TITLE: Program Director
DEPARTMENT: Programs
REPORTS TO: Country Director
SUPERVISORY DUTIES: 6
POSITION OBJECTIVE OR JOB SUMMARY:
The Program Director provides enterprise-level strategic leadership for Water For People India’s program portfolio and advances the organization’s influence across the WASH, Water Resources Management (WRM), and broader development ecosystem. The role is accountable for program excellence, organizational coherence, and strategic alignment across themes, geographies, and partnerships, while strengthening the organization’s position as a trusted technical, policy, and thought leader.
As a member of the senior leadership team, the incumbent integrates programs, knowledge, partnerships, and policy engagement across the organization. The role leads strategic planning, program quality assurance, donor engagement, sector intelligence, and institutional learning, while cultivating high-value relationships with government institutions, development partners, academic institutions, and sector networks. The position also advances evidence-based advocacy by converting program learning into actionable insights that shape policy, practice, and sector discourse at state and national levels.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES:
The Program Director will be responsible for the following key areas:
Strategic Leadership
- Set strategic direction for the organization’s programs across water, sanitation, hygiene, water resources management, climate resilience, livelihoods, regenerative agriculture, gender, and related development priorities.
- Lead organizational strategic planning, strengthen program coherence, and enable cross-functional alignment across projects, themes, and geographies.
- Institutionalize systems for program quality, performance management, strategic planning, organizational learning, and continuous improvement.
- Anticipate emerging trends, innovations, and partnership opportunities that can enhance organizational strategy, relevance, and program impact.
Program Oversight and Quality Assurance
- Provide senior-level review and approval of program proposals, technical reports, donor reports, work plans, budgets, and priority program deliverables.
- Provide strategic counsel and high-level problem-solving support to regional and project teams.
- Ensure consistently high implementation standards and enable cross-program learning, adaptation, and knowledge exchange.
- Guide program expansion into new geographies through strategic assessment, operational planning, and risk-informed decision-making.
Policy Influence and Sector Engagement
- Design and lead influence strategies that strengthen the organization’s credibility, visibility, and policy engagement across the WASH and WRM ecosystem.
- Cultivate senior-level relationships with central ministries, development partners, academic institutions, and sector alliances.
- Monitor national and global policy developments, sector trends, and innovations, and translate them into organizational strategy, programming, and positioning.
- Represent the organization in high-level national forums, policy dialogues, conferences, technical working groups, and knowledge platforms.
- Advance the organization’s thought leadership by translating program evidence into policy-relevant insights, sector learning, and practical guidance.
Partnerships and Donor Engagement
- Partner with the Donor Impact Team to support strategic resource mobilization and donor positioning.
- Lead the preparation and coordination of donor visits, strategic reviews, and executive-level organizational presentations.
Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning
- Oversee the consolidation, quality assurance, and strategic use of M&E data in close coordination with the MEL Team.
- Lead the synthesis, curation, and dissemination of institutional knowledge across projects, geographies, and thematic areas.
- Strengthen integration and collaboration across program, MEL, communications, finance, and global technical teams.
- Guide the development of compelling organizational narratives, case studies, learning products, and evidence-based communication materials.
- Serve as the senior organizational focal point for program intelligence and information required by country and global teams.
People Leadership
- Coach, mentor, and guide senior program staff, fostering a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing culture.
- Contribute to senior-level recruitment, onboarding, performance management, succession planning, and professional development.
- Strengthen organizational capability in strategic thinking, policy engagement, technical excellence, adaptive leadership, and program management.
QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED:
- Master’s degree in Development Studies, Water Resources Management, Environmental Sciences, Public Policy, Rural Development, Public Health, Social Sciences, or a related discipline; an MBA or additional qualification in leadership, management, or public policy is desirable.
- Minimum 15 years of progressively responsible experience in development programming, including at least 7 years in senior leadership roles managing complex portfolios and multidisciplinary teams across geographies.
