Local recruitment: US WASH Program Manager

Full TimeDenver, Greenwood Village, CO, US

2 days agoRequisition ID: 1196Apply

Salary Range: $62,000.00 To 87,800.00 Annually

Water For People is a global nonprofit working across nine countries, bringing together communities, local entrepreneurs, and governments to build and maintain water and sanitation services that will last. We have a sustainable solution to end the global water and sanitation crisis, and our employees across the world help drive this solution. 

POSITION OBJECTIVE:  

Reporting directly to the Chief Impact Officer (CIO), the US Program Manager will lead Water For People’s efforts to help end the US water crisis, including through external representation and thought leadership in partnerships, events, and policy action focused on ending the US water crisis.  The US Program Manager will lead further exploration of the five potential avenues for Water For People to create impact in the US:

1 – Lending Our Voice: potential actions include highlighting the US gap on our website with a statement of our position, spotlighting organizations, people, and/or legislation focusing on it, etc.

2 – Advocacy, Learning, Convening:  we co-convened (with DigDeep) a US WASH Sector event in October 2022.  We intend also to support broader convenings in the coming years.  We will provide support to marginalized communities to advocate for themselves, and advocate for collective impact through a US WASH sector. We will also endorse and promote legislation designed to close the US gap.

3 – Technical Assistance to US-focused organizations:  leveraging our global expertise, we may provide technical assistance to organizations working to close the US gap, focused primarily on aspects of system strengthening (building blocks analysis, full life-cycle costing, market systems development, sustainable source management, conceptual models for exit, organizing associations of service providers/operators, creating service authorities, sustainable services frameworks).

4 – Formal Partnership with US-focused organization: as our Destination 2030 Alliance grows, we may consider adding a US-focused organization. This would allow us to engage more significantly in US work, and also track and report progress in the US as progress of the D30 Alliance.

5 – Direct Implementation:  this option would represent the most significant commitment by Water For People, as it would result in establishing a team, operations, and essentially a new country program in one or more of the “hot spots”.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS & DUTIES

Strategy Development and Implementation

• Further explore the five potential avenues for Water For People to create impact in the US (mentioned in the previous section above).
• Provide thought leadership to develop Water For People’s US WASH strategy.
• Develop at least one of the five potential avenues for Water For People impact in the US.
• Collaborate with the CIO to ensure the US strategy is understood, communicated, and implemented effectively.
• Work closely with the CIO to keep the Global Leadership Team and the Board informed of progress, opportunities, and challenges related to our impact in the US.
• Coordinate with Water For People Canada on efforts designed to address the Canada water crisis

Influence and Partnerships 

• Lead Water For People’s efforts to strengthen the WASH sector, oriented towards collective impact, a common influence agenda, and learning.
• Serve as thought partner on Water For People’s growth, relationship-building with national and local allies, and development of messaging frameworks to effectively outline and communicate the goals of a US WASH sector and Water For People’s role in it.
• Develop recommendations for strategic partnerships and collaborations in the US for Water For People to gain national influence for impact.
• Represent Water For People at key events, conferences, and in broader coalitions and facilitate introductions and partnerships for greater impact.
• Collaborate with the Donor Impact Team to identify funders for US WASH work, and develop fundraising initiatives as requested, including participation in donor meetings.
• Stay informed of policy changes/proposals in the water / wastewater / equity and infrastructure.
• Collaborate with DigDeep through the US WASH Collective to develop a US public policy and influence agenda to help end the US water crisis.
• Advise on impacts from new or existing legislation or administrative rule changes.
• As required, developing external-facing content (such as writing letters, drafting organizational policy priorities documents, and collaborating on policy communications deliverables like op-eds or blogs, where needed).
• Participate in US WASH Collective Working Groups as needed.

