“Have some out-of-the-box ideas for conducting a training? A burning desire to test a specific method to catalyze behavior change among community health workers? As a Field Manager, there’s tremendous room for testing a new approach and pushing the boundaries for creativity.”

Rishad Gambhir, Field Manager

So you’re thinking about becoming a Dimagi Field Manager. Wonderful! Our Field Managers are based all over the world and are the main driving forces behind implementing our technologies. While Field Manager life is rewarding, it definitely isn’t your typical nine to five. Before you sign up, please read below to learn about life in the field with Dimagi.

Life on the Road: Our Field Managers travel a lot. While they have time to vacation and decompress, they’re often living on the road, navigating new places, carrying only a backpack. They may not know the local language, and due to the nature of their work, they often end up working long hours. Being a Field Manager isn’t your standard office gig, which takes some getting used to.

Working With Organizations: When you arrive at your project site, you’ll spend a few weeks at a time helping an organization implement their mobile solutions. While this is one of the best parts of being an FM, it also presents its own set of challenges. You may disagree with your partner organization’s decisions, or be frustrated by the limited amount of support you receive from them.

“Are you cool with bucket showers?” When working in rural, poor areas abroad, it’s likely that you won’t have access to amenities that you take for granted at home. For periods of time, you may have to trade in takeout for the local cuisine, warm baths for cold bucket showers, toilets for holes in the ground, and air conditioning for the heat. You will also often go with limited or without internet and phone connectivity and cannot take electricity for granted as power outages are common.

Working Alone: During your time on a project, it’s likely that you will be assigned to projects where you are the only Dimagi staff member. This means that you’ll have to travel alone to project sites and spend your days working on the assigned project with the implementing organization’s staff.

Limited Mobility at Project Sites: Depending on the project site location or safety, Field Managers may be unable to roam freely around their local surroundings. This means that during the day you are working on site and at night you may have to stay in your room or hotel. Female Field Managers working in conservative areas may find that their movement is further restricted, and need to rely on local staff to escort them to different locations.

Working with Other Dimagineers: Our Field Managers can pack up for a month alone, but they also draw their energy from others. Whether they’re away in the field or back in the office, our Field Managers are constantly collaborating with other Dimagineers. This happens while troubleshooting an app, writing a proposal, working on a side project, or just asking for help. We use Skype to connect our global team, hold regular Summits so that Field Managers can spend time together, and maintain open office environments that prioritize communication and collaboration.

At Dimagi, we often discuss how some of the most challenging aspects of life as a Field Manager are oftentimes the most rewarding. Life on the road gives you the chance to travel to cool places, working on the ground with organizations is extremely rewarding, and foreign food can be quite tasty! We asked a few of our Field Managers about their favorite parts of their roles, and this is what they said:

  • Meeting, working with, and learning from people who are energetic, passionate, and fun.
  • Consulting with a variety of organizations and stakeholders, from rural health workers to government officials.
  • The ability to be independent and determine how much or how little responsibility you want.
  • The chance to make a direct impact in your work, including using mobile tools that you have created, working directly with end-users, and enabling people to access exciting, usable technology.
  • The ability to experience new cultures, embark on fun weekend trips, and travel beyond your project sites.
  • Experience new cultures, including learning about different cultural working styles.
  • And most importantly, working to improve people’s day-to-day lives. Because isn’t that what it’s all about!

We hope that this gives you a better idea of life as a Field Manager. If you’re interested in learning about what happens after your first year as a Field Manager, make sure to check out this other post. If you have any other questions about life in the field, please email info@dimagi.com and we will put you in touch with some of our Field Managers directly. Thanks!