Job Description
Position Summary
IPA’s Embedded Labs put governments in the driver's seat to generate the data they need and use it to make decisions.
An embedded lab is a team within a government organization working to strengthen the use of data and evidence in public policy. In the early stages of lab incubation, IPA staff work shoulder-to-shoulder with this team to support their work and demonstrate proof of concept, but one of the main attributes of the model is that we expect the government partner to increase their ownership over time while IPA’s support gradually fades. By working side-by-side, IPA and our partners engage in mutual capacity transfer in a learning-by-doing environment. IPA works with government partners supporting these partners to scope, incubate, and institutionalize embedded evidence labs: permanent infrastructures that equip government to deliver more effective programs and policies to improve outcomes at the national level.
Since IPA’s first experience embedding an evidence lab within the Ministry of Education in Peru (MineduLAB) in 2014 our portfolio has expanded in terms of sector and regional coverage. IPA current portfolio consists of 16 active Lab engagements with additional 8 in the pipeline. These engagements are distributed across 8 sectors including education, human trafficking, justice, health, environment, gender, and social protection among others. These engagements present also a diversity of contexts being spread across 11 different countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
One of the Embedded Labs Program's priorities is the implementation of a learning and knowledge management strategy that allows the program to articulate the knowledge we generate at various levels (country office, program, and overall IPA), and translate it to toolkits, case studies, and other knowledge products. These resources are shared internally and in global forums with the goal of increasing impact of both IPA teams and other stakeholders working on Lab implementation. The SPM will play a key role in this effort by managing the program's learning agenda and various learning and exchange strategies, such as the Embedded Labs Community of Practice, the Cross-Country Learning Exchange, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) of our labs, and workshops and trainings. Additionally, the SPM will support the generation of knowledge products and dissemination across different contexts and mediums, assist in coordinating and providing technical support to our Labs teams at the country office level, and support the business development efforts of the program. The Senior Policy Manager will work closely with the Senior Director of Embedded Labs.
Responsibilities
Support Embedded Lab Program learning and knowledge management strategy (50%)
- Work closely with the Director of Policy to refine, implement, and monitor the Embedded Labs Program’s learning and knowledge management strategy.
- Coordinate several learning strategies such as the Embedded Labs Community of Practice, Cross-Country Learning Exchange (CCLE), IPA’s Labs Monitoring, and Evaluation and Learning (MEL) efforts.
- Support the production of knowledge products contributing to blog posts, briefs, website content, case studies, toolkits, guidelines, evidence reviews, and other materials communicating IPA’s Embedded Lab impact and strategy to internal and external stakeholders.
- Support the implementation of the program’s communication strategy leveraging it to disseminate program’s lessons and knowledge products.
- Coordinate these efforts with high functioning global and country office policy teams.
- Represent IPA in policy conversations and at events.
Equip global Research & Policy Team and Country Programs for policy impact (20%)
- Build IPA and stakeholders staff capacity to implement Embedded Labs through developing and delivering focused training; supporting teams to understand and use Embedded Lab program resources; building knowledge across teams on how implement Labs; and other policy tools
- Build and socialize onboarding and training modules for Lab implementation for staff across the organization, including training / reference materials on Embedded Labs 101 (target audience: Country Directors, Research Managers, Research Coordinators)
Support Embedded Labs Program impact (30%)
- Proactively identify policy fundraising and policy-relevant business development opportunities and lead the pursuit of these opportunities in collaboration with global and country office-based staff.
- Coordinate grant reporting and deliverable management for a handful of global Embedded Labs engagements.
- Collaborate extensively across programmatic and functional teams at IPA to deliver on our policy strategy and share lessons across teams and contexts.
- Provide functional expertise in Embedded Labs to Country Program and Sector Program leadership in a portfolio of Labs.
- Support a portfolio of country & sectoral policy teams to identify, cultivate, and manage high impact Lab opportunities.
- Provide guidance & proactive support to country policy & management teams in strategic events for policy purposes, including but not limited to summits, conferences, workshops, technical working groups, and round tables.
- Provide other guidance to country teams to design & execute on their Lab engagements.
Other
- Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor.
- Maintain compliance with all organization policies and procedures.
Qualifications
Required
- Master’s degree in economics, development, international relations, public administration, public policy or a closely related field strongly preferred. Will accept additional experience in place of master’s.
- 5+ years of relevant experience analyzing and communicating complex research results to various audiences, including at least 1 year of experience working closely with large NGOs or governments, preferably in a developing country context.
- Knowledge of and demonstrated experience in the use of rigorous evidence for international development policy required.
- Exceptional ability to understand academic research studies and analyze bodies of research.
- Expertise in leading teams to draw policy lessons from these and communicating them to various audiences
- Excellent communication skills, including clear, precise, non-technical written and presentation skills; requires a strong written “voice” and ability to write in various voices as needed as well as effective spoken communication and presentation style.
- Proven ability to multitask and successfully complete projects on tight deadlines with little supervision.
- Willingness to work hard, be self-motivated, learn, and adapt quickly will be essential for doing well in this position.
- Experience supervising staff teams and managing multi-country projects
- Strong ability to manage up and across.
- Experience with IPA and/or partner institutions strongly preferred.
- Willingness to travel internationally (when it is safe to do so) up to 25% of time preferred.
Preferred
- Experience as part of a government team, and/or as a researcher, and/or with MEL is a plus.
Reports to
Senior Director Embedded Labs
Desired Start Date
May 2024
Location
Existing IPA Country Office, New York, NY or Washington, DC
About IPA
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a research and policy nonprofit that discovers and promotes effective solutions to global poverty problems. IPA brings together researchers and decision-makers to design, rigorously evaluate, and refine these solutions and their applications, ensuring that the evidence created is used to improve the lives of the world’s poor. In recent decades, trillions of dollars have been spent on programs designed to reduce global poverty, but clear evidence of which programs succeed is rare, and when evidence does exist, decision-makers often do not know about it. IPA exists to bring together leading researchers and these decision-makers to ensure that the evidence we create leads to a tangible impact on the world. Since its founding in 2002, IPA has worked with over 600 leading academics to conduct over 900 evaluations in 52 countries. This research has informed hundreds of successful programs that now impact millions of individuals worldwide.
IPA's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)
As an organization, IPA is dedicated to improving the lives of the world's most vulnerable populations through evidence and policy. We also recognize how important it is for our staff to reflect the diversity of the places where we work and the communities we work with. As such, IPA is committed to hiring from a diverse pool of candidates, from a range of backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, and perspectives. We know that this makes our work stronger and more responsive to the challenges faced by those we work with and for and we encourage people from historically underrepresented groups to apply. Click here to learn more about IPA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Innovations for Poverty Action is an affirmative action-equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other protected class. IPA will endeavor to make a reasonable accommodation to a qualified applicant with a disability unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. If you believe you require such assistance to complete this form or to participate in an interview, please contact us at jobs@poverty-action.org or via phone at 1-202-386-6200. The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work to be performed by the specified position. The statements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary. Please note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant. Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the organization. Please direct questions to jobs@poverty-action.org. Please note that only qualified applicants will be contacted by the hiring manager