Scale-up Manager - J-PAL Latin America and the Caribbean

About J-PAL:

J-PAL LAC is a non-profit research center that aims to reduce global poverty by generating rigorous scientific evidence on which social programs and policies can make a real difference in people's lives. Formed by a network of academics worldwide, J-PAL measures the impact of programs with randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and uses these results to influence the design of public policies. The J-PAL network has conducted evaluations across dozens of countries, organized in 11 sectors. In Latin America, J-PAL LAC supports a growing portfolio of evaluations across the region.

J-PAL organizes its work into three main areas:

• Research: We partner with donors to create initiatives that fund research. We also implement RCT from data collection to data analysis.
• Public policy: we summarize the results of the investigation, create alliances, and provide technical assistance to governments.
• Training: We lead the executive training and develop a rigorous online education to build regional knowledge.

The local grounding of J-PAL is essential for its success. The seven regional J-PAL offices are located at leading universities on five continents. In Latin America and the Caribbean, J-PAL LAC is headquartered at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC Chile). J-PAL LAC also has a Memorandum of Understanding with Insper for work in Brazil and the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala for work in Central America.

In 2019, J-PAL founders Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee won the Nobel Prize in Economics "for their experimental approach to alleviating poverty."

Our Office:

J-PAL LAC is based at UC Chile in Santiago, where most of our staff is located. We also have a team in São Paulo, based at Insper, teams in Guatemala and Mexico, and project staff in several LAC countries. We strive for a collegiate, horizontal, and amicable culture where peers can learn from each other and are not afraid to innovate. The office is led by Executive Director Paula Pedro, originally from Brazil, and Deputy Executive Director Claudia Macías, originally from Mexico. Paula leads the office's overall strategy and fundraising and has a more external-facing role. Claudia oversees our operations and develops strategic partnerships, especially with Governments. 

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion:

Embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion is essential to address poverty's complex causes and consequences. To advance our mission, J-PAL LAC must draw on diverse experiences from our staff and affiliated researchers to ask better questions and identify better solutions. We are working to increase the limited representation of individuals from underrepresented economic backgrounds. We are committed to self-reflection, learning, and dialogue to nurture understanding across differences. Together, we will build an equitable, inclusive culture where everyone is respected, empowered, and heard.

About the team, project, or initiative you would be working with:

The Manager/ Sr. Manager will support J-PAL LAC’s scale-up efforts—that is, office-wide activities aimed at promoting the large-scale adoption of programs with evidence of effectiveness. Evidence-based policy design typically begins by piloting innovations at a small scale, rigorously evaluating their impacts, and expanding them within the same context if successful, a strategy widely used by governments to test new or adapted programs. Likewise, programs that are effective in one setting may be adopted in other contexts. However, there can be important differences in context even within the same country or state, so it is important to factor in administrative capacity to implement the intervention on a broader scale and to consider potential general equilibrium effects.

The initial commitment is for one year, but could be eventually extended.

Summary of the Role:

We will appoint the selected candidate at either the Manager or Senior Manager level, depending on their experience and readiness for the role. 

Understanding how challenging scale-ups can be, J-PAL LAC is reshaping its work to accelerate the adoption of evidence-based policies and programs at scale. These scale-up efforts include advancing on path-to-scale research (could be by supporting the projects in the existing portfolio or incubating new projects), fine-tuning the role of researchers within scale-ups, improving how we identify scale-up opportunities, building staff capacity, promoting cross-team and cross-office learning, and mobilizing funding. To support this work, J-PAL LAC is strengthening its regional scale-up strategy for the coming years and seeking an Evidence to Scale Manager/ Sr. Manager to help design and implement this strategy. The Manager/ Sr. Manager will play a central role in identifying and developing scale-up opportunities, fostering collaboration across teams and researchers, supporting fundraising and partnerships, and accompanying projects with scale-up components across the region.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Support the P&C Senior Manager/ Sr. Manager and J-PAL LAC leadership in shaping and implementing the office’s regional scale-up strategy. This includes contributing to strategic priorities, strengthening internal learning and capacity around scale-up, coordinating cross-office learning, and helping systematize lessons from scale-up experiences across the portfolio.
• Identify opportunities to scale evidence-based programs and policies across the region by reviewing existing evidence, ongoing research, and policy needs. The Manager/ Sr. Manager will work closely with research teams, affiliated professors, and implementing partners to identify promising projects, incubate new opportunities, and strengthen pathways from research to scale.
• Support fundraising and access to scale-up funding. Promote and support applications to funding opportunities related to scale-up, innovation, and path-to-scale research. This includes helping develop proposals, managing relevant scale-up funds and partnerships, and contributing to broader fundraising efforts connected to J-PAL LAC’s scale-up strategy.
• Strengthen partnerships and cross-team collaboration. Work closely with J-PAL LAC’s government partnerships and training teams to identify opportunities for collaboration and scale. This includes implementing workshops, matchmaking activities, trainings, convenings, and other engagement opportunities that connect researchers, governments, funders, and implementers around evidence-based scale-up opportunities.
• Support projects with scale-up components. Provide strategic and technical support to projects with scale-up components, including accompanying partners and project teams through operational, learning, and adaptation processes associated with scaling evidence-based programs and policies.

Qualifications:

• Education: A master's or Ph.D. in economics, political science, public policy, or a related field, including graduate-level courses in econometrics/statistics, microeconomics, and development economics.
• Languages: This job is based in Brazil, so full proficiency in Portuguese is a must. Upper intermediate English is needed, as you also frequently interact with the Global and regional teams. Spanish is not required but is a plus.
• Experience: At least five years of relevant professional experience. Experience working directly with governments is required. Familiarity with impact evaluation is required.

Technical Skills:

• Google Suite — Intermediate

Soft Skills:

• Communication (written and verbal) 
• Stakeholder management 
• Organization and time management 
• Ability to work independently 
• Adaptability and flexibility 
• Proactivity / initiative

Analytical Skills:

• Impact evaluation (RCTs) 
• Literature review 
• Policy analysis 
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E)

Work permissions:

This position is open exclusively to Brazilian citizens based in São Paulo.

Location:

São Paulo, Brazil. We follow a hybrid work model to support a healthy work-life balance. However, the candidate is expected to attend the Insper office on the days agreed upon with the team and to actively engage in online activities involving colleagues based outside of Brazil.