State Program Lead, India Safe Water, Bihar (EAII Advisors)

Job Summary

You will report to the Associate Director, Programs (India Safe Water). Based in Patna, this role leads the establishment, implementation, and scale-up of the India Safe Water (ISW) program across Bihar, combining strong technical grounding in water treatment and disinfection with senior-level government engagement.

This is a senior leadership position with full accountability for the outcomes of the Safe Water program in Bihar. The individual will own the state programs strategy and delivery, manage a distributed state team, and represent Evidence Action and EAII Advisors to state and district government stakeholders, partners, and communities - ensuring safe, chlorinated water reaches communities across the state while advancing broader organizational and program objectives. As EAII Advisors expands the India Safe Water program to additional states, this role may also contribute to shaping replicable program models and supporting new-state onboarding.

Responsibilities

Program Strategy, Implementation Technical Leadership

• Own and lead the Bihar state program across all phases - from establishment through implementation to scale-up - and are held accountable for its delivery and outcomes.
• Provide technical expertise on water disinfection (especially chlorination), distribution systems, and water quality monitoring, including assessment of digital monitoring solutions (IoT, SCADA, dashboards) where relevant.
• Ensure effective adoption of the technical and operational model (contractor management, chlorination approach, monitoring systems)
• Establish and oversee a state-specific technical assistance program for the government, providing clear direction to the team on objectives, milestones, and execution.
• Oversee installation, operation, and maintenance of water treatment devices carried out by contractors and program staff, and guide demonstration pilots where needed to build state confidence in safe water technologies.
• Use tactical planning tools to forecast inputs and outputs needed to achieve business objectives for the year ahead, proactively identify risks across the state workstream, and drive continuous improvement in operational and tactical planning.
• Hold suppliers and contractors accountable for deliverables, agreements, and warranties.
• Own the state program budget, forecasting and tracking expenditure against plan, and ensuring, compliant use of funds across contractors, suppliers, and field operations.

Government Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as the trusted, senior technical advisor and primary point of contact to senior state government officials (ACS, Secretaries, Mission Directors, MD-JJM) and other state and district stakeholders.
• Represent Evidence Action and EAII Advisors in engagements with Jal Jeevan Mission representatives, state water departments, NGO partners, suppliers, manufacturers, and communities.
• Translate complex technical concepts into actionable, policy-relevant recommendations for government partners, and support governments in strengthening institutional capacity and system adoption of safe water interventions.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with state and district-level government stakeholders to support program delivery and scale-up, representing the organization to high-stakes external partners as needed.
• Navigate changes in government counterparts by proactively building institutional relationships, to preserve program continuity and momentum despite personnel changes.

Data, Quality Continuous Improvement

• Manage and facilitate data collection and information management in the state, using data actively to guide decisions and identify the best way forward.
• Oversee assessment of program processes, operational feasibility, and efficacy of water treatment across intervention points in Bihar.
• Continuously iterate on program design, capturing and documenting lessons learned, challenges, and recommendations, and feed state-level insights into central ISW planning and strategy.
• Define and track a core set of program KPIs and proactively flag operational risks specific to Bihar's context.

Team Leadership People Management

• Lead and manage a distributed state team across locations throughout Bihar, owning all human resource requirements for the Safe Water program team in the state.
• Build development conversations into regular, high-quality communication with direct reports, including structured 1:1s; support each direct report in identifying and progressing on development goals, provide feedback, and coach team members to solve problems independently.
• Proactively identify where challenges may arise in program development, implementation, and scale-up, and position yourself and the leadership team at key friction points to mitigate them.
• Mentor state-level technical and program staff to strengthen their ability to engage with government counterparts, and prioritize recruitment by treating candidates respectfully and hiring diverse, strong talent.
• Build plans for key state team roles to protect program continuity against attrition or internal moves.

Cross-Functional Collaboration Representation

• Collaborate with cross-functional ISW teams (MLE, communications, technical specialists) to ensure the Bihar strategy is well-supported.
• Promote knowledge-sharing across states to accelerate adoption of best practices, and represent ISW in sectoral forums, government meetings, and partner engagements with an emphasis on technical credibility.
• Contribute to new-state launch playbooks and onboarding materials by documenting Bihar's implementation approach, SOPs, and lessons learned.

Essential

• Graduate or postgraduate degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering, Water Resources, Public Health, or a related technical or development field
• 15+ years of progressive experience in the WASH sector, including at least 5 years leading water and/or health initiatives
• Demonstrated experience working with or advising state-level government agencies (PHED, JJM, rural development, or public health programs) strongly preferred
• Strong grounding in water treatment/disinfection, distribution systems, and water quality monitoring
• Proven leadership managing large, distributed teams and multi-stakeholder programs
• Strong strategic thinking, data-driven decision-making, problem-solving, and communication skills
• Comfort with ambiguity, rapid problem-solving, and decision-making under uncertainty

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