Website Poverty Action Lab
About J-PAL
J-PAL is a global research center working to reduce poverty and fight climate change by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 500 top researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts innovative research and builds powerful partnerships to solve the world’s greatest challenges. We build partnerships with governments, NGOs, donors, and others to share this knowledge, scale up effective programs, and advance evidence-informed decision-making. For more information visit povertyactionlab.org.
J-PAL South Asia (SA) has been working with over 20 state and union territory governments in India and with over nine federal government agencies to embed evidence-based solutions within existing Government systems to reach millions of households and individuals. Across these different partnerships, J-PAL SA has played a critical convening role followed by a knowledge and learning role that provides continued support to partners for the successful at-scale implementation of these solutions.
About the position
J-PAL South Asia seeks an Associate Director-Policy (AD-Policy) to lead its portfolio of evidence-based programs being scaled-up by Government partners in India and organize strategies for catalyzing adoption at scale of evidence-based programs.
The AD-Policy will play a convening role in bringing together the work done by the Evidence to Scale (E2S) vertical at J-PAL’s Global office and with our other regional offices to translate rigorous evidence into policy and practice at scale. In India, the role will include working closely with government and non-government partners to embed and successfully implement solutions, fundraise, strengthen partner relationships, and expand the reach of our evidence insights. The AD-Policy will shape the strategy and execution of new projects that J-PAL SA adds to its scale-up menu and support ongoing management of projects throughout the adaptation and design, piloting, and scaling lifecycle. AD-Policy will play a critical role in ensuring the quality and viability of these projects and partnerships.
This role will be a high visibility position and will have the unique opportunity to engage with senior government officials, leading NGO partners, donors and researchers.
The AD-Policy must have a passion for economic development, experience developing and implementing large scale, multi-stakeholder projects strategy, and an exceptional ability to express complex policy and research in written, spoken, and multimedia formats.
As a senior member of the J-PAL South Asia team, the AD-Policy will work closely with the Director of Policy and Communications and the policy team to design and lead the annual scaleup strategy execution. The AD-Policy will also be the member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) for J-PAL SA office and work closely with the rest of the SMT on various internal and external strategic issues relevant for the country office.
This position reports to the Director of Policy and Communications.
Key Responsibilities
● Design and lead the execution of the annual strategy for catalyzing adoption of evidence-based programs to advance top organizational goals, including disseminating evidence that meets our threshold for scale-up through high-quality audience-sensitive content.
● Work with the policy team to understand where evidence-based policies and programs may be relevant to local policy priorities, cultivate buy-in from governments, coordinate with partners and donors, and actively fundraise for technical support for scaling-up programs.
● Capture learnings on success and failures on scaling with quality and generating tools and knowledge products for internal and external sharing. Advance the learning agenda on scale ups for J-PAL South Asia, Global and other regional offices by creating new products and content to share lessons and knowledge.
● Develop models for supporting governments and others to implement an evidence-based policy or program, including implementation toolkits and technical assistance partnerships
● Provide mentorship and manage the scale-ups team comprising 2-3 core members and work closely with the Policy and Communications team members of J-PAL SA including J-PAL’s sector, state partnerships teams, and the fundraising team.
● Lead the identification of evidence-based solutions that meet the contextual needs of the Government partners in collaboration with the policy team.
● Engage regularly with govt and non-government partners, research projects on scale-ups and PIs through field visits to research sites, and meetings with staff and leadership to identify ways the scale-up team can support the different government partners as well as inform the pipeline of solutions emerging from new research.
● Proactively identify and execute additional activities to advance the organization’s success and sustainability.
Qualifications
Your leadership, interpersonal skills, aptitude for organizational development, and passion for social policy make you an ideal candidate for Associate Director.
● Advanced degree in Economics, Political Science, Public Policy, or related field
● At least ten years of work experience in government, development, academic, or research organizations. Candidates with prior experience of working with governments in India would be strongly preferred
● Strategic thinker and committed leader who can design effective processes to communicate in a manner that increases its prominence among the public, practitioners, and policymakers
● Ability to develop high-level relationships with partners, including governments, donors, and academic researchers
● Project management skills, including attention to operational and creative details and ability to manage multiple projects efficiently
● Track record of building the capacity of colleagues through mentorship and workshops and one-to-one support
● Proficiency in a language other than English is a plus, mainly Hindi or a regional Indian language
● Passionate about the need for rigorous research to inform development policy
● Personal attributes of curiosity, self-awareness, humility, and a love for learning
***Candidates must be authorized to work inIndia.
To apply for this job please visit jpalsouth.asia.
