Position: Policy Manager

Organization: J-PAL South Asia

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

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Support J-PAL’s Policy Team in its mission of promoting evidence-informed scale-up’s: This will entail understanding, summarizing and supporting the dissemination of J-PAL evidence in various sectors; coordinating and communicating with the global policy sector-leads; and working with government, civil society partners, and donors to promote scale-up of evidence-based programs:
• Identification of evidence-based solutions ready to be scaled up: Work closely with the policy team for identification of evidence-based solutions that meet the contextual needs of the Government partners and policy priorities, cultivate buy-in from governments, coordinate with partners and donors, and actively fundraise for technical support. 
• Support scale-ups:                                         
  • i.   Engage regularly with government and non-government partners, research projects on scale-ups and researchers to identify ways in which the scale-up team can support the different partners and inform the pipeline of solutions emerging from new research.               
  • ii.   Develop frameworks and models for supporting governments and other partners to implement an evidence-based policy or program, including implementation toolkits and technical assistance partnerships.                                       
  • iii.   Write reports by distilling data and presenting it in an easy-to-understand manner for different kinds of audience, and be comfortable analysing and interpreting data (especially data related to monitoring and evaluation of programs).
• Stakeholder Engagement: Build and maintain relationships with key partners in governments, NGOs, foundations, and multilateral aid agencies in the region. 
• Knowledge Management:                                         
  • i.   Capture learnings on success and failures in scaling-up programs with quality and generating tools and knowledge products for internal and external sharing.                                        
  • ii.   Advance the learning agenda on scale-ups for J-PAL SA, Global and other regional offices by supporting development of new products and content to share lessons and knowledge.
• Others:
  • People Management: Manage and mentor P&T Associates and/ or Sr. P&T Associates, giving them support to perform better and prioritizing their learning and skill development.
  • Cross-vertical collaboration: Participate in cross-vertical collaboration opportunities such as providing systematic support to an ongoing research project, capacity building of internal staff, etc.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Education: Master's degree (preferably in economics, public policy, business, finance/financial services, or international development). A strong technical understanding of economics and/or evaluation is necessary to ensure that J-PAL SA’s findings are translated into general policy conclusions in a way that is both simple to follow but also accurate and undistorted.
• Experience: This position requires three or more years of relevant experience in addition to a relevant Master's degree. Experience working in livelihoods, finance, with MSMEs/financial services and programmes is highly preferable. Experience of working with state/central governments in India, and previous managerial experience, will be an added advantage. 
• Understanding Randomized Evaluations: Demonstrate a keen understanding of the value of randomized evaluations and their usefulness for policy decisions. 
• Skills and Competencies
  • Communication: Attention to detail and excellent writing and presentation skills for communicating policy lessons from academic papers in ways that policymakers understand. This requires clear, precise, non-technical writing, and creativity in presentation. 
  • Proven ability to handle several different projects/tasks at one time, successfully complete tasks assigned, and meet deadlines.
  • High level of attention to detail.
  • Strong interest in international development policy, South Asia development, and/or programme evaluation as demonstrated by coursework and professional experience. 
  • Language: Fluency in English (written and oral).