BEHAVIORS AND COMPETENCIES:

• Connect to Mission – Work to integrate own behaviors with the mission of the organization; connect the organization’s mission with established structure and activities; actively work to improve the capabilities of teams; actions and decisions are taken with the organization in mind.
• Manage through Ambiguity – Adapt to people, shifting demands, and changing priorities with ease; create clear picture of the importance and relevance of change; find way to apply innovative ideas to enhance business results.
• Demonstrate Cultural Awareness – Establish an inclusive environment; is appreciative, affirming and inclusive of all cultural backgrounds; demonstrate active listening, empathy and effective engagement to increase cultural competence.
• Action-oriented – Integrate a variety of information or translate corporate strategy; drive innovation to create competitive edge; introduce substantive improvements to enhance performance throughout a functional area; create something that stands out against the norm to help deliver industry-leading performance.
• Collaboration and Partnership – Facilitate collaboration; invest in building relationships; advocate ideas and effectively negotiate to achieve mutually successful outcomes; know and consider the capabilities of partners in own actions; bring people together across boundaries, leveraging differences to achieve results.
• Impact and Influence – Empower partners to perform; appropriately use the power of the position as well as personal influence to achieve outcomes; persuade others to willingly pursue a course of action against their initial inclination; create a spirit of excitement and positive motivation.

EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Bachelor’s degree required and master’s degree preferred (or an equivalent combination of education and experience).
• A minimum of 3 years of experience helping close the WASH gap in the US.
• A minimum of 2 years of policy/advocacy experience.
• Self-driven, with strong strategy and partnership skills.
• Ability to translate and communicate complex topics in a variety of forums, tailoring communications to effectively fit and influence the targeted audience.
• Strong presentation and communication skills.
• Ability to lead the entire range of problem-solving work from problem definition to analysis, recommendation, and the development of implementation plans.
• Ability to influence on a national stage, with an approachable style that inspires confidence.
• Ability to bridge cultural boundaries and norms to overcome barriers and improve outcomes.
• Ability to work collaboratively with key internal and external leaders and partners.
• Professional-level proficiency in English, written and spoken is essential; Spanish preferred. 

 Don’t meet every single requirement but you are excited about this role? Water For People is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so we encourage you to apply even if your experience does not align perfectly with every qualification listed above.  We also value your volunteer work in any philanthropic organization and feel that your volunteer contributions may help us build critical competencies. Please feel free to include all qualifying volunteer experience.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS/WORKING CONDITIONS: 

• Ability to travel up to 15% of the time domestically. 
• Ability to work outside typical office hours at times to collaborate across multiple time zones.
• This position has the option to work from the Denver office or remotely in the United States, except in the following states: NY, NJ, WA, VT, and CA.
• Open office environment if choosing to work from the Denver Office.

Note: This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications associated with the job.

Salary Range:

Anticipated salary range: $62,000 – $87,800 for US candidates only. Actual salary will be determined based on experience and other job-related factors. 

Benefits:

Benefits are one of the ways we encourage healthy living for you and your family. Our generous package includes medical, dental and vision coverage. But health is more than a well-working body: it encompasses body, mind, and social well-being. To that end, we provide a global Telehealth benefit and a fitness perk to address your holistic health. Healthy living also includes paid time off and a generous retirement savings plan. 

Water For People cannot provide immigration sponsorship for this position.

Water For People is committed to protecting children encountered during our work and by our employees, preventing sexual abuse and exploitation of all individuals with a particular focus on women and children and other marginalized communities in the performance of our work, preventing human trafficking in the performance of our work and in our supply chain and to having a drug-free workplace.  During the recruitment processes, additional documentation will be requested to comply with our policies and in accordance with the legal requirements in your country of residency, this includes a background check. If you apply for employment, we want you to be aware of our recruitment, selection and hiring processes including important policies regarding employee conduct. 

Water For People is an equal opportunity employer who is committed to creating a culture of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our workplace. For this position we strongly encourage women and people with disabilities to apply. Water for people strives to create and maintain a level of diversity that reflects the communities we serve. Achieving this—regardless of race, ethnicity, ancestry, tribal affiliation, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, veteran status, disability, socioeconomic class, educational attainment, or other social identities is critical to our ability to have a world where every person has access to reliable and safe water and sanitation services. 

Our commitment ensures that we:   

• Have a different array of thinking that comes from diverse backgrounds and cultures, enabling us to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges
• Strive for a culture of inclusion and belonging by treating each other with dignity, respect, and appreciation enabling us to feel welcome, supported, and valued
• Effectively connect, communicate, and build long-lasting relationships with stakeholders within our diverse communities
• Have diversity of thought, perspectives, backgrounds, identities, and talents that will support our mission to develop high-quality drinking water and sanitation services are available to Everyone Forever