Policy Manager, Education- J-PAL South Asia

Organization: J-PAL South Asia (J-PAL SA) at the Institute of Financial Management and Research (IFMR)

Location: New Delhi, India

Length of Commitment: Minimum 24 months

Start Date: ASAP

Minimum Education and Experience: Relevant Master’s + 4 years full-time experience

The Policy team at J-PAL South Asia (J-PAL SA) disseminates findings of J-PAL’s research, develops relationships with government, civil society, and academic stakeholders, catalyzes scale-ups and replications of effective projects, and assists in conceptualizing new research projects. The team works closely with the global J-PAL office based at MIT to align the regional strategy with broader organizational objectives. J-PAL SA seeks a Policy Manager to contribute to its mission of promoting evidence-informed policy in J-PAL’s Education sector. J-PAL’s Education sector focuses on identifying policies and programs effective in improving access to and quality of education.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Support J-PAL’s Policy Team in its mission of promoting evidence-informed policy in the Education Sector: This will entail designing the Annual strategy for the sector in conjunction with senior management, devise and oversee the execution of partnerships in the sector. The candidate will lead on understanding, summarizing, and supporting the dissemination of J-PAL evidence in the Education sector; coordinating and communicating with the global policy lead for the sector; and working with government, civil society partners, and donors to promote the production and use of rigorous evidence . The candidate will also be expected to build a thorough understanding of state/central/NGO programmes in the education sector in India, along with an understanding of partners in the ecosystem.
• Please note that this role will entail between 2-3 days of travel across India per month. 
• Partnership management: The selected candidate will work closely with Senior Manager(s) and Associate Director(s) to lead and manage relationships with researchers, relevant government partners, civil society partners, multilateral agencies and donors, to understand policy priorities and promote the use and production of rigorous evidence. 
  • With government partners, the Policy Manager will be responsible for establishing and leading partnerships with government bodies at the state/central level, and devising the strategy for policy advisory and new research for government partners
• Establishing new research partnerships:
  • Work with government/non-government/donor partners to understand new programmes/innovations within Education, and support on establishing research partnerships with researchers
  • For each partnership, provide support on building consensus on learning objectives, research design, and identifying funding opportunities
  • Lead on fundraising efforts for broader research agendas on thematic areas of priority
• Helping partners understand and use existing evidence: 
  • Draft external and internal notes synthesizing evidence from J-PAL evaluations related to Education 
  • Write about J-PAL’s evaluations in relevant documents with clear, accurate, and non-technical language. Analyze and contextualize research results from J-PAL’s ongoing and completed Education sector work for evidence dissemination through customized decks, briefs, reports, and op-eds.
  • Undertake due diligence on the policy landscape and existing evidence, and identify scalable, tested solutions to challenges within education
  • Represent J-PAL SA at public events and in meetings with relevant stakeholders, to share and present evidence.
  • Track policy developments in the Education space and communicate these developments internally to the team
  • Help prepare senior management for meetings with background research and meeting notes/memos.
• 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 and public goods: 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, education, or international development). A strong technical understanding of impact evaluations is preferred.
• Experience: This position requires four or more years of relevant experience in addition to a relevant Master's degree. Demonstrated interest and experience in education policy or program evaluation will be considered favourable.
• 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 program evaluation as demonstrated by coursework and professional experience.
  • Language: Fluency in English (written and oral). Fluency in an Indian language (written and oral) will be considered favourable.