Senior Technical Director

POSITION SUMMARY

The Senior Technical Director develops and maintains Pure Earth’s program standards and models, technical support systems, and expertise to promote the effectiveness, sustainability and scalability of our programs. The Sr. Director champions state-of-the-art programming standards, documentation, quality assurance and quality control, and research and innovation capabilities to enhance performance, growth, learning and influence. The Sr. Director oversees the provision of technical support to ensure high quality and impactful programming, lead strategic growth, advance learning and innovation, manage development of tools and resources, and represent Pure Earth with donors, international agencies, governments, and partners when needed.

The Sr. Technical Director champions quality programming and knowledge management, and rigorous, evidence-based decisions regarding programming practices, learning and policy influence strategies. Supporting consistent, high-quality programming at scale, strong research and analysis, the Sr. Director strengthens Pure Earth’s capacity and credibility with local partners, institutional donors, corporations and universities across the globe.

Reporting to the Vice President, Programs, the Sr. Director is a member of the Program Leadership Team and supervises several colleagues who manage Pure Earth’s Toxic Site Investigation Program (TSIP); Research; Technical Advisors; and the Technical Advisory Board.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Ensure that programs are designed based Pure Earth’s mission and strategy, with the express objective of understanding and mitigating exposure to lead and mercury in affected populations.
• Oversee the development of a technical assistance model which drives program quality, builds the technical capacity of staff and partners, and contributes to achieving our deliverables and growing our resources.
• Oversee and ensure responsive and consistently high-quality technical assistance provided to Pure Earth country offices and programs.
• Provide direct technical assistance to program design, implementation, and evaluation of programs, at both the country and global levels.
• Establish technical standards, technical procedures/protocols, and transversal models for programming based on the best available research, pertinent regulations, and prevailing standards and guidelines, and incorporate these standards and models throughout Pure Earth’s work.
• Contribute to Pure Earth’s ability to measure progress towards improved outcomes and to integrate cost-effectiveness considerations into programmatic decision-making.
• Directly participate in Pure Earth’s efforts to build the evidence base for our work and to find innovative cross-sector solutions that reduce lead and mercury exposures and their consequences in human health.
• Actively support collection and use of data and sharing of results internally and externally.
• Directly participate in learning and dissemination of project across Pure Earth, implementation of formal and informal procedures, and the cultivation of a culture of debate and curiosity.
• Push for policy and behavior change across Pure Earth and among stakeholders in the lead and mercury space internationally based on learning from our programs.
• Cultivate strong technical and advisory relationships with donors and stakeholders in the toxic pollution space and the environmental global health arena.
• Oversee the development of training resources and impact assessment tools to enhance the capacities across the organization to utilize data to improve and validate the quality of projects and interventions.
• Model a collaborative environment, encouraging active communication between sectors and between HQ and the field for improved collaboration, learning and implementation quality.
• Encourage and support staff in HQ and the field to innovate to improve program impact.
• Participate and advise on Pure Earth’s monitoring and evaluation systems and practices.
• Ensure clear integration of data collection/technical assistance for project work, grant evaluations and on-going research.
• Cultivate, utilize, and expand the resources of Pure Earth’s Technical Advisory Board as a key component to help drive technical excellence.
• Create and foster cross-functional and collaborative partnerships throughout Global Programs and other Pure Earth units (e.g., Development, Strategic Initiatives, Communications, Operations, Finance) to cultivate coordinated implementation of broad organizational initiatives, and position for and to pursue new opportunities.
• Work with direct reports to ensure resources are appropriately managed, including departmental budget, human resources including performance management, reporting requirements such as strategy, and other related management tasks. Direct reports to this position may include Managers for Research; Toxic Site Investigation Program; technical advisors, as well as the Technical Advisory Board. Identify and implement accountability mechanisms for managerial excellence at all levels of the Technical Excellence function.
• Ensure team members are well positioned to be effective business partners and recognized by colleagues, management, and Board as trusted, reliable, and active partners in achieving strategic goals and organizational objectives.
• Execute consistent performance management, providing specific actionable feedback about job task proficiency, responsibilities and professional behaviors; identify performance that doesn’t meet standards, supporting performance improvement; support professional development of team members.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• MSc degree in a relevant technical field (Ph.D. strongly preferred) including Environmental Public Health, Environmental Engineering, Chemistry, Medicine, Geology, Environmental Studies, and others.
• Minimum 15 years of relevant international experience designing, delivering, managing, and overseeing programs and/or technical assistance to environmental or environmental health initiatives in low- and middle-income countries.
• Exceptional analytical skills and experience in driving evidence-based decisions.
• Technical or academic publications preferred.
• Experience engaging effectively with public donors, host-county governments and counterparts, international agencies and other key stakeholders.
• Proven leader of teams working in multiple locations and experience in non-profit organizations.
• Skilled at delegating appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority.
• Demonstrated ability to lead diverse, multicultural teams with members in multiple locations.
• Receptive and collaborative leadership approach that contributes to positive team environment, builds and maintains strong relationships with people from different backgrounds cultures, genders and viewpoints.
• Commitment to diversity and inclusion, ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally, as needed.
• Ability to work flexible hours or across time zones, as needed.
• Multi-lingual capabilities a plus.

HOW TO APPLY

Please send a cover letter, Resume/CV and an original written piece about your domain of expertise, in a single attachment to jobs@pureearth.org.