Manager, Policy, The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab’s Middle East and North Africa, School of Business, Grant Position

About J-PAL MENA at AUC: The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab’s Middle East and North Africa regional office is based at The American University in Cairo School of Business. J-PAL (povertyactionlab.org) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 200 affiliated professors at universities around the world, J-PAL draws on results from randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.

The Policy Manager (Education) will play a key role in developing partnerships with governments, NGOs, and donors to support the generation and use of evidence in education across the MENA region, providing evidence summary and synthesis, disseminating lessons from impact evaluations, and supporting the use of evidence in policy design. S/he should be passionate about working with different education stakeholders to inform development policy, leveraging rigorous evidence to inform recommendations. This position will also involve work on other aspects of J-PAL MENA’s work beyond the education portfolio.

Responsibilities & Tasks:

Policy Strategy : Work with the Director to create and execute the MENA education sector specialist strategy to increase the use of evidence from randomized evaluations in improving the effectiveness of education policy in Egypt and across MENA.

Evidence generation :

• Support efforts to generate new rigorous education research on priority policy issues (topics may relate to pedagogy, teacher training, school governance, early childhood development, or information technology) through research project matchmaking;
• Co-design and manage efforts to raise funds for a J-PAL MENA at AUC Research Initiative to fund impact evaluations that will fill critical evidence gaps in education.

Evidence synthesis : Review academic literature on randomized evaluations in education to draw out policy lessons from these field evaluations and consider applications and generalizability of lessons to MENA contexts and for policymakers in the region.

Writing and communication :

● Coordinate with J-PAL’s Global Education sector to create materials for policy outreach, including tailored evidence note presentations, as well as other high-level deliverables, as requested by J-PAL senior staff and affiliates;

● Communicate about J-PAL MENA’s work in written and in-person forums; develop engaging outreach content for existing and potential donors and partners.

Policy outreach and evidence dissemination :

● Meet with and build relationships with key education partners in government, NGOs, foundations, and donor agencies;

● Prepare and deliver presentations on J-PAL, evidence-informed education policy, and specific lessons from the global and regional education evidence base relevant to partners’ priorities;

● Disseminate and present J-PAL affiliates’ rigorous education research, results, and policy implications in various forums, including in-person events, partner meetings, and written products. Do this both independently and with others;

● Organize conferences and events to spur new research collaborations and share policy lessons from completed research.

Scale-up of evidence-based programs and policies : Support implementing agencies to adapt and scale evidence-based education approaches.

*Forge new connections and maintain strong relationships with key education partners in government agencies, non-profits, foundations, and the private sector; foster partnerships with government, NGOs, and donors focused on the use and uptake of rigorous evidence in program and policy design. Consider the generalizability of evidence in partners’ settings.

Sector expertise : Build on your existing education sector expertise and develop new areas of expertise on critical policy issues in Egypt and MENA, including climate change, humanitarian policy, health, gender, employment, and other topics.

• Manage policy projects, external partner relationships (including government and NGO partners, and donors.
• Manage and coach junior staff to support their growth and career development;
• Perform additional duties as assigned, including abovementioned duties in sectors other than education.

Education:

• Minimum Masters or equivalent (Advanced university degree from an accredited institution) in economics, public policy, or a closely related field
• Graduate coursework in microeconomics, econometrics, and development economics

Experience:

• 8-10 years of experience; 5 of them with relevant and substantial work experience, including work related to education (primary, secondary, tertiary, early childhood), poverty reduction, impact evaluations, and evidence-informed policymaking;
• Significant training in economics at the master’s level as well as prior professional experience working in policy design, implementation, or evaluation;
• A successful track record of developing and managing external partnerships, and relevant experience in communication.
• Experience managing teams and experience with fundraising and donor relationship management preferred
• Demonstrated professional experience in education and international development policy

Skills:

• Strong project design, management and evaluation experience;
• Ability to manage budgets;
• Fluent in both Arabic and English;
• Comfortable to work with computer applications (such as Google Workspace, Asana, and SalesForce);
• Detailed oriented and advanced writing skills, including proven ability to communicate policy lessons from technical academic research to a non-technical audience;
• Can handle multiple projects at once with little supervision, meet deadlines, and practice effective time management
• Can manage projects and staff effectively and proactively.

The position is open until November 23, 2021

Placement is based on the candidate’s experience and skills. Only candidates who make it to the short list will be contacted.

“We thank all individuals who have expressed interest in working at The American University in Cairo.”

Important information for your application to be considered: LinkedIn Easy Apply allows you to upload one document. Please combine your resume, tailored cover letter, and transcripts (unofficial transcripts ok) in a single PDF document and upload that one document. Please also email those materials to [email protected]. Only applicants who submit all of these materials will be considered.