Country: Spain
Education: Master's; Other advanced degree
Start Date (Earliest): May 2023
Start Date (Latest): September 2023
Language Requirement: Spanish and English
Length of Commitment: One year
The Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros (CEMFI) is looking to hire a new member to support its partnership with the Spanish Ministry for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration (the Ministry). The Policy and Research Associate will support an ambitious evaluation agenda to increase the effectiveness of the recently launched national Minimum Income Scheme. The Policy and Research Associate could have a more junior or senior profile depending on prior experience and qualifications.
The post holder will work in a team that serves as a liaison between CEMFI and partner researchers, J-PAL Europe, and the Ministry’s General Secretariat for Inclusion. The (Senior) Policy Research Associate (S)PRA will assist in developing and implementing several ongoing research and evaluation initiatives, analyse their policy relevance and implications, and explore ways to use and apply the evidence generated to the Spanish context. This will also involve coordination, through the Ministry’s General Secretariat, with several local government and NGO partners in charge of implementing these initiatives, including activities related to the capacity-building of these implementing partners.
The selected candidate will report to the PI of the project, J-PAL affiliate Professor Monica Martinez-Bravo, and to a Policy and Research Manager (PRM) from the J-PAL Europe team. The position will be based in Madrid.
Working closely with researchers and policymakers, the (S)PRA will support the coordination and facilitation of data sharing and analysis, monitor the execution of research projects, leverage insights from existing evidence, manage relationships across project partners and support research implementation efforts. The (S)PRA will benefit from participating in J-PAL Europe meetings remotely from Madrid, having access to J-PAL research and evidence resources, and attending a strategy meeting in Paris once a year. The (S)PRA will also benefit from the coaching from the PRM from J-PAL Europe.
The (S)PRA will also work to assess and synthesise the evidence generated by these evaluations, contextualise the findings from this effort in the broader body of evidence, translate the evidence into policy recommendations, and support the Ministry in applying the evidence through capacity building and technical assistance.
This position is funded by a Fundación “la Caixa” Social Science Research Grant for the Project “Evaluating interventions to promote inclusion”.
CEMFI is a leading institution in research and graduate education in Economics in Europe. It has an active and stimulating academic environment, and our faculty are leaders in their fields of expertise.
CEMFI recognizes the positive value of diversity and particularly encourages applications from women and candidates with underrepresented demographics regarding disability, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or other characteristics.
Responsibilities:
Policy
● Assist with synthesising lessons from relevant global literature and disseminating them among the Ministry, CEMFI, and implementing partners as needed to inform project design and implementation.
● Support the PRM in synthesising the lessons from the ongoing evaluations and contextualising them in the broader body of evidence.
● Help deliver presentations and organise research dissemination events inside the Ministry and with implementing partners to communicate research findings, as well as presentations and events with other stakeholders in Spain and elsewhere to explain the value of this research.
● Facilitate dialogue between J-PAL Europe, CEMFI, and the Ministry on the policy implications of the evaluation results.
● Work with the J-PAL team and CEMFI on providing technical assistance to the Ministry in the design and implementation of evidence-based policies based on the findings of the research output of the project as well as existing evidence.
● Assist the Ministry in preparing a “meta-evaluation” or final report (due in 2024) summarising the main findings from the evaluations and lessons for institutionalising a culture of evidence use in government.
● Support the organisation of training activities for the Ministry and the implementing partners.
● Communications: Assisting in the drafting and preparing materials for policy outreach work, including presentations, evidence summaries, material for the website and social media, and translation of documents.
Project Management
● Provide ongoing project management support on randomised evaluations run in partnership with the Ministry, CEMFI and J-PAL.
● Support the CEMFI and the J-PAL PRM:
○ meeting preparation and follow-up, note taking;
○ preparation of presentations and talking points; and
○ fundraising support.
● Support the teams:
○ Event support: Contributing to organising events, such as research or policy conferences, donor meetings, training, etc.;
○ Organising meetings.
Research
● Support technical exploration of potential new impact evaluations, help to develop research design, identify implementing partners, and support efforts to secure project funding.
● Conduct data analyses and review research literature to inform project design and implementation.
● Support the design and documentation of a rigorous project evaluation methodology.
● Support the researchers and the Ministry with standardising the pre-implementation research documentation, including assistance with pre-analysis plans, consent forms, and ethics approval forms.
● Work with the team at the Ministry, the implementing partners, and the researchers to refine study design and surveying instruments.
● Assist with data cleaning and preliminary data analysis.
● Support the effort of leveraging the use of administrative data to inform evaluation results.
Qualifications
● A Master’s Degree in Public Policy or Economics or another similar social science, includinggraduate-level courses in econometrics/statistics, microeconomics and development economics.
● A minimum of two years of relevant work experience (more for a Senior Policy and Research associate), demonstrated expertise in managing research projects, coordinating different stakeholders, and understanding common quantitative and analytical challenges.
● Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred) or other data analysis software is desirable.
● Advanced written and oral communication skills in Spanish and English, including producing policy memos, research notes, slide decks, and public speaking.
● Flexibility to successfully adapt and respond to changing circumstances, demands and stakeholder expectations.
● Demonstrated passion for improving public service performance and solving social problems.
● Project management capabilities and creativity in problem-solving.
● Experience working with multiple stakeholders and government agencies in Europe is desirable, and experience working on social policy in Spain in particular.
● Familiarity with randomised controlled trials is preferred.
● Authorisation to work in the European Union.