Job Opportunity for Policy Manager, Scale-ups ASPIRE at Poverty Action Lab

About the Organization:

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) J-PAL was established in 2003 as a research center at the Economics Department at MIT. Since then, it has grown into a global network of researchers who use randomized evaluations to answer critical policy questions in the fight against poverty. J-PAL is propelled by a first-rate team dedicated to research, policy, training, and other vital work, supporting J-PAL’s mission to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence.

J-PAL South Asia, which is based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in India, analyses and disseminates research results and builds partnerships with policymakers to ensure that policy is driven by evidence, and that programs proven effective are scaled up. We have a growing number of partnerships in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Project Descriptions:

To deepen and expand our work in collaboration with state and central governments in India, J-PAL South Asia recently launched the Alliance for Scaling Policy Impact through Research and Evidence (ASPIRE). ASPIRE seeks to bring together governments, donors and CSO partners with the goal of generating new policy insights and evidence to inform the design and implementation of policies and programs that improve development outcomes. ASPIRE is a joint initiative of J-PAL South Asia at IFMR and Veddis Foundation.

Under ASPIRE, Math-Games is a key project that is currently being scaled-up across States. Math Games is an innovative math curriculum that aims to develop children’s intuitive concepts of number and geometry, informed by decades of cognitive development research, and rigorously evaluated through three randomized evaluations in Delhi. We find that children exposed to these games exhibited gains innate as school math skills compared to those who were not exposed to the games. The core principles of Math Games overlap with the aims and content of national policies like NEP, NIPUN Lakshyas and NCF. J-PAL SA is working with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Government of Maharashtra and NGO Pratham to scale up Math Games across States. J-PAL SA is also exploring another unique pathway to scale based on capacity building of other NGOs to implement Math Games in collaboration with State governments. This is an excellent opportunity to impact the foundational numeracy skills and math learning outcomes of children by obtaining a strong understanding of how children learn mathematics, the economic and policy issues relating to early childhood education and what it takes to scale evidence-based programs with other NGO Partners.

About the position:

J-PAL South Asia at the Institute for Financial Management and Research seeks qualified applicants for the position of Policy Manager (PM). The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand overall program management and in-depth experience of working with NGOs and the government machinery as a representative of an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. The PM will primarily work on scaling up Math Games in collaboration with NGO partners and will also contribute towards other scale-up projects under ASPIRE. The additional projects focus on Gender, Crime Violence and Conflict, and Education as thematic areas.

The PM will report to the Senior Policy Manager and will work closely with the ASPIRE Unit Director, Principal Investigators (PIs), the Research and Policy Team at J-PAL SA.

The PM will represent the J-PAL team within the ecosystem of NGO partners, donors and play a critical role to support overall learning and knowledge development within the ASPIRE unit. The PM should have previous experience of working closely with NGOs in the Education sector, the government and in preparing high quality knowledge products.

Key Responsibilities

• Policy Manager works closely with program stakeholders including NGO Partners, Government, donors, J-PAL SA policy team, academic researchers assigned to the project and other staff to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to:
• Oversee and drive the achievement of programmatic deliverables of the NGO certificate course from the end of J-PAL SA
• Define and implement a knowledge management strategy for Math Games scale-up in collaboration with NGOs
• Ideate, drive and develop high quality knowledge products in collaboration with other team members
• Bring together a collaborative to share, learn and iterate the intervention for scale and managing expectations of stakeholders with varying motivations
• Work closely with ASPIRE Unit Director on planning and implementing other scale-up projects
• Ensure dissemination of necessary information to promote the learnings and highlights from the new pathway to scale which leverages collaborations with NGOs
• Provide inputs to drive J-PAL’s overall strategy for scaling up evidence based projects and participate in external meetings with relevant stakeholders
• People Management: Manage and mentor Policy Associates and/ or ASPIRE Fellows 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.
• Maintain compliance with all J-PAL protocols and policies

Desired Qualifications and Experience:

• Master’s degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, or related fields
• Relevant Experience-5 years or more
• Willingness to travel
• Excellent management/ organizational skills and able to solve unexpected problems
• Ability to persuasively and accurately describe our work orally and in writing in a manner that builds enthusiasm and motivates others to want to partner with us. Outstanding writing skills and the ability to communicate effectively with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy related to preparation of materials and presentations
  Familiarity with RCTs
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and team player
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations focusing on building and strengthening relevant networks
• Ability to deal with unstructured and dynamic environments
• Prior experience in conducting process evaluation assessments
• Enterprising in building the coalition and partnerships
• Proven ability to handle several different tasks at one time, successfully plan, and complete tasks, and meet deadlines while ensuring high quality work

Note on Work Authorizations:

• Candidates must have work authorization to work in India.