Policy Manager - Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana (SJY) - J-PAL South Asia

Start Date (earliest): April, 2025

Length of Commitment: 2 years (can be extended based on performance and requirement)

Education: Master’s Degree (Policy, Economics, other relevant fields)

Organization: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR

Language requirement: Hindi, English

Location: Based at J-PAL office, Patna, Bihar

Principal Investigators (PIs): Prof. Abhijit Banerjee (MIT), Prof. Esther Duflo (MIT), Dr. Shagun Sabarwal (CoImpact), Dr. Jyoti Prasad Mukhopadhyay (IFMR/KREA), Dr. Sharan M.R. (University of Maryland)

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:

J-PAL SA supports JEEViKA, Bihar state’s Rural Livelihoods Mission, in their implementation of the Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana (SJY) program. The SJY scheme is the first large-scale government implementation of a multi-layered livelihoods program (the “Graduation Approach”) with the objective to scale up the program to 200,000 ultra-poor households across Bihar. In addition to evaluating the SJY program, J-PAL SA supports JEEViKA in the scale up of the program through process evaluation research, randomised evaluations and by strengthening JEEViKA’s data management and use.

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 the government machinery as a representative of an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. The PM will report to the Senior Policy Manager and will work closely with the SJY Program Director, SJY Program Management Unit, Principal Investigators (PIs), the Research and Policy Team at J-PAL SA. 

The PM will represent the J-PAL team within the SJY program management structure and play a critical role to support overall learning and knowledge development of the SJY program unit. The PM should have previous experience of working closely with the government and in preparing high quality knowledge products and with MIS systems.

Key Responsibilities 

Policy Manager works closely with program stakeholders including members of the SJY PMU, 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 policy deliverables from the end of J-PAL SA

Defining and implementing a knowledge management strategy for SJY

Ideate, drive and develop high quality knowledge products in collaboration with other project partners

Work closely with Program Director and PMU staff on high quality documentation

Ensure dissemination of necessary information to promote the learnings and highlights of the SJY project

Work with the SJY Data unit to strengthen data based decision making by co-developing appropriate reports, visualizations and set-up best practices for the MIS

Provide inputs to drive J-PAL’s overall strategy for scaling Graduation Approach and participate in external meetings with relevant stakeholders

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

Deep understanding of MIS systems

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

Ability to deal with unstructured and dynamic environments

Prior experience in conducting process evaluation assessment

Note on Work Authorizations:

Candidates must have work authorization to work in India.