Senior Policy Manager- Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative

BRAC is the world’s largest Global South-led international non-governmental development organization, with the vision of a world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination, where everyone has the opportunity to realize their potential.  BRAC is a leader in developing and implementing cost-effective, evidence-based programs to assist marginalized and disadvantaged communities in low-income countries. It is an organization of and for the people of the Global South, pioneering new development and social enterprise approaches to equip communities to achieve prosperity. 

BRAC was founded in Bangladesh in 1972 by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. As of today, BRAC has reached more than 100 million people and works in 16 different countries across Africa and Asia. BRAC has a holistic approach to development that uses a wide array of programs that include microfinance, education, health, agriculture, gender, and human rights. BRAC invests in communities’ own human and material resources, catalyzing lasting change and creating an ecosystem in which the poor have the chance to seize control of their own lives.

BRAC International’s Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) was founded to build off the success of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation program in Bangladesh. BRAC UPGI aims to position the Graduation Approach as a key driver to eradicate extreme poverty worldwide. It does this by: 

• Advocating for uptake of the Graduation approach by policymakers, national governments, multilateral institutions, and non-governmental organizations; and 

• Effective adaptation and implementation of the Graduation Approach in countries around the world, supported through technical assistance and capacity strengthening for external stakeholders. 

In 2002, BRAC pioneered the Ultra-Poor Graduation (“Graduation”) Approach in Bangladesh - a holistic intervention to help people lift themselves from extreme poverty - after recognizing that existing poverty alleviation programs were not reaching them. Through the provision of livelihood assets, cash transfers, and continued mentoring and training, the Graduation Approach addresses participants’ multidimensional needs within the local context and ‘graduates’ people from extreme poverty into sustainable livelihoods. 

Graduation is an evidence-based, scalable intervention proven to break the poverty trap for the long term. To help eradicate extreme poverty, BRAC UPGI is working to scale globally by integrating Graduation into existing government programs to reach 21 million more people by 2026. 

But BRAC UPGI cannot do it alone. This is beyond the means and capacity of a single organization- no matter how ambitious or innovative. Sustainability and scale demands change at the systems level with active government engagement. BRAC UPGI is committed to creating effective solutions that leverage the available resources and existing programming to achieve the long-term benefits demonstrated by Graduation. The organization is partnering with governments, as well as multilateral institutions, NGOs, and civil society, in countries where BRAC UPGI thinks it can have maximum impact and drive greater uptake for Graduation.

About the Position

The BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) seeks to hire a Senior Policy Manager to support UPGI’s efforts to scale the Graduation Approach through government systems.  The candidate will report to and work closely with the Global Lead, Policy & Partnerships to design and support the overall global policy strategy, and will serve as a primary liaison between the global Policy & Partnerships team and some of the country portfolio, facilitating cross-country learnings and regional partnerships.

The candidate should have political acumen, a strong track record of working with complex and high level external stakeholders and be extremely organized with a problem solving attitude. All candidates require demonstrated experience in poverty reduction and/or women’s empowerment programs and policies, and must show a commitment to BRAC’s mission and values. 

The role can be based in any existing BRAC office with a strong preference for candidates based in any of the following: Nairobi, Kigali, Addis Ababa, Delhi, Jakarta, or Manila. Irrespective of location, work hours will often need to include GMT 11AM-3PM for maximum overlap with global teams, and flexibility will be required to accommodate the global nature of UPGI’s team.

Responsibilities

• Work across UPGI country teams to support policy strategy implementation, as directed by country leads in each context, including but not limited to:

• Policy events, dialogues, exchanges, and roundtables

• Direct engagement with key decision-makers

• Background research for influence & policy impact

• Policy drafting or implementation planning

• Interventions to strengthen & influence government systems to own and deliver the Graduation approach

• Support as needed for the Immersion & Learning Exchange (ILE) program, a joint effort led by the Policy & Partnerships team and the India Country team, which expects to host ~15-25 delegations per year (both national and international) for field visits and relevant government partner engagement with the Government of Bihar’s Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana (SJY), the world’s largest government-led Graduation program)

• Facilitate, collate, draft and/or present policy lessons learned from government to government (and across teams)

• Oversee and facilitate South-South learning events and engagements to distill such lessons

• Directly cultivate and maintain relationships with critical regional development stakeholders, and support country leads with connections and in holding relationships. 

• Serve as liaison between global policy & partnerships and country teams, helping to document successes and learnings throughout our country portfolio and connecting global relationships to regional and national stakeholders

• Draft external facing pieces to influence policy audiences

• Develop global and regional coalitions for scaling the graduation approach

• Develop funding opportunities and proposals for global development partners 

Safeguarding Responsibilities 

• Ensure the safety of team members from any harm, abuse, neglect, harassment, and exploitation to achieve the program’s goals of safeguarding implementation 

• Practice, promote, and endorse the issues of safeguarding policy among team members and ensure the implementation of safeguarding standards in every course of action  

• Follow the safeguarding reporting procedure in case any reportable incident takes place, and encourage others to do so

Qualifications 

• 8+ years experience working in international development and/or policy

• Bachelor’s degree required, with a Master’s degree in a relevant field (public policy, development, etc) strongly preferred

• Demonstrated direct experience with high level national policymakers and the global policy landscape, including relevant agendas & actors, such as the World Bank, United Nations, & other bilateral and multilateral organizations

• Demonstrated experience influencing large scale programs and policies and translating policies into action

• Significant external-facing experience in previous roles, including but not limited to writing, speaking, and partnership building 

• Strong ability to communicate and tailor messages in a concise and compelling way to key audiences and partners

• Strong ability to develop time-bound work-plans and turn them into results 

• Possess a flexible attitude and an entrepreneurial approach to problem-solving. 

• Demonstrated ability to serve as an external representative with high level officials

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a remote, multicultural, multi-time zone team

• Significant travel up to 25% will be required, often at short notice, to accompany high level delegations and to participate in events

• Highly organized with ability to take initiative and manage multiple priorities

• Diplomatic, with strong interpersonal skills, and a high degree of cultural sensitivity 

• Excellent written and oral skills in English is required and additional languages are a plus

How to Apply

This is an outstanding opportunity to support a highly effective, collaborative, and innovative non-profit. BRAC International offers a competitive salary and benefits package.  If you feel you are the right match for the position mentioned above, please follow the application instructions accordingly:

Only complete applications will be accepted, and short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Please submit your resume and detailed cover letter, via the below link ;

Senior Policy Manager - Nairobi, Kigali, Addis Ababa, Delhi, Dhaka, Jakarta, or Manila.

Application deadline: 27th September , 2024

BRAC is committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share the same commitment. We believe every stakeholder and every member of the communities we work with has the right to be protected from all forms of harm, abuse, neglect, harassment, and exploitation - regardless of age, race, religion, and gender, status as an individual with a disability or ethnic origin. Therefore, our recruitment process includes extensive reference and background checks, self-disclosure of prior issues regarding sexual or other misconduct and criminal records and our values are a part of our Performance Management System.

                                                                   BRAC is an equal opportunities employer.