II and other sector partners to ensuring the delivery of high-quality project outcomes. The position will extend the required support in the respective states and work closely with the AKF National Programme Team in Delhi and State programme teams in UP, Bihar and Telangana.

Functional Responsibilities

Under the supervision of SPMs and the Senior Manager – WASH, and in close coordination with the Delhi WASH Team, the Communications & Capacity Building Officerwill undertake the following specific tasks:

• Government Liaising & Institutional linkages, Networking and capacity building
• Coordination with State Water and Sanitation Mission and PR&RD Departments for facilitating necessary input, and support in effective implementation and sustainable operation and maintenance of JJM and sanitation infrastructure established under SBM-II
• Providing technical input and capacity building support to Implementation Support Agencies (ISAs) on policy measures, planning and implementation and management priorities for JJM
• Coordinate and support capacity development processes, support in designing capacity development plan for Implementation support agencies empanelled under JJM
• Extend support towards services improvement plan with special focus on equity and climate-resilient components.
• Regularly participate in state and district level government meetings / workshops to share information and learnings from the given programme and AKF’s WASH interventions
• Support in designing and organising technical workshops, round tables, stakeholder consultations at state level.
• Support in conducting state level ground water working group meetings to ensure source sustainability under Jal Jeevan Mission.
• Technical input for development of AIPs and policy advocacy briefs in the states and supporting SWSM in conducting technical review, and quality assurance of project deliverables,
• Coordinate regularly with bi-lateral partners and other important stakeholders for prioritizing source sustainability measures under JJM and promotion of SLWM under SBM-II
• Networking with project partners and key stakeholders at state level to replicate project’s learning in additional districts.
• Support knowledge management and communication activities to highlight RWPF contribution to both JJM and SBM-II
• Support the planning, organization, and execution of thematic campaigns (offline and online)
• Generate story ideas/content pieces and coordinate the documentation of best practices with communication leads at state and ministry level.
• In close coordination with AKF Delhi Team, write background documents, briefs, and presentations, landscape analyses, and data analysis on WASH, as and when needed
• Strengthen AKF’s role as the Lead Partner for JJM &SBM-II, Strengthen coordination with WASH partners, academic/research institutions, implementation support agencies in the state, aiming to enable knowledge exchange on good practices on SLWM, rural water supply schemes and source sustainability.
• Closely work with SWSM to promote a community-centric and equitable approach under JJM, commencing with community mobilization, empowerment of village institutions for participatory planning, implementation, operation, and maintenance of water supply systems
• Support the development of regular progress reports and programme briefs as required
• Undertake regular field visits in the programme area and ensure systems for regular monitoring that help achieve key deliverables for SBM-II and JJM
• Promote and implement technology-based monitoring system to ensure functionality of rural water supply schemes
• Carry out any other additional duties and responsibilities as may be assigned by the organization from time to time.

QUALIFICATIONSANDSKILLSREQUIRED

• Post-graduate in Social Sciences, Environment Studies,Rural Management,Rural Development,or related fields
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in the field of rural development, development communication. Preference will begiven to candidates having experience of managing water sanitation and hygiene programmes.Experience of working on rural water supply schemes and infrastructure development will be an added advantage
• Ability to establish strong linkages and liaison with government and other stakeholders
• Strong programme management skills includingteammanagement, coordination, reporting, documentation, M&E, communications, budgeting,and financial management
• Excellent command of English and Hindi as well as Telegu (for Telengana) languages is essential.
• Solution-oriented,creative problem-solver,who can be versatile and willing to work around obstacles.
• Work experience with the Government at State and national level is highly preferred
• Excellent inter-personal, communication, networking and negotiating skills.
• Excellent computer skills in MS Office especially in MS-Word and Power Point along with database management

To apply

Please submit your updated CV, accompanied by a cover letter stating the reasons for your interest in the position to AKF(India)on the link below by 15^th March 2023

https://forms.gle/MTFnPHwcDnQpT87P9

The Aga Khan Development Network is an international group of private, non-denominational development agencies and institutions that seek to empower communities and individuals, often in disadvantaged circumstances, to improve living conditions and opportunities. Visit us at www.akdn.org

The Aga Khan Foundation is committed to the principles of equal opportunity and will strive to ensure that all job applicants, staff and volunteers, do not suffer negative discrimination on the basis of their religion, race, caste, color, nationality, social class, sex, place of birth, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, HIV status, age etc. or any combination of these.