Policy Manager to the Global Executive Director

Position Overview:

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than a thousand affiliated and invited researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.

The Global Executive Director (GED) of J-PAL—Iqbal Dhaliwal—helps formulate and implement J-PAL’s worldwide strategy and organization-wide policies, communicates J-PAL’s mission and accomplishments to external partners, and coordinates operations and fundraising. He works closely with the directors of each of J-PAL’s four verticals (Policy and Communications; Research, Education, and Training; Finance and Operations; and Evidence to Scale) as well as with the senior leadership of J-PAL’s regional and country offices around the world. As one of the primary representatives of J-PAL to external stakeholders, he manages a complex set of projects, travel, and internal/external relations.

The Manager works very closely with the GED to deliver on all of his worldwide responsibilities and execute J-PAL’s global strategy. This position is an excellent opportunity for those interested in international development, public policy, and organizational strategy and management. It provides a ringside view of how strategy is designed and executed at the senior-most leadership levels of a leading global evidence-to-policy organization. The position is tailor-made for people who like a diversity of work in their portfolio, a fast-paced role and learning environment, and the opportunity to work across the entire organization to gain a wide breadth of experiences, rather than being siloed narrowly in one domain. You will be part of the Global Policy and Communications (P&C) group that plays a key role in translating research by J-PAL researchers into actionable poverty alleviation policies around the world. You should be passionate about connecting the dots between economics and policy, and excited by the prospect of working with external stakeholders, including governments, donors, implementers, companies, and others, to form partnerships for evidence-informed development policy and to effectively communicate research lessons. The Manager will also work closely with colleagues in the Research, Education, and Training (RET) and Finance and Operations teams (F&O). 

This is a unique opportunity for the right candidate to gain direct exposure to J-PAL’s decision-making, governance, and operations, and to contribute significantly to J-PAL’s influence in advancing effective poverty reduction strategies globally. Candidates interested in applying to this role will be excited to work alongside J-PAL’s GED and in his work with faculty directors, professors Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Ben Olken of MIT, worldwide leadership/management team, the Board of Directors, and with various staff across the entire organization to achieve J-PAL’s mission.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions**):

Your work provides the foundation and direction for J-PAL’s growing worldwide efforts. Your work requires a breadth of knowledge and a depth of understanding of the organization’s growing work to support J-PAL’s operations and external influence globally and, therefore, the GED’s significant portfolio. As the Policy Manager to the GED, your work will entail:

• Policy, Communications, and Dissemination: Produce materials that “translate” economic research and other J-PAL messages into actionable policy outreach and communications, including articles, op-eds, blogs, evaluation summaries, policy insights, and other high-level deliverables, often co-authored with the GED. Work independently to put the GED’s vision into words, then work collaboratively with him to finalize dissemination pieces. Coordinate across J-PAL teams to lead preparations for the GED’s external engagements and presence, including, for example, creating PowerPoint presentations for the GED for his speeches at events and coordinating with other staff to formulate talking points for his speaking engagements.
• External Relationship Management: Build relationships with high-priority stakeholders, including affiliated researchers, donors, and partners. Coordinate with the Fundraising Lead as needed to manage and expand the GED’s donor outreach and stewardship. Draft and manage correspondence with these stakeholders. You will have the opportunity to attend conferences and events and to participate in the highest-level meetings with policymakers and donors alongside the GED. Create background summaries for and brief the GED on upcoming meetings and events, and direct follow-up with other participants and stakeholders on next steps.
• Research and analysis: Conduct desk research for policy memos, grant proposals, and sector-specific work and provide recommendations for the GED’s priorities and next steps. This will include desk research and drafting for co-authored blogs and articles with the GED on J-PAL’s mission and activities, as well as for the GED’s speaking engagements.
• Strategy: Work with the GED as he coordinates with the Board of Directors to refine J-PAL’s worldwide strategy, with J-PAL’s Executive Committee on quarterly decision-making, and with J-PAL’s regional leadership to help execute the strategy. Coordinate with staff across all of J-PAL to put together the agenda for annual senior leadership meetings, collate and draft Executive Committee proposals, and ensure minutes and actions are captured. You will attend all Board and Executive Committee meetings—the only person not belonging to the senior leadership team to do so—giving you a bird’s eye view of how strategy is set at the organizational level and how sensitive decisions are deliberated and made.
• Organizational coordination: In your unique role working with senior leadership and the GED, you operate as a bridge for communication and ideas to flow between different levels of the organization. In your role, you will develop a working knowledge of all of J-PAL’s organizational actions and advise teams on best practices for moving forward (i.e., when to make Executive Committee proposals, whom else to consult). You will also advise the GED on actions he can take, based on your understanding of the needs of the organization. 
• Operations: Work with senior staff worldwide after the above senior leadership, Board, and Executive Committee meetings to ensure that next steps are implemented and reported back to the GED, the Board, and the Executive Committee. You will also work with the GED’s Administrative Associate to ensure all the above work is coordinated with his calendar and other logistics. You will exercise a high level of confidentiality and discretion across all such strategic undertakings.
• Communications and Events: You will have a big planning and execution role in organizing key parts of some internal and external events like J-PAL anniversaries, donor convenings, policy roundtables, and senior leadership meetings that are hosted/owned directly by the GED.
• Additional roles at J-PAL: Independent from your work with the GED, you will have the opportunity to participate in and manage additional functional teams within the Policy and Communications group, depending on your interest and experience, and the needs of the team.
• Management: Coach and mentor junior staff, carry out recruitment duties including representing J-PAL at job fairs and making presentations at conferences and universities.

