Evidence Action ,Program Manager, Dispensers for Safe Water

Job
description

Evidence Action is
looking for a Program
Manager for Dispensers for Safe Water in Uganda. The position
is located in Kampala. We are seeking a motivated , passionate, and skilled
operational and people manager who will build a high-performing rural service
delivery program and strong team to eventually serve 9 million Ugandans w
ith
access to safe water.

About
Evidence Action

Evidence Action
scales proven interventions that improve the lives of millions. We implement
cost-effective interventions whose efficacy is backed by substantial rigorous
evidence. Evidence Action identifies innovative, appropriate financing
mechanisms and builds best practice operational models. We voraciously
self-evaluate, learn, and improve our models for scaling with a commitment to
transparency on progress, impact, and value for money.

Our current flagship
programs include:

Dispensers
for Safe Water is an entrepreneurial program
scaling the chlorine dispenser system – a proven innovation that
dramatically expands access to water treatment at an extremely low cost.
Deworm
the World Initiative actively supports the
scale-up of school-based deworming programs worldwide to improve
children’s health, education, and long-term development.

About the
Dispensers for Safe Water Program

Each year, over 1.8
million children under the age of five die from diarrhea, a leading cause of
which is unsafe drinking water. Dispensers for Safe Water (DSW) is an
entrepreneurial team tasked with scaling chlorine dispensers – a proven
innovation that dramatically expands access to water treatment at an extremely
low cost. The dispensers program is growing rapidly: we currently serve over 2
million in Kenya and Uganda. Our goal is to provide 25 million people in
multiple countries with on-going access to safe water to reduce the disease
burden by 2018.

About the
Position

We are looking for a motivated individual who is
passionate about using operational and people management experience to build a
high-performing rural service delivery program and strong team
to eventually serve 9 million Ugandans with access to safe water.

As the head of
Dispenser for Safe Water’s second largest country program, the Uganda Program
Manager is a key member of our leadership team. Dispensers for Safe Water
Uganda will continue to grow rapidly over the next years, breaking new ground
in scale and operations while serving as a model and resource for new country
programs. The new Program Manager will be a strong leader and manager who can
guide and build our team in Uganda, translatingDispensers for Safe Water’s
innovative financing (e.g. carbon crediting) and partnership opportunities into
a nationwide program with world-class operations.

Our mission in
Uganda is no less than to provide safe water to the millions of Ugandans who
cannot currently access it. Dispensers for Safe Water’s Uganda team has made
tremendous progress by piloting operational models, building partnerships, and
reaching over 200,000 people. The new Program Manager will build on the team’s
experience and innovation, leveraging technology and streamlined field
operations to reach 9 million people by 2018. Day to day, the Program Manager
will work with the Uganda field teams to build a platform for top-tier
implementation and roll-out thousands of chlorine dispensers across Uganda.

Goals and
Responsibilities

Build
a high-performing program serving millions of Ugandans
Translate
the goals of 3 million people served by end of 2015 and 9 million Ugandans
served by 2018 into a concrete strategic vision and plan;
Create
and strengthen program delivery systems to ensure high-quality implementation
and service delivery (e.g. a GPS-enabled circuit rider model for the
chlorine supply chain);
Responsibility
for Uganda P&L of USH 2.5 billion ($1M USD) annually (and growing),
and the oversight and leadership on financial and administrative functions
that entails;
Lead
performance management and professional development across the Uganda
program;
Lead
the Uganda team and oversee team growth and development essential for
successful nationwide chlorine dispenser service delivery
Develop
program operations strategy and lead activities between field operations,
research/evaluation, information systems and support functions;
Provide
supervision, guidance and support to the program management team,
developing team members into future leaders of our initiative;
Generate,
manage and share knowledge for continuous program improvement;
Forge
and strengthen partnerships with government and other organizations which
leverage Dispensers for Safe Water’s ability to deliver high-impact
programs;
Contribute
to setting program-wide research and development priorities.

Qualifications,
Experience and Skills

Track
record of inspiring and empowering teams with the right level of structure
and direction (at least 3 years of senior management experience);
Experience
leading scale-focused work with a major operations component – building
systems, bringing together organizational functions, and developing teams
with the ability to reach millions of people;
High
level of comfort with information technology and databases;
Experience
working in the water sector desirable;
Work
experience in managing a cross-cultural team, ideally in Uganda/East
Africa;
Demonstrated
knowledge of working on policy and partnerships desirable;
A
critical, analytical, and process-oriented thinker with a willingness to
form and adjust opinions based on evidence;
Inspired
by our mission of cost-effectively bringing safe water to millions of
Ugandans
Track
record of being a good steward of program funding and responsibly managing
resources; alignment with our philosophy of building cost-effective
program
A
strong commitment to evidence-based practice and policy in the development
field;
An
entrepreneurial spirit – the ability to lead in a fast-moving start-up
environment;
A
sense of humor
Willingness
to spend 50% of the time in the field in rural Uganda and Kenya