Overview
The Policy Design Specialist will provide advisory and technical support on policy innovation, lead the design, prototyping, and development of innovative policy solutions, and facilitate stakeholder engagement, co-creation, and user-centered research.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide advisory services and technical support to the Hon’ble Prime Minister on critical policies using innovative tools and methods.
- Provide support to agencies on logic and new directions/pivots for existing or new policies being developed through application of innovative human-centered approaches.
- Lead the design of innovative policy solutions by applying design thinking, prototyping, and systems thinking methodologies.
- Develop, test, and iterate prototypes to identify viable, scalable policy solutions.
- Create journey maps, service blueprints, and other visual tools to inform policy development.
- Facilitate co-creation workshops with stakeholders, including government agencies, civil society organizations, and communities.
- Work closely with policymakers, subject matter experts, and end-users to ensure policy designs are grounded in real-world needs and insights.
- Conduct user research and gather qualitative and quantitative data to inform policy design.
- Translate research findings into actionable design principles and strategic policy recommendations.
- Ensure the systematic integration of gender perspectives into policy analysis, recommendations, and programming, informed by sound gender analysis that incorporates sex-disaggregated data and addresses differentiated needs, priorities, and impacts across diverse groups.
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including technologists, analysts, and evaluators, to ensure that design solutions are feasible and impactful.
- Communicate design insights, prototypes, and recommendations clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Support the lab in building internal capacity for design-led policy innovation through training, knowledge sharing, and mentoring.
- Identify opportunities for resource mobilization and new partnerships and support proposal and partnership development efforts.
- Develop partnerships and network with local innovators, youth organizations, NGOs, the private sector, local media and academia to build and provide a space to nurture and test new and innovative ideas, and build local capacity.
- Undertake any other related actions as requested by the Prime Minister's Office.
- Ensure the systematic integration of gender perspectives into policy analysis, recommendations, and programming, informed by sound gender analysis that incorporates sex-disaggregated data and addresses differentiated needs, priorities, and impacts across diverse groups.
- Identify capacity building needs and opportunities. Ensure appropriate training, project workshops and other relevant activities are organized and implemented in a consultative manner, involving technical experts and stakeholders that may include the government, private sector, NGOs, donors, and/or academia.
- Identify, synthesize and document best practices and lessons learned that are generated from the project and implementing partners.
Required Experience
Minimum 5 years (with master´s degree) or 7 years (with bachelor´s degree) of professional work experience in the field of innovation management, design research and international development either in public or private sector. Proven experience of working effectively in a team with diverse cultural and academic backgrounds. Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and web-based management systems, and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages. Additional years of work experience in areas of either qualitative social research, human centered design, user experience, behavioral insights, or futures and foresights. Demonstrated experience in conducting field or remote qualitative research. Demonstrated experience in crafting research tools and outputs for qualitative research. Experience designing policy experiments, validate hypotheses and test prototypes. Proven experience and knowledge about application of innovation in solving complex issues in private or public sector (assessed through generating ideas, prototyping, and developing solutions with real impact. Prior experience in working in an innovation lab in public or private sector.
Qualifications
Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Social Science (Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Economics, International Development), Environmental Science, Transition or complexity Science, Engineering Design (Industrial or Service Design, Architecture, Urban Planning), Communications, Business, or a related area is required, or University degree (Bachelor’s degree) in one of the areas mentioned above in combination with 2 additional years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of an advanced university degree.