Supervision Received:

The Manager reports directly to the Global Executive Director. They will be assigned a coach from among the Policy Leads. They will take ownership of tasks and exercise good judgment in knowing when to seek feedback from leadership. They will show initiative in adding value to processes. The Manager is expected to be a self-starter and to exercise a high level of initiative, motivation, and proactivity to be able to see projects through from start to finish with limited supervision.

Supervision Exercised:

No direct supervision is exercised as of now. This may change in the future if the role expands and other members join the team. 

Qualifications & Skills: 

• Education: A Master’s degree in economics, public policy, or a closely related field. You should have a significant understanding of, and demonstrated strong interest in, international development and/or public policy. A good understanding of research methodology, economics, and econometrics as part of your coursework is a plus. 
• Experience: Five or more years of relevant and substantial work experience. You have experience of and/or demonstrated interest in international development, and in operational, organizational, and management issues. 
• Skills: Strong and error-free writing and analytical skills are a must. You are extremely detail-oriented, with the ability to organize information clearly and concisely without significant guidance. You are precise, clear, and creative. You are comfortable working in or learning computer applications, including Google Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, and Salesforce. 
• Organization: You are a strategic thinker and love project management. You can handle multiple projects at once, meet deadlines, and effectively manage your time. You have a clear and strong vision and appreciation for how your work improves the GED’s productivity and thereby contributes to the mission of the entire organization itself. 
• Communication: You are a thoughtful, clear, and concise communicator. You are comfortable engaging with senior leadership and providing direct upward feedback. You can adapt your communication style to suit different audiences to ensure your intentions and messages come across clearly. You must be able to diplomatically and confidently coordinate with senior leadership across J-PAL’s regional offices.
• Cultural competencies: You are comfortable and adept at working in a diverse and multicultural work environment with colleagues, partners, and policymakers from around the world. You display sensitivity and adaptability to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, and age differences. You enjoy the opportunity to travel both domestically and internationally. 
• Hardworking and flexible: The GED has an incredibly hectic work and travel schedule given his extensive internal and external worldwide portfolio. This means that his work, and by extension that of this position, will sometimes spill into weekends and holidays, mostly when there is a Monday deadline or event. You are hardworking and realize that at senior leadership positions, work never stops, and this requires the flexibility and willingness to adjust your own schedule, priorities, and deadlines to those faced by the GED. 
• Attitude: You love learning. You are passionate about international development policy and the rigorous research that informs it. You are agile, adaptable, self-motivated, and collaborative. You respond well to feedback and consistently follow up to ensure positive outcomes. You are curious about how senior-level management decisions are made and executed. A good sense of humor is always welcome!
• Travel: You will have the opportunity to travel with the GED on some of his domestic and international field visits, policy and research events, donor convenings, conferences, and visits to J-PAL projects and offices worldwide.