Program Design Manager

Who We Are

The Water Project unlocks human potential by building and connecting global networks of local leaders, communities of generous supporters, and an informed public to provide sustainable water and sanitation programs to needlessly suffering communities in developing countries. We are committed to bringing people together to solve the problem of finding clean water. Whether it’s our local teams in the field, our international staff, our donors and fundraisers, or the communities we serve – we believe that people are the greatest solution to the water crisis.

Our scrappy and dedicated staff thrives on collaboration with partners and volunteers. We inspire ideas and invent tools that equip our supporters to help people suffering needlessly without clean, safe water. We’re a non-profit with the heart of a tech start-up. We tell stories. We strengthen partners. We build solutions. And we change lives, one village at a time.

We also want you and your family to thrive, so we offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, including company-paid medical/dental/vision insurance, 401k match, and a great vacation policy (ask anyone!).

What The Role Is

At The Water Project, we are committed to working with communities in sub-Saharan Africa who face water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges within a system of alternative water points, institutional management, government policy and regulations, and complex financing. The Program Design Manager at The Water Project will design a strategy to execute the overarching strategic vision and assess alignment of project, program, and systems goals, while remaining faithful to The Water Project’s core values of relationship, reliability, and trust. The Program Design Manager will also manage program staff to execute this strategy.

This is a full-time position and you can be located anywhere in the US with regular travel to New Hampshire and abroad. Candidates must have the legal right to work in the US.

Your responsibilities will include :

• Refine and manage a strategic systems building approach for all TWP focus areas in coordination with local teams. We exist for the communities we serve, our partners, and our donors, and your responsibility will be to enhance the alignment and influence of our organizational goals with the regional systems that include policy, health, financing, infrastructure, monitoring data, regulation, management, and institutional structures that shape a regional WASH environment.
• Lead a diagnosis of resources and coverage for each program focus area (mapping).  
• Strengthen the TWP pre-site assessment (vetting) system in coordination with the Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, Resolution, and Learning.
• Co-Construct and manage a TWP cost-recovery model with the Director of Program.
• Provide regular cost-benefit analysis reports to facilitate organizational decision making.
• Develop and disseminate regional training and routine communication of systems building resources to in-country teams.
• Enhance visibility and shared goals of regional government coordination. 
• Provide oversight for internal audits of project records, regional coverage progress, and maintenance and repair systems goals in coordination with Program Officers and MERL Director.
• Manage Program Team Staff 
• Work with the Program team to align vetting schedules, implementation schedules, and reporting schedules. Ensure process alignment with the development team, field teams, and the TWP USA program team.
• Enhance process alignment and visibility for complex repairs and schedules.
• Lead meetings to communicate and keep track of program deliverables, with a vision for improvement and impact. 
• Report directly to the Director of Program.

Your qualifications must include:

• A minimum of 3-5 years experience in systems building WASH programs.
• A passionate commitment to reliability and sustainability.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a related field (this is wide, from Development studies to MBA)
• High proficiency in Microsoft Excel and/or Google Sheets.
• Ability to navigate through multiple platforms- we use Salesforce, mWater, and Google (Sheets, Docs, and Earth).
• Demonstration of excellence in written reports and communication.
• Proven management skills with a minimum of 3 direct reports.

Who You Are

You have done this before

You have experience in systems building approaches in the WASH sector. You are a strategic thinker and understand the complex networks of people and resources required to build sustainable access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene resources. You see the vision, and you love putting the steps and check-offs together to help us get there.

You are a systems thinker

You think in systems and processes, and you keep the wheels turning. You thrive in a fast paced environment and can shift between tasks – from regional mapping strategy sessions to confirmation of organizational schedule alignment.

You are a leader and a manager of people

You can keep a team focused and working in the same direction. You strive for clarity, and you love seeing a job completed. You get the right people in the room working together at the right time. You are at home when developing gantt charts, cost-benefit analysis, and internal audits. You look to data and develop reports and to assess the quality of relationships. 

You are a problem solver and a truth seeker  

Your curiosity and innovation are grounded in the realities of water, sanitation, and hygiene issues specific to households, communities, and regions. You want to get to the bottom of what is not working because it matters in the lives of people in need of clean water. You can admit when you might have been wrong – you evaluate, make adjustments, plan and get to work on another possible way forward. 

You bring a cross-cultural awareness to your work . 

You are able to identify values within different cultures and build processes that are flexible enough to work for multiple stakeholders. You can communicate well with people from multiple contexts and learn what is at stake for them. You ask questions until you are confident that the way forward is clear. 

Information

• Location: , United States

Industry experience

Education: Bachelor

Seniority: Expert, Engineer, Consultant

Years of experience: 1 to 5 years

Taxonomy

• Project Manager
• Project Management
• Project Management
• Project Management
• Water Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH)
• Project Management