Policy Manager - Health (Sector Lead) - J-PAL South Asia

Organisation: 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

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

The Policy team at J-PAL South Asia (J-PAL SA at IFMR) disseminates findings of J-PAL’s research, develops relationships with government, civil society, and academic stakeholders, catalyses scale-ups and replications of effective projects, and assists in conceptualising new research projects. The team works closely with the global J-PAL office based at MIT to align the regional strategy with broader organisational objectives.

J-PAL SA seeks a Policy Manager to contribute to its mission of promoting evidence-informed policy in J-PAL’s Health Sector. J-PAL’s Health sector focuses on identifying policies and programs effective in increasing access to quality health services, and improving health outcomes. Descriptions of the programmes, key responsibilities, and other requirements for the role are as detailed below:

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Support J-PAL’s Policy Team in its mission of promoting evidence-informed policy in the Health Sector: This will entail understanding, summarizing and supporting the dissemination of J-PAL evidence in the health 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 in the Health sector:

1. Evidence Generation: Lead networking and follow-up with relevant government partners, civil society partners, donors and media to understand their policy priorities and promote the use and production of rigorous evidence.

Catalyse new randomized evaluation research by matching innovative projects in the region with J-PAL affiliated professors in the sector.

Secure buy-in from governments and other organizations to launch pilots and evaluations of innovations in health.

  For each partnership, the selected candidate is expected to provide support on building consensus on learning objectives, research design, and identifying funding opportunities.

1. Evidence Synthesis and Dissemination: Develop dissemination notes, toolkits and other knowledge products that synthesise and summarize evidence from J-PAL evaluations related to Health (e.g., evidence summaries, briefs, policy memos, concept notes, letters, presentations).

Write about J-PAL’s evaluations in relevant documents with clear, accurate, and non-technical language. Analyse and contextualize research results from J-PAL’s ongoing and completed Health sector work for evidence dissemination through customized decks, briefs, reports and op-eds.

Represent J-PAL SA at policy-relevant events and in meetings with relevant stakeholders, to share and present evidence.

Track policy developments in the Health space and communicate these developments internally to the team.

Help prepare senior management for meetings with background research and meeting notes/memos.

1. Stakeholder Engagement: Build and maintain relationships with key partners in governments, NGOs, foundations, and multilateral aid agencies in the region.
2. Provide additional support to the P&T teams as needed.
3. Sector Management: Stay up to date on literature and policy developments in the sector, lead the development and execution of annual strategy for the health sector portfolio, and support fundraising efforts as and when needed.

   People Management: Manage and mentor P&T Associates and/ or Sr. P&T Associates, giving them support to perform better and prioritising 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, Health, 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 Health policy or program evaluation will be considered favourably.

Understanding Randomised Evaluations: Demonstrate a keen understanding of the value of randomised 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 favourably.