Position Summary

IPA Sierra Leone (IPASL) seeks an Associate Policy Manager who will work closely with global and local teams to drive its evidence to impact agenda and new opportunities for collaboration. The role will be primarily responsible for leading IPASL’s ongoing path-to-scale work with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation on the Social Incentives for Childhood Immunization project, identify and drive the development of new projects with potential partners in Sierra Leone & Liberia, and enhance the policy impact of existing and past research projects.

Based in Freetown, they will build partnerships with government agencies and implementers to drive IPASL’s long-term research and impact strategy. Major responsibilities include: leading on-the-ground scoping, development of pilots and impact evaluations, policy and stakeholder engagement, event planning, and coordination among partners.

They will also lead IPASL’s policy impact strategy, focusing on creating and managing high impact opportunities for policymakers to use evidence in decision-making. The Associate Policy Manager will report to IPASL’s Country Director with dotted line oversight from the global Policy team and substantial collaboration with Sierra Leone research teams. This position will pioneer IPA’s policy outreach and impact work in Sierra Leone, building and deepening relationships and identifying and creating evidence-to-impact opportunities.

Responsibilities

Lead Sierra Leone in Policy Outreach Strategy (20%)

• Build expertise on the global and local evidence base and cultivate relationships with key local stakeholders in those sectors.
• Map influential NGO, government, and development partner stakeholders who influence relevant development sectors in Sierra Leone.
• Work together with the global policy and communications team to lead and/or participate in strategic events for policy purposes, including but not limited to summits, conferences, workshops, technical working groups, and round tables. 
• Support researchers and country management to participate.
• Participate in policy and stakeholder engagements with initiative partners as necessary (such as building the relationships required to engage decision- makers around large-scale evaluations of promising collaborations).
• In collaboration with researchers and in support of the Country Director, represent IPA locally in policy conversations and at events.
• Support research management staff in executing the
• “Policy Impact Minimum Must Dos” and in identifying and stewarding high potential partner relationships, particularly with senior levels within government or large organizations.

Cultivate and Manage High Impact Policy Opportunities (40%)

• Lead Sierra Leone in continuously identifying and prioritizing high impact policy opportunities for evidence to be used.
• Perform desk research to identify existing evidence, gaps in the literature, and innovative interventions in relevant sectors, in partnership with global teams.
• Cultivate relationships with key local decision- makers, particularly those with decision-making authority over particular evidence-to-impact opportunities.
• Launch high-impact policy opportunities, including scale-up technical assistance, and either manage small-scale engagements personally with global support, or collaborate with global teams to raise funds for additional staff to realize these opportunities.
• Identify and help launch opportunities for policy relevant right-fit monitoring and evaluation opportunities in Sierra Leone, and either manage small engagements personally with global support, or collaborate with global teams to raise funds for additional staff.

Project Development (40%)

• Work with partners to establish a pipeline of promising programs in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
• Support the piloting and evaluation of such programs and build and/or deepen relationships with local and global Principal Investigators.
• Identify opportunities and cultivate relationships that lead to developing large-scale policy evaluations with key decision-makers. Support research teams and researchers in development and execution.
• Identify opportunities and cultivate relationships that lead to developing field replications to consolidate research on key policy-relevant research questions.
• Support research teams and researchers in development and execution.
• Together with the Country Director, act as lead steward to key partner relationships and support key research partner conversations.
• Proactively identify fundraising and business development opportunities for research on promising programs, develop concept notes, and pursue funding opportunities in collaboration with the Country Director and global teams.

Qualifications

Required

• Master’s degree in economics, development, international relations, public administration, public policy, or a closely related field is strongly preferred or additional experience in place of a master’s degree.

Preferred

• Knowledge of and demonstrated interest in international development policy required.
• Attention to detail and advanced presentation skills for communicating 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.
• Experience in leading business development opportunities and proposal writing.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to effectively convene and liaise with a variety of people in multiple organizations in a multi-cultural environment and across many time zones.
• Proven ability to multitask and successfully complete projects on tight deadlines with little supervision.
• Willingness to work hard, be self-motivated, and learn will be essential for doing well in this position.
• Ability to supervise staff and manage projects independently.

Reports to

Country Director SLL

Location

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Application Instructions

Click here to apply now.

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