- Demonstrated minimum 5 years sector leadership in WASH, water resources management, climate resilience, rural development, or allied development areas, with strong understanding of water security, sanitation systems, hygiene, IWRM, watershed development, Nature based solutions and climate adaptation.
- Proven ability to engage and influence government ministries, development partners, donors, research institutions, and sector networks at senior levels.
- Strong knowledge of Government of India policies and flagship programmes related to water, sanitation, rural development, Panchayati Raj, livelihoods, and climate resilience.
- Familiarity with emerging approaches, including basin and landscape approaches, Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting (VWBA), circular economy, regenerative agriculture, systems strengthening, and technology-enabled programme management.
- Strong record of strategic planning, programme quality assurance, policy analysis, institutional learning, and organizational change leadership.
- Familiarity with emerging technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI)and digital tools relevant to WASH Sector with the ability to leverage them to enhance programme effectiveness, innovation & decision making
- Advanced capability in systems thinking, analytical judgement, strategic decision-making, risk management, and evidence-based programme adaptation.
- Exceptional stakeholder engagement, negotiation, coalition-building, executive communication, and presentation skills.
- Demonstrated ability to synthesize evidence, translate learning into policy and practice, and strengthen knowledge management across teams and programmes.
- Strong interpersonal skills including mentoring, talent development, capacity building, and fostering collaborative, accountable, and high-performing teams.
- High degree of integrity, emotional intelligence, professionalism, collaboration, and sound judgement.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING CONDITIONS
- Based at the Nodal Office in New Delhi with frequent travel (approximately 30–40%) to project locations, government offices, partner organizations, and sector events across India.
- Ability to undertake field visits to rural and remote locations.
- Willingness to work across different time zones including Africa, Latin America and the United States
- Expected to maintain regular physical presence at the office during standard working hours, unless otherwise approved.
- Prolonged periods of desk-based work, virtual meetings, strategic planning, report review, and presentations.
- Candidates must have legal authorization to work and reside in India. Proof of residency or work authorization will be requested during the recruitment process.
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
- Sense of Team – Facilitate collaboration; invest in building relationships; advocate ideas and effectively negotiate to achieve mutually successful outcomes; know and consider the capabilities of coworkers in own actions; bring people together across boundaries, leveraging differences to achieve results as a team
- Build Talent and Team – Build sustainable talent pipeline; look beyond own team, towards building organizational capacity; review employees’ capabilities to assess organization capacity to deliver on strategy; challenge individuals to champion the talent management agenda; benchmark people capability and people processes
- Impact and Influence – Empower teams 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 team spirit of excitement and positive motivation; hold the group/team accountable to higher goals based on greater empowerment
Note: This job description summarizes the principal responsibilities and qualifications of the role and is not intended to be exhaustive. Additional responsibilities may be assigned by the manager to support organizational priorities and the successful performance of this position.
Water For People is committed to safeguarding children encountered through its work and by its employees; preventing sexual abuse and exploitation, with particular attention to women, children, and marginalized communities; preventing human trafficking in its operations and supply chain; and maintaining a drug-free workplace. During recruitment, additional documentation may be requested in accordance with organizational policies and applicable legal requirements in the candidate’s country of residency, including background verification. Applicants should be aware of Water For People’s recruitment, selection, and hiring processes, including key policies governing employee conduct.
Water For People is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a workplace culture grounded in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. The organization strives to cultivate and sustain diversity that reflects the communities it serves. This commitment—across race, ethnicity, ancestry, tribal affiliation, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, veteran status, disability, socioeconomic class, educational attainment, parental status, genetic information, political affiliation, marital status, and other social identities—is essential to achieving a world where every person has access to reliable and safe water and sanitation services.
Our commitment ensures that we:
Benefit from diverse thinking shaped by varied backgrounds, identities, and cultures, enabling stronger solutions to complex global challenges.
Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging by treating one another with dignity, respect, and appreciation.
Connect, communicate, and build enduring relationships with stakeholders across diverse communities.
Draw on diverse perspectives, backgrounds, identities, and talents to advance the mission of ensuring high-quality drinking water and sanitation services are available to Everyone Forever.
Apply Here