Sr. Policy Manager, Embedded Labs Program at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Reports To: Senior Director, Embedded Labs

Job 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; IPA staff work shoulder-to-shoulder with government partners to scope, incubate, and institutionalize these labs, with a portfolio that has grown to 23 Labs across 10 countries and 9 sectors, including education, finance, social protection, and gender.
• As the Embedded Labs Program continues to grow, the (Sr.) Policy Manager will help develop and support the program's next phase of growth across three fronts: strengthening the internal systems that let IPA teams learn from and build on each other's work, deepening external outreach that connects IPA's Labs experience to the broader policy and research community, and providing the direct support that keeps individual Lab engagements on track.
• The (Sr.) Policy Manager will work closely with the Senior Director of Embedded Labs to shape how the program grows, and will represent IPA in policy conversations that advance the use of data and evidence in policymaking and government program delivery.

Responsibilities

• The (Sr.) Policy Manager will oversee the full range of the Embedded Labs Program's work. This includes:

Program Delivery and Technical Support:

• Provide technical assistance and project management support to individual Lab engagements from design through implementation, including contributing directly to the technical delivery of Lab opportunities.
• Support monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) efforts related to the Embedded Labs program, helping to assess the program's progress and impact and establish new best practices for government engagement.

Knowledge Management, Training, and Thought Leadership:

• Support the program's knowledge management and training efforts, including developing and delivering onboarding materials and training for both Embedded Labs staff and other IPA teams on Embedded Labs fundamentals.
• Generate new knowledge and public-facing outputs related to Embedded Labs, such as case studies, toolkits, and evidence reviews, and support implementation of the program's communication strategy to disseminate these outputs to internal and external audiences.

Business Development and External Engagement:

• Identify and pursue business development and fundraising opportunities in collaboration with country office and global staff, and coordinate grant reporting and deliverable management across Embedded Labs engagements.
• Provide coordination for strategic events such as summits, conferences, workshops, technical working groups, and roundtables, including the annual Cross-Country Learning Exchange.

Qualifications

• 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 a master's degree.
• 3+ 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 an LMIC country context.
• Knowledge of and demonstrated experience in the use of rigorous evidence for international development policy.
• Strong quantitative skills, including exceptional ability to understand academic research studies and analyze bodies of research.
• Expertise in leading teams to draw policy lessons from research and communicating them to various audiences.
• Excellent communication skills, including clear, precise, non-technical written and presentation skills; requires a strong written voice and 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, and learn and adapt quickly.
• 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.
• Experience as part of a government team, and/or as a researcher, and/or with monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) (preferred).
• Experience in education or social protection (preferred).