Position: Fellow, Colonias Water Project
Location: El Paso, TX (all candidates should be based in the United States)
Employment Type: Part-time, Temporary, Hourly, Nonexempt
Compensation: $21.50/hour
Level: Associate I
Reports To: Project Coordinator, CWP
Manages: None
Supported By: Colonias Water Project team, Operations team
Education/Experience Preferences: High School Diploma , or equivalent professional experience preferred
Employment Duration: 3 months, with the possibility to extend
Start Date: ASAP, open until filled
We Are DigDeep
The DigDeep Right to Water Project is a WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) organization committed to closing the water access gap for the 2 million + people in the U.S. who still don’t have a tap or a toilet at home.
DigDeep believes access to clean water is a human right. We run several nationally recognized programs that empower communities to build their own water and sanitation systems. We won the 2018 US Water Prize for our Navajo Water Project, which has brought clean, running water to hundreds of Native families across New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. DigDeep launched the Appalachia Water Project in 2020, in McDowell County, WV. It has since brought clean, sustainable running water to hundreds of families in Southern West Virginia through public – private partnerships with the McDowell County PSD and East Logan PSD in Wyoming County. In addition to clean running water, the project is installing septic systems and connecting households to centralized sewer. The AWP is now expanding into neighboring states of Kentucky and Virginia to continue its quest of clean water for every Appalachian family. Our water projects expanded in 2022 when we launched our Colonias Water Project. This project works to bring clean, running water to the residents living in communities along the Texas-Mexico border. The Texas colonias are largely unincorporated, low-income communities that fall just outside city limits and often lack basic infrastructure. Our work began in Cochran colonia near El Paso. DigDeep partnered with residents, housing nonprofits, and county officials to innovate a new model for public-private-partnership that brings these basic services to families for the first time. Now we’re getting the water flowing in 5 more communities.
The Opportunity
At DigDeep, our “interns” are called Fellows and are an integral part of our team! We are currently looking for a collaborative, organized, and detail-oriented person to join our growing Colonias Water Project (“CWP”) team as the Fellow, Colonias Water Project. Reporting to the Project Coordinator, the Fellow, Colonias Water Project will support DigDeep’s Colonias Water Project priorities. The work is organizational, administrative, relationship-building, and community-engagement heavy and it requires flexibility, forward-thinking, creativity, humility, patience, a love for engaging with people, and efficiency in coordinating logistics and schedules. A love of community engagement, public speaking, and synthesizing information, as well as relationship-building, administrative work is a must!
Key Responsibilities
This is what you’ll do once you join the DigDeep team:
- Support the CWP in leading and developing the Hueco Tanks program for its residents
- Assist in planning and facilitating four leadership community meetings
- Coordinate event logistics, outreach, and speaker engagement
- Track community participation and assist with reporting
- Accompany team members to various local communities in El Paso and the surrounding area acting as a representative for DigDeep in the community, in order to help foster and build trust with residents
- Attend necessary meetings and assist with program evaluation
- Assist with ad-hoc projects and support other tasks/duties as assigned
This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. As the organization continues to evolve, duties or tasks may change without impacting the overall job description.
DigDeep Competencies
- Analytical Thinking: Gathers and links information. Reviews incoming information for inconsistencies. Gathers information in response to routine problems. Determines relationship of information, identifying cause and effect. Breaks down tasks and problems into manageable components. With guidance, determines importance and priorities for action. Recognize when issues are non-routine and source solutions from management.
- Collaborative Working: Occasionally expresses an interest in others’ experiences, ideas, and roles. Participates willingly by supporting team decisions, assisting other team members, and doing his/her share of the work to meet goals and deadlines. Informs other team members about client-related decisions, group processes, individual actions, or influencing events. Sees peers as collaborators not competitors. Remains respectful in communications and approach where disagreement exists. Receptive of constructive criticism.
