India: Asia Regional Representative

About Trickle Up

Founded in 1979, Trickle Up (TU) helps the poorest graduate out of extreme poverty. We help women and other vulnerable populations start sustainable businesses, join savings groups that give them a safe place to save and access credit, become decision-makers in their households and communities, and gain hope and confidence for the future. We work in partnership with local organizations, as well as global institutions, governments and the private sector.

TU’s Asia Regional office was established in 2006 in Kolkata, India. The program has grown significantly in size during the past few years and now includes regional programming in Bangladesh and Vietnam, CSR (corporate social responsibility) funded programming to reach the ultra-poor through innovative digital technologies and financial inclusion in India, as well as significant scale up through government partners in India. Our current geographic focus for India includes the states of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal with headquarters for the India program based in Kolkata.

The TU program in India is at a very exciting juncture with strong state government partnerships and demonstrated potential for influencing national and state level policies, practices and resources for reaching the ultra-poor. Our digital innovation programming supported through the private sector is a flagship for TU digital innovation strategy development across the organization.

TU has established a local Section 8 Indian entity known as the Trickle Up Program which has a separate Board and governance as per Indian regulation. A significant amount of India programming has been resourced and is being implemented by the Trickle Up program with an aim to further grow and solidify presence and positioning of the Section 8 entity.

Position Overview:

We are seeking an Indian national or resident to fill the position of Asia Regional Representative. The Asia Regional Representative (ARR) is the senior representative of the India Branch and India Trickle Up Program entity in India and for the region. This position is responsible for strengthening, expanding and fostering relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders including government, corporate and private funders, international and national foundations as well as INGO and local NGO/CBO partners. S/he will play the lead role in refining the vision for scale and multiplying impact through effective partnerships and policy influence. The ARR will be an exemplary leader for the TU team, building a strong, coherent and dynamic team, modeling TU values and strengthening our organizational driven values approach in all aspects of our work.

Public and private partnerships are critical for Trickle Up's strategy for scale. The ARR must excel in expanding and diversifying the office’s resource base by securing public/private partnerships with the support of a highly functional and motivated team. The ARR is responsible for ensuring high program quality in the region; providing the proper stewardship of resources consistent with Trickle Up principles, India office policies, strategies, procedures, and donor requirements; and ensuring Trickle Up India meets all regulatory, human resources, financial reporting, and other requirements outlined by the Indian government and other agencies.

Trickle Up values the contribution of its regional leadership to global discussions and initiatives that improve the organization's program quality and impact worldwide. The ARR is expected to be a thought leader in these discussions and a contributor to global initiatives.

Principal Functions:

Representation & Partnerships

• Strengthen linkages with key government agencies, international and local NGOs active in livelihood development and/or working with extremely vulnerable and marginalized populations.
• Building capacity and strengthening relationships with TU’s network of local partners.
• Develop and foster relationships with multilateral, national, corporate/private sector and foundations to support increased programming and policy adoption to reach the ultra-poor.
• Increase visibility of Trickle Up in India through participation in strategic alliances and key events and publications.

Strategic Leadership

• Lead the development of the TU strategy and accompanying business plan for India and the region; ensure alignment with TU overall vision and strategy.
• Serve as a leader with the TU India Board to expand Board membership, effective governance and relevance of the TU Section 8 entity.
• Build team capacity, cohesiveness and effectiveness of the TU India team by modeling core values, exemplary leadership skills, communication styles and effective team building approaches.
• Ensuring the ability of TU to build evidence and learning to position the organization as a thought leader in economic strengthening for extremely poor and vulnerable groups.

Resource Mobilization

• Identify potential funding partners and pursue resource mobilization for country and regional programming, including with CSR funding initiatives in India.
• In partnership with HQ staff, develop a wide donor particularly targeting foundations, bilateral, and multilateral organizations and the private sector (CSR).
• In partnership with HQ, set and meet fundraising goals.
• In partnership with the Section 8 Board, develop a diversified revenue base for the TU India Program.

Organization Oversight

• Ensure that the Asia office has the human resources, processes, and systems required to design and deliver effective and relevant programming for marginalized populations.
• Ensure adherence to all of Trickle Up’s policies and procedures in all aspects of Trickle Up’s work in the Asia region
• Ensure that TU operations in Asia conform to all applicable laws and regulations
• Oversee management of program implementation to ensure achievement of outcomes and completion of all financial and other reporting.

Qualifications:

Education

• MA in relevant field (i.e., international development, international affairs, development policy and practice) with a minimum of 15 years’ professional experience.

Experience

• Minimum of 15 years’ experience in international development, economic and/or livelihood development.
• Demonstrated relationship building skills and expertise with potential donors, stakeholders, and relevant government entities.
• At least five years’ experience in a senior leadership role.
• At least 10 years’ experience managing staff for effective performance.
• At least seven years of experience of program management including contract management, budgetary management, and reporting.
• Board experience strongly desired.

Knowledge and skills

• Strong understanding of development context in the Asia region, with a particular focus on India.
• Strong experience with livelihoods approaches for people living in extreme poverty within the India context.
• A strong understanding of corporate social responsibility sector in India.
• Strong Advocacy and policy influence experience.
• Excellent people manager and relationship builder.

Behavioral competencies

• Demonstrated leadership and ability to foster strong teams.
• Demonstrated ability to network effectively, ability to publicly represent the organization in a variety of capacities.
• Demonstrated ability to work comfortably with a wide range of stakeholders (private sector, international and local NGOs, government actors, policymakers).
• Demonstrated affinity with the mission and values of TU.
• Well-organized, systematic, thorough and accountable.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Ability to work across cross-cultures; agility in adaptive management.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently.

Other requirements

• Interest and willingness to live in Kolkata, India
• Ability to travel internationally about 15% of the time, and nationally about 20% of the time
• Fluent in English and at least one or two of our operational languages (Hindi, Odiya or Bengali)

Salary and Benefits:

We offer a competitive salary and benefits for this full-time position. The successful applicant will join a dynamic, passionate, experienced leader deeply committed to the alleviation of extreme poverty. Trickle Up promotes a high-performing organizational culture in which staff communicate clearly and openly, and are reflective, innovative, and mutually accountable.

To be considered, all candidates must provide a CV, cover letter, and current salary certificate. To submit your application click on the job link, and follow the instructions. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until March 15th, 2018. We are sorry we are unable to entertain phone calls related to this posting.

Trickle Up is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value a diverse workforce and extend equal opportunity to all applicants and employees regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, or any other status protected by law. Reasonable accommodation will be made to enable people with disabilities to perform essential job functions.