Senior Manager, Innovation, Safe Water

About Evidence Action

Evidence Action is a global nonprofit organization with an approach distinctive in international development - we exclusively scale interventions that are backed by strong evidence and can be delivered with exceptional cost-effectiveness. Our programs have grown since our founding in 2013 to reach over 280 million people annually. We deliver high impact for every dollar spent, as recognized by GiveWell, The Life You Can Save, and Charity Navigator.

We do development differently. We take a data-driven approach to identifying, scaling, and continuously improving programs which deliver immense impact, ensuring these solutions measurably improve the lives of millions. Our Deworm the World Initiative has helped governments in Africa and Asia deliver over 1.4 billion childhood deworming treatments, improving health, education, and incomes. Dispensers for Safe Water provides sustained safe water access to over 4 million people in rural Africa, preventing childhood illness and deaths.

We drive innovation: Our Accelerator builds the next generation of exceptional programs, taking an approach most similar to a venture capital model. We are ruthless in exiting programs which do not meet our criteria; those that advance deliver outsized impact for millions of people.

We are global. Across eight countries in Africa and Asia, our 400+ people are united by a tremendous passion for our mission and impact. We are strong because of our diversity of experience, geography, and background - with over 90% of our people in the countries where our impact is focused.

We have big ambitions. Our goal is to double our impact by 2024, to fulfill our vision of a world where hundreds of millions of people in the poorest places have better opportunities and their lives are measurably improved. We believe in bold and urgent action - because poverty doesn’t wait, and neither should we.

We need great people. Our success to date is due to the collective work of our amazing staff. To achieve our ambitious goals, we are looking for people who share our passion for evidence, cost-effectiveness, and scale. We seek individuals who take an entrepreneurial approach, enjoy tackling hard problems, and have a bias to action and results. If our vision and approach excite you as much as it does us, we invite you to join us.

Location

This role will be located in Nairobi, Kenya or Washington D.C. All candidates should expect extensive travel (up to 25%).

Evidence Action’s Safe Water Program

Our flagship Dispensers for Safe Water (DSW) provides over 4 million people across rural Uganda, Malawi, and Kenya - and by the end of 2023, this will more than double to 9 million people. Recent evidence highlights that water treatment may be among the most cost-effective interventions available to save young children's lives, reducing all-cause child mortality by about 25%.

Our Dispensers for Safe Water program, based on research by Nobel-winning economists, utilizes an innovative and human-centric design to deliver water treatment at the source in rural settings, achieving usage rates which are 5x that of comparable interventions. Given the tremendous benefits of safe water, Evidence Action is rapidly innovating to build the next generation of water treatment interventions. We believe the potential of these interventions is incredible, and with more than 1.8 billion people using contaminated water sources and causing more than 1/3 of all diarrhea deaths globally, the need is huge.

Evidence Action’s strategy for safe water is evolving and it will be a key area for growth in the coming years. To support this growth, we are looking to establish a small, tactical team focused on innovation that will define and execute projects designed to address key strategic questions. Addressing these will ensure programs continue to be innovative, sustainable, effective and efficient. The team will scope, analyze and pilot