Infrastructure Expert

1 POSITION VACANT: Infrastructure Expert , South Asia, Water.org2. ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND:Water.org is a global non-profit headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, committed to bringing water and sanitation to people living in poverty. Co-founded by Gary White and Matt Damon, the organization has empowered more than 73 million people with access to safe water or sanitation across Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.In India, Water.org has enabled access to safe water or sanitation for more than 28 million people, through its innovative WaterCredit model and strategic partnerships with microfinance institutions, government missions, commercial banks, social enterprises, and other stakeholders.To know more, visit JOB DESCRIPTION/ RESPONSIBILITIES:Reporting to the Executive Director, South Asia , the Infrastructure Expert will serve as business development and implementation lead, driving the process of designing, creating and unlocking government and private sector funds in municipal piped water infrastructure in South Asia, in order to expand and improve household access to water services. The position will have purview of our infrastructure operations in India and Bangladesh.The role requires a thorough technical understanding of water projects across South Asia, in different states of India, understanding and knowledge of government priorities, missions and challenge funds for water and sanitation, and a tested ability to work with municipalities and urban local bodies.Initially, many of the projects this position will try to identify and work to develop will have a focus on municipal piped water supply, particularly in areas with potential for system efficiency improvements and household-level service expansion including but not limited to, reducing physical water losses.The position will oversee Water.org’s infrastructure work in India and Bangladesh .4. THEMATIC FOCUS AREAS:The Infrastructure Expert will focus on the following thematic areas/ water infrastructure needs:(1) Municipal (government-licensed) piped water supply;(2) Connecting new households or improving existing services through enhancements in water quality, reliability, availability, or climate resilience;(3) Reducing capital barriers that limit household service expansion;(4) Supporting water loss reduction projects where utilities can expand service without increasing production capacity;(5) Focusing on projects that result in tangible household-level service improvements or water efficiency gains .5. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:The Infrastructure Expert shall develop, lead and manage initiatives that strengthen access to municipal (government-licensed) piped water supply with emphasis on improving or extending household-level water services.A. Project Development & Capital Facilitation:(1) Identify municipalities and urban local bodies using own networks to identify opportunities for projects that are investible by the private sector and in line with government priorities(2) Develop relationships and partnerships with these municipalities and local bodies and formalize them whilst designing a suite of technical assistance services to be provided to them such as creation of proposals, DPRs, and applications for submission to various government funds(3) In the lifecycle of the project, work with private sector players to offer services at the ULB level and help access capital(4) It has to be noted that Water.org strives to unlock capital to enable household access to water and sanitation infrastructure and improvements thereof(5) Provide strategic advisory services to utilities, urban local bodies (ULBs), and other implementing partners to remove financial and operational barriers to service expansion.B. Strategic Advisory &