Description
About 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 reduces all-cause child mortality by about 25%. Evidence Action delivers safe water in rural settings through its established Dispensers for Safe Water (DSW) and newly launched In-Line Chlorination (ILC) interventions. Over the past year, we’ve more than doubled our footprint in East Africa and are exploring expansion into new countries, as well as developing an innovation agenda through our Accelerator process to develop the next generation of safe water programs.
We are also launching an ambitious technical assistance program to help the government of India reach 17 million people with safe water, with plans to expand further. This program supports India’s commitment to expand access to safe water across rural India, a massive effort which has already led to over 140m households receiving household tap connections. .
About the Role
In this role, you will lead the Global Safe Water Now team, managing a team of 10-15 people, and reporting to our Executive Vice President of our Accelerator and Programs. You will spearhead efforts to grow our impact. Key levers include supporting the implementation of our large-scale implementation programs in Africa and India, especially In-Line Chlorination, our newer delivery model; developing an approach for and overseeing geographic expansion; and guiding our Safe Water strategy, including the incubation of new technologies and delivery models that can expand our scale and cost effectiveness. The Director will lead our fundraising efforts by identifying and cultivating relationships with target donors.
- Innovation and Optimization: Working with the Accelerator team, lead the identification, testing, and scaling of new approaches to cost-effectively expand access to safe water. We have dedicated resources for developing and testing new approaches, which may include innovation around new technologies, delivery models, or target populations to expand our portfolio of programs to deliver safe water to millions:
- Identify, test, and scale new safe water interventions that meet our rigorous criteria.
- Design new financing and delivery models to expand access to safe water cost effectively, potentially targeting new market segments .
- Oversee desk research and analysis, and early implementation activities, including surveys, a/b testing and pilots, to assess new implementation models.
- Take promising interventions to scale in new geographies or mainstream into our existing programs.
Fundraising and External Relationships: Working with the External Relations team, build a diversified donor revenue stream through cultivation of new donors and maintenance of existing donors to support the innovation and expansion of our programs:
- Research, identify and engage promising donors, both institutional and individual, whose funding priorities align with Safe Water Now’s program objectives.
- Develop relationships with WASH, climate, and government partners, including implementers, donors, bi/multilaterals, and researchers. Represent Evidence Action at conferences and lead our engagement in the global community.
- Inspire, engage with, and update existing donors, including regular calls and oversight of grant reports.
- Lead fundraising and proposal development, and develop compelling, external-facing program materials, in collaboration with the External Relations team.
- Program and People Management: Support our country and regional teams to implement our programs; including strategic support, joint problem solving and knowledge sharing across countries.
- Work with our Africa regional team to support program management and provide strategic guidance to optimize the existing program portfolio, including the ongoing scale up of In-Line Chlorination and a pilot to provide safe water in urban areas.
- Support our India partner to adapt our model and rapidly scale up, to reach 17 million people over five years, influence national approaches to safe water, and ultimately expand our work to additional states.
- Lead the expansion of safe water programs into new countries.
- Lead and support a team of 10-15, support individual growth and foster a high-performing culture.
Requirements
We are looking for a leader who brings experience managing and growing large, multi-country programs, leading large-dollar fundraising efforts, and driving an innovation agenda. This role requires close collaboration across leadership internally, as well as externally, with donors, governments and partner organizations. You excel at problem-solving, grasp evidence and cost-effectiveness analyses, and possess strong people management skills. We are open to candidates outside of a traditional WASH background.
- 15+ years of relevant experience with a Bachelor’s degree or higher.
- Experience managing large, multi-country programs in international development in relevant sectors (e.g. WASH, health, nutrition), ideally in a matrixed organization.
- Experience managing and expanding successful initiatives in an entrepreneurial environment.
- Strong capacity for fundraising, including cultivating new relationships and growing existing ones. Ideally, experience leading successful fundraising for large global development programs.
- An understanding of evidence and cost effectiveness, with the ability to analyze data to solve problems. You are comfortable using imperfect data to make thoughtful decisions.
- You are a people manager and culture builder.
- Alignment with core Evidence Action values.
Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. for role to be based in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of a U.S. employment visa at this time.
Evidence Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to diversity. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.
About Evidence Action
Evidence Action is a global nonprofit organization with an approach distinctive in international development – we exclusively scale interventions that are backed by strong evidence and can be delivered with exceptional cost-effectiveness. Our programs have grown since our founding in 2013 to reach over 515 million people globally with our interventions. We deliver high impact for every dollar spent, as recognized by GiveWell, The Life You Can Save, and Charity Navigator.
We do development differently. We take a data-driven approach to identifying, scaling, and continuously improving programs which deliver immense impact, ensuring these solutions measurably improve the lives of millions. Our Deworm the World Initiative has helped governments in Africa and Asia deliver over 1.8 billion childhood deworming treatments, improving health, education, and incomes. Dispensers for Safe Water provides sustained safe water access to over 10 million people in rural Africa, preventing childhood illness and deaths.
We drive innovation: Our Accelerator builds the next generation of exceptional programs, taking an approach most similar to a venture capital model. We are ruthless in exiting programs which do not meet our criteria; those that advance deliver outsized impact for millions of people.
We are global. Across nine countries in Africa and Asia, our 700+ people are united by a tremendous passion for our mission and impact. We are strong because of our diversity of experience, geography, and background – with over 90% of our people in the countries where our impact is focused.
We have big ambitions. Over the next decade, we’re setting our sights higher: We aim to reach over 600 million people globally to fulfill our vision of a world where hundreds of millions of people in the poorest places have better opportunities and their lives are measurably improved. We believe in bold and urgent action – because poverty doesn’t wait, and neither should we.
We need great people. Our success to date is due to the collective work of our amazing staff. To achieve our ambitious goals, we are looking for people who share our passion for evidence, cost-effectiveness, and scale. We seek individuals who take an entrepreneurial approach, enjoy tackling hard problems, and have a bias to action and results. If our vision and approach excite you as much as it does us, we invite you to join us.
Benefits
Evidence Action provides a comprehensive benefits package for employees worldwide. Benefits include:
- comprehensive health insurance,
- retirement savings options,
- life insurance,
- generous leave,
- avenues for engagement and recognition.
*Benefits may differ based on country-specific regulations
