About the TNUSSP
The Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply, Government of Tamil Nadu Municipal (MAWS, GoTN) aims at scaling up access to safe and sustainable sanitation to all its urban areas in the next five years. Tamil Nadu will be poised to becoming a fully sanitised and healthy state, substantially eliminating open defecation, achieving improvements through the entire sanitation value chain, safely disposing an increasing proportion of its human excreta, and re-using/ recovering resources therefrom. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is supporting GoTN to achieve the Sanitation Mission of Tamil Nadu. This support shall enable the GoTN in investing resources towards innovative solutions to achieve mission goals.
A Technical Support Unit (TSU) has been set up to be the comprehensive technical arm for the MAWS-GoTN, and assists in implementation of state-level and city-level initiatives, based on agreed parameters. In addition, two sub-TSUs have been set up in two select urban locations.
IIHS is supporting the Government of Tamil Nadu, and is the lead agency for implementation of the Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Programme (TNUSSP).
Job Description
The Practice Team at IIHS is responsible for providing cutting-edge and integrated solutions to India’s urban development challenges by bringing together faculty and experts across diverse domains of knowledge and practice; exposing learners to real-life problems and integrating the practice into academics and research.
The Senior Specialist – Capacity Building and Programme Management is responsible for delivery of the proposed programme components related to Capacity Building, co-ordination of the programme’s projects and management of their inter-dependencies.
This is a full-time regular position. The position will be located out of Chennai, with travel as necessary to other locations in the State and India.
Activities and Tasks
Responsibilities would include, but not be limited, to the following:
- Supporting the scaling up of various on-going capacity building programmes under TNUSSP which are targeted at government officers, formal and informal private players, and academic institutions;
- Co-ordinating with thematic leads for content creation/ curation, and managing quality assurance of the content;
- Supporting the scaling of the above through conventional and innovative approaches/ models such as scaling through partnerships and digital-remote methods of delivery;
- Monitoring and reviewing progress in the implementation including design of evaluation frameworks and conducting evaluation;
- Institutionalising of above efforts at the ULB and state level;
- Engaging and working closely with selected local partners to ensure key outcomes such as training of trainers, monitoring frameworks and options for services sustenance through linking/ converging with other programmes, funding sources;
- Identification of needs for capacity-building actions through needs collection and analysis for the planned programmes;
In addition, the programme management activities in this role would include:
- Planning and coordinating programme activities and monitoring its progress, budget management, resolving issues and initiating appropriate corrective action;
- Effective co-ordination of the various sites and activities within the programme, teams, work plans and management of their inter-dependencies;
- Ensuring effective quality assurance of the programme outputs;
- Managing key stakeholder such as donors, government, partners, etc.;
- Reporting the progress of the programme at regular intervals with the internal and external stakeholder.
Structure and Reporting
The Senior Specialist – Capacity Building and Programme Management, TNUSSP will report to the Co-Team Leader, TNUSSP at IIHS and will be required to collaborate effectively with a diverse group of internal teams and external individuals/organisations, and students.
Person Specification
Applicants should have a degree in a relevant field such as urban policies, sociology, political science, etc. and preferably a post graduate degree in management with 15-20 years of relevant experience. The candidate should have a demonstrable track record of working in development programmes with involvement in the design/ delivery of capacity-building. Though sectors such as environmental services, sanitation would be preferable, candidates with significant experience in other sectors can also apply. Working experience with the government and development sector is desirable. S/he should also have experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams, interfacing with government and donor agencies, possess good communication, advocacy, people management and coordination skills, and be proficient in MS project management.
Reading and writing skills in both Tamil and English would be essential, and preference will be given to candidates with prior work experience with the government in South Indian states.
This offer is for a regular full-time position. The search will remain open until the position is filled.
This offer is on an exclusive basis, which implies that other professional assignments (whether compensated or not) that bear a potential conflict of interest with the IIHS cannot be undertaken.
Location
This position is based in Chennai, with frequent travelling to other locations within and outside Tamil Nadu.
Review and Assessment
The role and performance of the candidate shall be subject to normal review and assessment systems at IIHS.
Diversity Policy
The IIHS is an equal opportunity employer that encourages women, people with disabilities and those from economically and socially excluded communities with the requisite skills and qualifications to apply for positions.
Contact
Please write to us at [email protected] if you need any clarifications while filling the online application form.
