Senior Policy, Communications, and Training Manager - J-PAL Southeast Asia

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab Southeast Asia (J-PAL SEA) seeks a Senior Policy, Communication, and Training (PCT) Manager to support its mission of promoting evidence-based policy by contributing to the partnership development with key stakeholders, design and execution of J-PAL’s policy outreach, project development work, and capacity building efforts. The Senior PCT Manager will be based at the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI), Jakarta.

Regional offices are where the heart of J-PAL’s policy outreach and capacity building activities occur. Regional policy staff have the opportunity to help take the highest quality of academic research and translate it into action on the ground. Regional offices are housed within major economic research institutions around the world, giving policy staff access to an international network of top economists. Policy staff collaborate across regional offices and with J-PAL’s Global Office at MIT. Regional staff will develop expertise in the development challenges facing their region, opportunity to go to the field to assist research projects or development and interact regularly with policymakers.

Responsibilities include:

• Partnership development
  • Build and manage partnerships with donor organizations, international organizations, foundations, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, and other type of organizations interested in supporting J-PAL SEA’s missions to ensure that policy is informed by evidence; leading fundraising effort to support new research, policy, and training activities; and serve as a key point of contact for major donors.
  • Coordinate the production of and leading the writing process of high-quality proposals and reports for major donors; additionally, other types of documents such as background notes, policy briefs/memos, and other outreach documents as requested by donors or partners.
  • Leading monitoring and evaluation process within the PCT team to answer donor’s requirements.
• Policy Outreach
  • Represent J-PAL SEA in high-level forums, conferences, workshops, and meetings to present sector-specific knowledge accumulated by J-PAL 
  • Build and manage partnerships with policymakers in government agencies, NGOs, foundations, coalitions, and other types of implementing organizations to ensure that policy is informed by scientific evidence
  • Coordinate technical assistance for policymakers in government and civil society to promote evidence adoption and replication of rigorously evaluated programs  
  • Write policy briefs/memos and other outreach documents that accurately summarize the findings from J-PAL affiliated professors’ research for a policy audience
  • Lead and manage policy outreach events including directing the strategic planning, content, logistics, and relationship building with key stakeholders
• Organizational 
  • Assisting Executive Director in setting up Objective and Key Results (OKRs) for Policy, Communication and Training vertical; and ensuring that OKRs are met by the PCT staff.
  • Provide support in recruiting, onboarding, and mentoring PCT staff
  • Build and strengthen the management systems and practices of J-PAL SEA’s PCT team
• Supporting PCT staff in Project Development, Training, and Communication
  • Advise PCT staff in identifying potential opportunities for collaboration of new research with government, non-government, and donor organizations; and matchmake the opportunity with relevant J-PAL affiliated professors
  • Support and review the process of drafting funding proposals to potential research project’s donors
  • Assist the training team in identifying and engaging with various organizations in the region in promoting J-PAL SEA training courses 
  • Advise the training team in the implementation of executive education and custom training courses, review training materials developed for key clients including government agencies, international organizations, research institutions, and NGOs.
  • Take part as lecturer and/or teaching assistant in J-PAL SEA training courses. 
  • Guide the communication team in executing J-PAL SEA publication plans in various channels.

Qualifications

• Education: A Master’s degree with strong academic record in economics, public policy, development, or a related field
• Experience: equivalent to five years or more of relevant experience in policy and program design, project management, team management, and preferably partnership development. 
• Knowledge: All positions at J-PAL will be introduced to the design and value of randomized evaluation and their usefulness for informing policy decisions in the first six months of their position. Prior basic knowledge of how to understand and communicate findings from rigorous quantitative research are preferred. 
• Communication: Attention to detail and advanced writing and presentation skills in English and Indonesian. Ability to communicate results in a visually attractive manner and identify clear policy lessons from academic papers in ways that policymakers understand. This requires clear, precise, non-technical writing, and confident, effective spoken communication and presentation style.
• Strong skills in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• People management and time management skills: Ability to supervise staff and manage projects independently. Ability to multitask and successfully complete projects on tight deadlines with little supervision. A willingness to work hard, be self-motivated, and learn will be essential for doing well in this position. 
• Willingness to travel: Position may require travel throughout the region to meet with senior leaders in donor organizations, government agencies, NGOs, foundations and international development organizations as well as follow-up work to promote research projects and other policy and capacity building initiatives.
• Language skills: High-level of proficiency (fluent or native) in both Indonesian and English.