Swaniti Initiative - Specialist - Air Quality Management

Who are we?

Swaniti Initiative aims to strengthen public service delivery by working with state and local governments across South Asia with a strong focus on India. Our interventions have included strengthening scheme implementation by identifying current gaps and limitations, providing research support to Hon'ble Members of Parliament about best practices in moving forward, and developing data-technology tools that can back decision-making processes. With flagship initiatives like Supporting Parliamentarians in Analysis and Research in Constituencies (SPARC) and Leadership and Engagement Associate in District (LEAD), Swaniti has supported constituency development and district development planning in various parts of the country. At present, along with working with 200+ Hon'ble Members of Parliamentarians for policy making, are working as advisors to state governments to ensure the delivery of schemes to the last mile. Major verticals of our work are climate and sustainability, social protection, and livelihood.

Swaniti Initiative is seeking a Specialist - Air Quality Management to join the Policy Engagements Team. The successful applicant will be responsible for delivering the highest standards of technical knowledge to aid the policy and governance ecosystem in South Asian Countries.

Provide Technical Expertise:

- Contribute to the development of proposals, reports, concept notes, and research briefs for creating a roadmap for achieving project objectives.

- Support the design and planning of pilot projects related to policy development and strategic initiatives.

- Provide inputs on air-pollution specific interventions to key stakeholders.

- Provide inputs on the documents developed under the project and provide technical advice to the unit as and when requested by the supervisor.

- Support project monitoring, evaluation, and reporting, including monitoring progress and results against planned timelines and the project results framework.

- Support overall coordination, including preparation of work plans and budgets, tracking activities and expenditure, and management of project resources, and the preparation of reports.

- Support the monitoring of risks to project implementation, including identification of any new risks.

- Contribute to the communication and visibility of the Program.

- Build effective and efficient partnerships at the operational level with counterparts and financial and technical partners.

Others:

- Supports, contributes and leads other projects of policy vertical.

- Guides and leads overall research pursuit of the policy vertical across other domains.

Requirements:

Essential Qualifications:

- Advanced university degree (PhD/M.Phil or Master's degree) in environmental science/health, atmospheric sciences, environmental engineering, climate science, geographic studies, statistics, or a related field.

- 6-8 years of relevant professional experience in the air quality/environment/pollution management/allied sectors after masters or 4 years after PhD.

- Prior experience of working in the policy/governance/development sectors.

- Proven ability to work with different tiers of government, institutions/ministries, and local government.

- Incumbent should be able to synthesize/write complex technical data points in easy to understand language.

- Ability to manage project independently with government and decision makers at its interface.

- Strong stakeholder management skills.

- Strong analytical skills, ability to think strategically, analyze and synthesize diverse qualitative and quantitative environmentally related data and information.

- Deep knowledge of air pollution chemistry, pollution management issues, policies, and institutions in developing country contexts, particularly South Asia.

- Ability to follow up multiple work-streams simultaneously.

- Strong communication skills, including fluent written and verbal English.

- Team management and public speaking skills

- Managerial experience is a must

- Experience of handling and managing data sets for analysis with strong Excel data analysis skills

Desirable:

- Statistical and spatial data analysis, including the use of software such as ArcMap GIS software or QGIS.

- Familiar with specialist air quality modeling software such ADMS, ADMS Urban, ADMS Roads, AirViro.