Position Summary
Innovations for Poverty Action in Colombia seeks a Policy Associate (PA Senior Policy Associate (SPA) to support IPA Colombia’s policy and partnerships team. The PA/SPA will support IPA’s engagement with policy partners and key stakeholders in Colombia in a variety of sectors to effectively disseminate and communicate research results. The Policy Associate will support engagements with local and international strategic stakeholders to share existing evidence in programs and policies and develop new related research projects in Colombia. This position will grow IPA’s policy outreach and research in Colombia, identifying, creating, and implementing evidence-to-impact initiatives with our partners, with a strong focus on early childhood development and other sectors such as migration and education. The PA/SPA will also help strengthen policy engagements in Colombia by supporting partners in scoping, incubating, and institutionalizing embedded evidence units, equipping government agencies to deliver more effective programs and policies to improve outcomes at the national level.
Responsibilities
• Support Policy Manager(s) in developing new projects, partnerships, and initiatives in Colombia, establishing, expanding, and managing relationships with the government, researchers, implementing partners and funders, and developing and identifying new windows for the development of research projects.
• Support Policy Managers) in research and learning proposals including technical proposals, budgets, evidence reviews and data, and administrative documents, among others.
• Keep track of potential research and learning opportunities in collaboration with Policy and Research
Manager(s).
• Support research teams in developing and implementing policy and communications plans for research and learning projects.
• Collaborate closely with government officials at the national and/or local level to co-design, implement, and evaluate evidence-based policy experiments
• Develop and implement strategies for monitoring and evaluating policy interventions, contributing to a culture of continuous learning and improvement within government agencies.
• Co-lead the entire lifecycle of policy and program projects with government agencies, from ideation and refinement to evaluation and scaling.
• Support Policy Managers) in the development and implementation of communications strategies for key research and learning projects
• Support the development and implementation of IPA’s Colombia strategic plan.
• Identify and keep track of funds for the development of impact evaluation projects, innovation labs, monitoring and evaluation, or other projects in Colombia in the field.
• Perform other tasks assigned by the supervisor.
• Maintain compliance with all organizational policies and procedures.
Qualifications
• Undergraduate degree in economics, development, international relations, public administration, public policy, or a closely related field
• At least 3 years of work experience after obtaining the first undergraduate degree, preferably related to policy and research projects
• Ability to understand academic research studies and analyze bodies of research.
• Experience in drawing policy lessons from these and communicating them to various audiences.
• Familiarity with impact evaluations and specifically with randomized experiments.
• Experience developing and implementing learning agendas, using evidence-based insights to continuously refine and improve policy interventions, preferred.
• Understanding of and experience with design thinking methodologies, using a human-centered approach to problem-solving and policy design is an asset, preferred.
• Previous experience working in a public innovation lab is preferred.
• Ability to manage relationships with partners and counterparts.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and lead teams.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines while maintaining a positive attitude and providing exemplary customer service.
• Capacity to plan and be organized, have attention to detail, and ability to work in a team and individually.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Spanish including the ability to communicate effectively and assertively.
Application Instructions
Reports to
Policy Manager
Deadline to Apply
ASAP
Desired Start Date
ASAP - September 2023
Location
Bogotá, Colombia
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.
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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.
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.
