Waste Warriors - Project Manager - Research

Project Manager - Research

Introduction:

Waste Warriors is a non-profit organization catalyzing systemic change to solve the waste management crisis of the Indian Himalayan Region. Our work lies at the intersection of Climate Change, Biodiversity Habitat Conservation, and Informal livelihoods. With a team of 150+ Warriors spread across various locations nestled in the beautiful landscapes of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, we strive to enable access to effective waste management services in urban and rural areas, with a special focus on eco-sensitive and tourist areas. We focus on enabling better governance, addressing infrastructure and policy gaps, and activating communities to co-create solutions. By promoting local entrepreneurship, we aim to ignite agency in local communities to earn their identity through dignified livelihoods.

Waste Warriors is an equal opportunities employer with strong values and ethos. We are looking for dynamic individuals passionate about creating a deep meaningful impact in the eco-sensitive Himalayan Region where living conditions, weather, and accessibility could be very basic and limited. Working in these conditions requires a special attitude that we define as the Warrior Spirit, the RECIPE for our success. (Resilience, Empathy, Curiosity, Integrity, Passion, and Enthusiasm). As a team, we love what we do, and we never out on having fun!

Role: As a part of its new strategy launched during its 10th-anniversary celebrations, Waste Warriors has launched a new vertical as a part of its portfolio of projects under the domain of 'Advocacy and Research'. We are looking for candidates who enjoy research work and project management equally and are excited by the opportunity to play an important role in shaping this new vertical within Waste Warriors. While there would be a wide variety of projects to be implemented under this vertical, we are starting with our first project titled - Externalities Accounting.

Project Overview:

A large portion of the waste generated in our country is sachet plastic packaging and other multi-layered plastics (MLPs), as can be witnessed at dumping sites and as evidenced in brand audits. This waste is typically burnt, leading to severe air pollution or ending up in the waterways, resulting in pollution of our water and oceans. In some cases, these waste streams end up choking the drainage system, thereby resulting in life-threatening floods that affect the marginalized communities the most. In many heartbreaking cases, our wildlife has been found ingesting these plastics. One kilogram of littered plastic in eco-sensitive areas would have a higher cost than one kilogram littered in a large metro city.

Properly accounting for the cost of safely handling sachet waste will help local governments and public authorities strengthen and effectively implement the EPR guidelines, putting emphasis on reducing plastic pollution, as well as reuse and redesign measures.

Likewise, it aims to achieve the following long-term impacts:

Quantifying the external costs of handling sachet waste in the Asian continent

The dissemination of the findings will encourage further such studies, and aid in building the knowledge repository for the fight against Climate Change.

Roles and Responsibilities:

- Overall project coordination with all internal and external stakeholders

- Contribute to the development of the research framework in collaboration with project partners.

- Ensure data collection is accurate and on-time across all locations.

- Ensuring all project deliverables are met within the available budget.

- Tracking & maintaining all bills and expenses, etc, related to the project to ensure compliance with FCRA regulations.

- External Skills And Expertise

Must-Have Skills & Attributes:

- 5+ years of experience in working on research-related projects in the waste management/ environmental sustainability sector.

- A Master's Degree/ Ph.D. in Environmental Management or any similar program will be preferred.

- Highly skilled in project coordination & campaign management.

- Training the project team on various aspects of data collection, research methodology, etc as & when required

- Ability to work independently: Take initiative, identify issues, and work towards addressing them with a solutions-oriented mindset.

- Willingness to spend lots of time on the field & to travel extensively between the project sites.

- Very high on personal and professional integrity.

- Strong professional communication skills - both verbal and written.