- Initiative: Does work as directed. Volunteers to undertake activities within capability. Asks questions and gathers information prior to taking on new tasks. Seeks help where challenged in trying something new.
- Innovation: Displays open mindedness and is willing to try new approaches. Adapts readily to changes and needs of their work. Is able to shift attention and priorities in their own work in response to needs of their work.
- Judgement & Decision-Making: Makes and implements relatively simple and “safe” decisions where necessary information is readily available and the reasoning leading to the decision is routine or straightforward. Tackles a problem by using a logical approach, involving supervisor support. Is able to analyze problems and propose solutions. Should be able to implement relatively simple solutions independently, and more complex solutions by asking relevant questions.
- Professional Communication: Strong written and verbal communications skills, with the ability to express oneself clearly and effectively in conversations and interactions with others (both internal and external). Speaks and writes in ways that support transactional activities. Presents oneself clearly and articulately when speaking with an individual or their team. Shares information and asks questions prior to taking action.
- Technical Expertise: Has demonstrated ability and depth of knowledge with the technology in the desired technical area. Effectively uses and applies technical knowledge, and uses knowledge to identify solutions to existing problems. Basic understanding of data security best practices.
Skills and Qualifications
We want to hear from you if you have:
- High School Diploma, or equivalent professional experience preferred
- Interest in nonprofit work, community engagement, or public service (previous volunteer or internship experience strongly preferred, but not required)
- Students majoring in Environmental Sciences, Political Science, Public Administration & Service, and Anthropology, are strongly encouraged to apply
- Proficiency in MS Office Suite, Google Workspace required
- Experience with Slack, Asana, Zoom, preferred
- High computer literacy, and tech savviness required
- Able to focus in the face of pressure, deliver against timelines and not be intimidated by tasks/time limitations
- Organized, trustworthy, dependable, and detail oriented
- Comfortable with autonomy, able to work independently and complete assigned tasks within established time frames required
- Fluency/strong proficiency in Spanish strongly preferred
- Understanding of data security best practices preferred
- Comfortable with, and excited about building relationships, answering questions, and interacting with our community partners and residents in person
- Reliable transportation required
- Understanding and appreciation of humanitarian principles
- Experience/Willingness to work across various cultural contexts and communicating across cultural differences
Compensation and Benefits
At DigDeep, we believe that great work requires a great job. We understand that people thrive with rest and holistic support, which is crucial for our long-term success. We take pride in offering top-notch benefits to our team across the United States, prioritizing their health and wellbeing, as well as providing additional support for our employees’ families. If you join us, here’s how we’ll support you in your work:
- Competitive hourly rate (DigDeep Fellows start at $21.50/hour)
- Supportive and engaging work environment
- Shadowing, mentoring, and training opportunities with experienced and accomplished professionals
- Work laptop
- Possibility to renew fellowship position upon successful completion of initial assignment
- Paid holidays according to organizational calendar
Hiring Process
For candidates who are selected to move forward, the interview process involves: one 30-minute phone screen; and one 1-hour, in-person panel interview. In effort to ensure the process is as equitable as possible, all candies are asked the same questions throughout each step of the process.
Interested?
When applying, please submit a thoughtful cover letter and resume. References should be available upon request. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. No office visits. No calls please. Thank you.
In an effort to promote pay equity and transparency, DigDeep does not negotiate compensation outside of posted compensation ranges. DigDeep’s compensation is based on a variety of factors including, but not limited to: internal budget analysis, external market value, internal pay alignment, and annual merit increases. A candidate’s compensation history will not be used in determining compensation at DigDeep.
Please note that DigDeep cannot provide immigration sponsorship for this position.
DigDeep is deeply committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We believe social change happens when people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and identities come together with a common purpose. DigDeep is built on the principles of equity, transparency and the power of human experience. Your work will improve the daily lives of real people. We believe everybody should have the clean, running water they need to thrive. Join us, and we’ll close the US water gap in our lifetimes.
DigDeep is a certified Great Place to Work®
