Policy Associate - Scaling a Menstrual Hygiene & Stigma Intervention, J-PAL Africa

J-PAL Africa seeks a Policy Associate – Scaling a Menstrual Hygiene and Stigma Intervention to advance our mission of reducing poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. The Associate will support the Ministry of Education in Madagascar to adapt and scale Kilonga—a proven school-based intervention designed by CARE to improve education and health outcomes by addressing menstrual stigma and promoting better hygiene. The intervention was rigorously evaluated through a randomized study and led to important improvements in girls’ learning, hygiene practices, menstrual stigma, and mental health. The scale-up aims to reach approximately 712,000 students across 1,800 schools in 16 regions in Madagascar, addressing the learning crisis in one of the poorest regions of the world.

The Associate will be embedded full-time within the Ministry of Education in Antananarivo and will play a critical role in coordinating stakeholders, supporting adaptation, pilot and monitoring efforts, and helping ensure decisions remain grounded in evidence. This is an exciting opportunity for a candidate with strong organizational and interpersonal skills, a commitment to gender equity in education, and an interest in applying research to real-world challenges. The role is supported by J-PAL Africa’s broader policy team and represents a critical contribution to a large-scale, government-led education initiative grounded in rigorous impact evaluation. The associate will also work closely with the research team at Paris School of Economics (led by Karen Macours) and Nova SBE (co-PI Duncan Webb), who will make regular visits to Madagascar to support the project.

Key Responsibilities

• The embedded staff member will execute the following responsibilities in close collaboration with the research team, J-PAL’s policy, education and training teams, and local implementation partners:
  • Strategic Partnerships and stakeholder engagement
  • Serve as a daily point of contact within the Ministry of Education for project-related coordination.
  • Maintain relationships with stakeholders, including Ministry officials, CARE Madagascar and CARE France, the research team at PSE & Nova, Malagasy researcher partners, local NGOs, and donors.
  • Help prepare and facilitate regular coordination and alignment meetings with key stakeholders to co-design the Kilonga scale-up strategy and maintain a shared understanding grounded in evidence.
  • Document meeting outcomes, track action items, and support effective communication across partners.
  • Draft internal and external updates, briefings, and presentation materials to share progress and insights with stakeholders
  • Engage with ministry staff and the ministry’s technical committee for impact evaluation to assist in identifying needs, explore opportunities and assist co-design of rigorous impact evaluations on wider initiatives and programs of the Ministry of Education.
• Supporting Kilonga Programme Adaptation, Piloting and Scale
  • Support the adaptation of Kilonga for national scale, drawing from research insights and assisting with small-scale pilots to test specific adaptations.
  • Help coordinate alignment among stakeholders and provide input for decision-making on key design issues.
  • Support with the rollout of a diagnostic research study across multiple communes in 16 regions to inform adaptations of the Kilonga intervention at scale.
  • Support the development of implementation plans, training materials, and operational guidance for regional rollout.
  • Supporting Monitoring, Evaluation, and Adaptive Management
  • Support the development of a monitoring framework to evaluate the progress of the pilots and early scale-up phases (including collection and analysis of cost data and outcome indicators).
  • Assist with local data collection activities carried out by local research partners or survey firms during the diagnostic and pilot stages and related data analysis.
  • Consolidate and synthesize field findings into memos, presentations, and strategy notes to inform timely decision-making and program adjustments.
• Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building
  • Support the design and delivery of capacity-building workshops on data and M&E for Ministry staff and support their design and delivery in collaboration with J-PAL’s internal teams
  • Help document key lessons and insights from the scale-up process for internal learning and future replication.
  • Collaborate with J-PAL teams to prepare materials for external dissemination (e.g., blogs, presentations).

Qualifications

• Required:
  • Master’s degree in public policy, education, development economics, or a related social science field, ideally with training in research or evaluation methods.
  • Demonstrated ability to read and analyze rigorous quantitative research, including randomized evaluations, as well as interpret and share policy lessons from randomized evaluations.
  • Advanced writing and oral presentation skills in French, particularly the ability to communicate technical topics in an accessible manner.
  • An entrepreneurial mindset, resourceful in addressing challenges, and deriving satisfaction from problem-solving while collaborating closely with multiple stakeholders.
  • Flexibility and resilience to conduct field work in settings with logistical and environmental constraints
  • Strong skills in Excel, Word, and Powerpoint, as well as Stata or R.
  • Experience working in Africa. 
• Highly Advantageous:
  • Experience working in Madagascar/speaking Malagasy.
  • Experience working directly in or with governments or NGOs in policy implementation or program management.
  • Demonstrated ability to build cross-organizational partnerships, develop new projects, and mobilize individuals to collaborate within evolving circumstances. 
  • Demonstrated ability to conduct process monitoring or implementation research. 
  • Experience working with administrative data
  • Experience in qualitative or quantitative data collection
  • Familiarity with girls’ education, menstrual health, or WASH-related programming.

Additional Information

Location: Antananarivo, Madagascar (with regular travel to regions)

Duration: 18 months, with possibility of extension

Start period: Between 1st September and 1st October October 2025