About Water For People

Water For People India is a non-profit organization which supports people of developing countries to improve their quality of life by promoting of locally sustainable drinking water sources, sanitation facilities and health and hygiene programs. We believe that access to safe water and adequate sanitation are basic human rights and can help put an end to needless suffering and mortality from water related preventable diseases.

Water For People India initiated its operations in West Bengal in 1996 in Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts. Consistent with the global vision and mission, we exist to promote the development of high-quality drinking water and sanitation services, accessible to all, and sustained by strong communities, businesses, and governments. We have 5 organizational values: Collective Transformation, Environmental Stewardship, Integrity, Courage, and Amplify All Voices. Water For People India programs have been implemented in 26 districts in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Assam.

In all, nearly 1.6 million people have been reached through community drinking water and sanitation, WASH in public institutions and market led approaches to sanitation. By 2023, Water For People India programs aim to directly benefit 2.7 million people. We aim to build capacities at the district level which will contribute to organizational commitments, thereby indirectly benefitting 14.8 million people. Water For People India implements programs through locally registered non-government organizations.

Job Summary

High level Institutional and individual will for universal and sustainable access to water and sanitation services drives accelerated progress toward SDG 6.

Water For People is seeking an enthusiastic and strategic Influence Specialist to join it’s India Country Program . The Influence Specialist will play a pivotal role in advancing Water For People’s mission by effectively influencing key stakeholders, including government and civil society organizations, and private sector partners. This role requires a dynamic individual who can work closely with the Communication Specialist and contribute significantly jointly to thought leadership of Water For People  and resource mobilization efforts.

Working through partnership is another key commitment for Water For People as we work towards achieving SDG 6. Our aim is to seek out and form strong partnerships with relevant actors within and beyond the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector thereby attracting more expertise and resources to the sector and creating the conditions to bring about lasting service delivery to the underserved. Partnerships help us to broaden the skills, knowledge base, and sphere of influence and increase the impact that we can have as organizations and as a sector. We continuously nourish and challenge our existing partnerships to do better and go further, while fostering new ones beyond conventional sector boundaries to expand our impact and bring new resources into the sector. Health, education, environmental, and economic systems are particularly important for collaboration toward SDG 6.

Scope of Work

While closely collaborating with the Communication Specialist and Resource Mobilization Lead, to be able to create maximum impact and catalyse influence of Water For People.

Increasing the organization’s ability to deliver policy analysis, institutional strengthening and related support as well as being able to communicate strategically to influence various stakeholders and audiences to understand the Water For People’s approaches, standards and programmatic milestone to make a substantial impact of community’s empowerment.

The success of the role is pivotal to the success of the Country Program Strategy.

Key functions and Responsibilities

1. 1. Tracking changes in the external environment related to WASH++
      • Keep track of national and state policies, guidelines related to water, sanitation, hygiene, health, rural development etc. and share the analysis of the same with concerned team members for improving our program design.
      • Engage with sector actors to keep track of best practices related to our work and share the trends within the organization.
      • Identify and collate relevant articles, research papers and news items and share within the team.
   2. Curation of programmatic work for various audiences
      • Curate the key messages and learning from our programmatic work keeping the needs of specific audiences like the Government, funding organizations, social media.
      • Collaborate with the communications and partnership development teams to disseminate the key messages for shaping sectoral thinking.
      • Work closely with the knowledge management, MEL, program teams to develop artefacts like articles, blogs, case studies, policy briefs etc .
      • Commission research with external agencies for curation of learnings.
   3. Collaboration with sector actors towards collective action
      • Close coordination with relevant central ministries for creating engagements with Water For People and sharing information related to our work.
      • Cocreate research projects with various ministries and programs that contribute to generation of knowledge related to water, sanitation, hygiene and related domains like health, livelihoods and climate change.
      • Identify and engage with relevant academic institutions for collaborations around internships, research etc
      • Convene meetings, consultations, workshops with sector actors for cross sharing, consensus building and strategies for joint action in close collaboration with the Government.
      • Anchor processes like national sector assessment in collaboration with other sector actors.
      • Organise learning events/ webinars for internal team and external actors periodically in collaboration with other team members.
   4. Strategy, representation and internal collaboration
      • Provide leadership in developing the influence strategy for Water For People, in close collaboration with State and National teams.
      • Coordinate closely with Water For People global influence team, One For All Colleagues and other allies and coalitions like Agenda For Change(A4C) and Sanitation and Water For All (SWA) etc.
      • Actively participate in developing annual plans and support State teams in planning and implementing influence and resource mobilisation related plans.
      • Represent Water For People in various national and international events and actively drive the thought leadership around WASH and climate change related issues.

The Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy, International Relations, Communications, or a related field. A Master’s degree is preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in advocacy, public relations, or a related role, preferably within the non-profit or WASH sector.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and engage government officials, civil society organizations, and private sector partners.
• Strong understanding of WASH issues and the ability to communicate complex concepts to diverse audiences.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Proven track record in resource mobilization and engaging with donors and CSR funding agencies (optional).
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and coordinate with multiple stakeholders.
• Strategic thinker with strong organizational and project management skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and other relevant software.

Additional Requirements:

• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as required.
• Commitment to Water For People’s mission and values.

Important

The ideal candidate will need to be inclusive and embrace our values of Collective Transformation, Environmental Stewardship, Integrity, Courage, and Amplify All Voices.

Travel Requirements

The position will be capable and comfortable of traveling to project sites, conference as per the requirements.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their resume, cover letter, and any relevant work samples to HR-India@waterforpeople.org and ps.wfp@Kaeleste.com   

Please include “Influence Specialist Application – [Your Name]” in the subject line.

Please apply on email id mentioned above on or before 12^th July 2024, while mentioning title of the position in subject line.

Water For People is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from individuals of diverse backgrounds and experiences.

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

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.

Last Date: July 31, 2024