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

J-PAL Africa seeks a Policy Manager – Scaling a Menstrual Hygiene and Stigma Intervention to advance our mission of reducing poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. The Policy Manager 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 (https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluation/addressing-menstrual-stigma-and-hygiene-improve-education-and-psychosocial-well-being) 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 Policy Manager will be embedded full-time within the Ministry of Education in Antananarivo and will serve as a key liaison between government, implementing partners, and the research team. They will support the definition and operationalization of a scalable intervention model aligned with the core components of Kilonga, coordinate across stakeholders to maintain fidelity during adaptation, and contribute to the development of monitoring systems to track implementation quality and inform iterative decision-making.

This is an exciting opportunity for a candidate with strong relationship management and project execution skills, a commitment to advancing gender equity in education, and a passion for supporting the scale-up of evidence-informed policies. The role is backed 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 policy manager 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 J-PAL’s primary liaison within the Ministry of Education, ensuring strong day-to-day coordination with key government counterparts.
  • Build and manage strategic relationships with stakeholders, including Ministry officials, CARE Madagascar and CARE France, the research team at PSE & Nova, Malagasy researcher partners, local NGOs, and donors.
  • Facilitate regular coordination and alignment meetings across partners to co-design the Kilonga scale-up strategy and maintain a shared understanding, ensuring decisions remain grounded in evidence.
  • Represent JPAL in government-led working groups, strategic forums, bilateral and multilateral engagements to sustain buy-in and momentum.
  • Draft internal and external updates, briefings, and presentations to communicate progress and insights to stakeholders
  • Engage with ministry staff and the ministry’s technical committee for impact evaluation to identify 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
  • Help adapt Kilonga for national scale, drawing from research insights and help coordinate small-scale pilots to test specific adaptations.
  • Coordinate a diagnostic research study across multiple communes in 16 regions that informs adaptations of the Kilonga intervention at scale
  • Support the development of implementation plans, training materials, and operational guidance for regional rollout.
  • Coordinate alignment among stakeholders and provide input for decision-making on key design issues.
• 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).
  • Collaborate on 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
  • Identify opportunities for 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.
  • Facilitate learning sessions across stakeholder groups to reflect on implementation experiences and refine the scaling approach.
  • Document lessons learned and support the development of materials for internal learning and external dissemination, within Madagascar and globally.

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.
  • At least 5 years of relevant work experience, including experience working directly with governments or NGOs in policy implementation or program management.
  • Demonstrated ability to read and analyze rigorous quantitative research, including randomized evaluations, as well as interpret and share policy lessons from randomized evaluations.
  • Demonstrated ability to build cross-organizational partnerships, develop new projects, and mobilize individuals to collaborate within evolving circumstances. 
  • Advanced writing and oral presentation skills in English and 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 in government or with a government-embedded policy team/unit.
  • 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