Arghyam invites applications for Director - Urban Programme

About Arghyam

Arghyam is an Indian public charitable foundation set up in 2001 with a personal endowment from Rohini Nilekani with a vision of 'Safe, sustainable water for all'. Arghyam's focus is exclusively on addressing the single biggest challenge India is facing today, which is of ensuring availability of clean water for drinking and sanitation  purposes to every  citizen. Through its grants and partnerships with national, state and local governments, civil society organisations and networks and academic institutions in over 20 states in India, Arghyam has built an international reputation as an organisation noted for its innovation and values. We are a small, diverse team comprising individuals who have come together sharing the same dream and passion for making a difference to the people of India. The core members have had decades of experience in running projects in the not-for-profit, corporate and Government settings. 

About the Position:

Arghyam is looking to hire Director- Urban Programme a leader with the insight, ability and commitment to lead a large programme in the Urban water and sanitation management space. This is intended to help Arghyam build strong differentiated programmes in this space through the impact it makes in the areas of service delivery in difficult terrains, governance, technical innovations in research, networking, advocacy and citizen awareness building. The Director - Urban Programme will report to the Chief Executive Officer.

Main Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Responsible for conceptualizing, planning, developing, implementing and reviewing the strategic and operational plan and policies for programs under urban water and sanitation space.
• Understand the domain issues that arise, in order to make the right decisions and investments. Monitor trends, legislation and regulation that are relevant to the programme’s mission and make the appropriate programme and advocacy recommendation to the board.
• Develop full scale project plans and associated communication documents. Forecast and prepare annual budget and action plans.
• Support the entire process of conceptualizing, design, coordinate and the implementation of a social development plan in association with various partners. This would include gathering requirements, prioritization, design, managing schedules, tracking progress, resolving bottlenecks etc.
• Effectively communicate project expectations to team members and stakeholders in a timely and clear fashion.
• Develop, direct and implement public relations and communication strategies to support programme goals and increase community awareness of the programme.
• Take the responsibility for the social mobilization component of urban water management. 
• Build a strong relationship with government bodies at the at all levels to be able to influence them to implement recommended policy interventions.
• Co-ordinate and liaise with NGOs, larger resource group, other partners, including the documentation team. 
• Should aim to improve accountability, citizen field participation
• Motivate and inspire the team involved in planning and implementation of programmes to work at their highest potential. Attract high quality professionals with strong domain expertise to the team. 
• Expand and manage relationship with the advisory board to leverage their skills most effectively.

Requirements:

Qualifications, Experience and professional attributes: 

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree from a reputed educational institution with 10+ years of experience preferably in social development sector.
• Experience of at least 10 years with at least 3-4 years in a senior decision making role is a requirement. Working on social development issues in urban and rural areas in an NGO or institutional setup with a proven track record of core involvement in large projects will be desirable.
• Should be strong in the fundamentals of social development, issues of inequity, gender, vulnerable communities. Good domain knowledge and understanding in urban water and sanitation sector.
• Should have a thorough understanding of the current governance, policy and legal context which impact the issues and the solutions being planned.
• Skills in taking different stakeholders into confidence and build consensus on various issues through effective communication. 
• Ability to get multiple groups and partners to work towards a common goal.
• Flexibility in thinking with an openness to new ideas , technology and different approaches to development, based on an understanding of social and political change, processes, impulses and systems in governance.
• Excellent analytical, written and oral communication skills required in English.
• Willingness to undertake extensive travel.
• Demonstrated ability to work with people at all levels, urban and rural in a non-patronizing manner.

Personal Attributes: 

• Interested in and has an understanding of the development sector and commitment to social justice based on reflection, analysis and the role of civil society.
• Strong in fundamentals of social development, issues of inequity, gender, vulnerable communities and good domain knowledge and understanding in water and sanitation sector.
• Ability to understand community dynamics and to identify vulnerable groups.
• Passion for working in the social sector driven by a need to give back to the society in a tangible manner.

Compensation:

Competitive and commensurate with experience and abilities.

Location:

To apply for this post, please e-mail your updated resume to: jobs@arghyam.org with mandatory subject line “APPLICATION FOR THE POST OF DIRECTOR – URBAN PROGRAMME”