Position: Director –Policy, Training and Communications (PTC) 

Organization: J-PAL

Location: New Delhi

Apply: https://apply.povertyactionlab.org/

Language Requirement: English

Length of Commitment: Three years or more

Responsibilities:

Strategy and Execution: 

Create, execute and drive the evidence to policy strategy for J-PAL SA across 3 core portfolios in collaboration with the Executive Director, a core team of Associate Directors and the rest of the senior leadership team at SA: Policy, Training, and Communication. 

• Policy Portfolio: Lead a team of 20+ associate, managers, senior managers and associate directors, to design and drive a transformative Policy agenda that continues to establish J-PAL SA as a leader in the field of evidence driven policy making in South Asia. Liaise with J-PAL SA’s partners across civil society organisations, government partners, donors and multilaterals and oversee J-PAL SA’s ongoing scale-ups, in India. Guide and advise on process evaluation within J-PAL SA’s scale up work, and documentation and project management where necessary, along with expansion of scale-ups of proven programs on an opportunity basis. Monitoring and analysing performance of key sectoral initiatives and projects, issues/challenges and recommend improvements after discussion with key stakeholders.
• Training Portfolio: Plan and Oversee the evaluation capacity building work at J-PAL SA and the CLEAR SA Centre in close collaboration with the AD Training and CLEAR SA Director. Guide AD-Training in the expansion of strategic partnerships with organizations and individuals to help J-PAL SA and CLEAR expand its reach across South Asian countries. Improve the results based management system for the J-PAL SA’s training team’s operations. Contribute to the global evaluation knowledge products in coordination with J-PAL regional and global offices, IPA, and CLEAR centres.
• Communications Portfolio: In collaboration with AD P&C, design and lead the communication strategy for brand building and enhancing J-PAL SA’s brand and value via media and communication channels, both internally and externally. This includes producing materials and management of stakeholders through internal and external communication channels and forums. Facilitate support for org-wide Initiatives from the Communication & branding lens. 

People Management:

• Mentor, guide and coach the team of Associate Directors across the three portfolios. Guide portfolio heads and support their teams for effective performance in meeting organizations’ strategic and tactical objectives.
• Foster a healthy work culture within teams across the portfolios, aligned to J-PAL SA’s values and mission.
• Periodically review and restructure roles and responsibilities and expected results of vertical heads. Strategically plan for future resources and allocation of the same.
•  Innovate new systems and practices that aid continuous improvement in our work in the field; and enable their easy adoption across portfolios.
• Establish a collaborative relationship with all other verticals within the organization; Support the Global PTC teams on specific initiatives, when required.

Leadership:

• Join J-PAL SA’s leadership team as a champion and strategic thought partner. Provide strategic inputs, contribute to decision-making and enable execution of decisions at an organizational level as a key member of the Leadership Team at J-PAL SA.
• Proactively identify and execute additional activities to advance the organization's success and sustainability.
• Collaborate and drive key leadership initiatives, as required, as a key member of the Senior Management Team at J-PAL Global.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Economics, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Education, Public Policy, Public Administration, and business studies and related disciplines. 

Minimum Professional Experience:

• Fifteen plus (15+) years of progressively responsible in relevant fields and sectors.

Required Competencies:

• Keen understanding of government and institutional processes in India, as well as the ecosystems surrounding research, policy, impact, data and philanthropy;
• Experience with engaging policy makers and influencing outcomes at the sector level;
• Proven previous experience in research, monitoring and evaluation - ideally within the social impact sector; Sound knowledge and understanding of randomized evaluations
• Experience with digital transformation strategies to support data analysis and visualization
• Strong technical competence in monitoring, learning and impact evaluation field. Strategic thinking; ability to develop and implement transformational initiatives;
• Exceptional Communication skills – written and oral;
• Excellent proposal/ report writing skills & technical documentation;
• Entrepreneurial, creative outlook, perspective and ability to work under minimal supervision
• Strong management ability: a clear focus on results, sets goals, plans and prioritizes effectively, monitors quality and progress of work against plans; Proven ability to design and produce high-quality complex technical reports and proposals;
• Strong people management skills; Ability to inspire teams to go over & beyond the minimum requirements;
• Part of senior leadership in previous organisation(s);
•  Ability and flexibility for frequent travel across India and abroad. Compensation: J-PAL South Asia offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits. Location(s): This position will be based in New Delhi but will require frequent travel to all areas where J-PAL South Asia operates.