Research Manager - Emissions Trading Sceme

Organization: J-PAL South Asia at IFMR

Project Title: Emissions Trading Scheme

Country: India

State: Delhi / Gujarat

Start Date: July 2026

Length of Commitment: 18 months

Education: Master’s in Economics, Engineering, Environmental Economics, Environmental Engineering, or related fields

Organization Description:

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center dedicated to reducing poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. J-PAL South Asia, based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai, focuses on generating and disseminating research results and building partnerships with policymakers and implementers across India. J-PAL South Asia works to ensure that policy is driven by evidence and that programs proven effective are scaled up.

J-PAL’s Environment, Energy, & Climate Change sector measures the real-world impacts of energy and environmental policies, particularly on energy access, pollution reduction, and climate change mitigation and resilience.

Project Description:

J-PAL South Asia at IFMR and Energy Policy Institute of Chicago (EPIC) launched the Emissions Market Accelerator in 2025 as an initiative to scale emissions markets in the global south. The EMA is currently establishing three cap-and-trade markets with Indian government partners, driven by high demand following a successful pilot with Gujarat’s pollution control board. The Gujarat experiment,  lead by Prof. Michael Greenstone (University of Chicago), Prof. Rohini Pande (Yale University), Prof. Nicholas Ryan (Yale University), and Prof. Anant Sudarshan (University of Warwick), created the world’s first particulate pollution market, proving that market based environmental regulations can increase legal compliance and reduce emissions in a cost effective manner.

 Following the success of the market for air pollution, the Government of Gujarat has also decided to test and evaluate a market for industrial effluents. Effluents Market is being piloted in Surat, Gujarat and is a collaborative effort between the Gujarat Pollution Control Board, South Gujarat Textile Association, Common Effluent Treatment Plants, and all stakeholders associated with the EMA.  The research and market design advisory team continues to be headed by the team of Principal Investigators involved in the original evaluation.  

 

This position offers a unique opportunity to work at the frontier of evidence-informed environmental regulation in India by providing first-hand exposure to the full evidence-to-policy pathway :  from translating research-backed regulatory ideas into practice, to monitoring implementation of emissions and effluents markets in Gujarat, managing complex stakeholder relationships, and supporting the design of systems that can be owned and sustained by government partners.

 

Roles and Responsibilities:

Research Managers work closely with the leaders at J-PAL, academic researchers affiliated with J-PAL, research associates and other field staff, as well as government stakeholders to perform a variety of tasks.

 

  1.  Implementation strategy and market operations coordination
    1. Strategise in close collaboration with researchers and J-PAL senior leadership on J-PAL’s role on ETS scale-ups in the evolving policy and stakeholder space
    2. Oversee implementation monitoring of running markets and identify key areas of design improvements through coordination with researchers / market design experts.
    3. Develop and maintain detailed project plans, outlining tasks, timetables and resource allocations.
    4. Supervise and guide research associates to implement evaluation activities in accordance with the research design, in association with our partner organization, government stakeholders and industry association.
    5. Understand the workings of industrial waste water treatment, common effluent treatment plants, textile and chemical industries, air pollution abatement technologies, CEMS vendors and their calibration requirements
    6. Coordinate among key stakeholders for project operations
  2. Stakeholder management: Develop and maintain relationships with key government stakeholders, partner organisations, industry associations and technology partners.
    1. Develop and maintain government partnerships - assess scale-up pathways, capacity building requirements as well as scope possibilities of new markets.
    2. Maintain relations with the technology partner. Supervise research associates to collaborate with the technology partner and CEMS vendors to understand data transmission and storage processes. Maintain relations with industry associations, and other key stakeholders
    3. Lead regular meetings with project stakeholders to monitor progress and provide solutions to any difficulties encountered.
  3. People management and supervision
    1. Supervise and mentor research associates responsible for implementation monitoring, field team management, data collection instrument design and management as well as data collection, entry and analysis.
    2. Ensure that data collection processes meet the highest standards of quality and integrity.
    3. Supervise the design of field experiments to test and refine research hypotheses, methodologies and scale-up pathways under the guidance of researchers
    4. Supervise data processing and analysis of government administrative data on pollution as well as primary data collected for research purposes.  
  4. Budget and Schedule Management :
  • Overseeing the project budget, ensuring that expenditure is accurately tracked and that financial resources are used efficiently.
  • Monitor the project schedule, ensuring that all stages are respected and deliverables are completed on time.
  • Supporting the ETS lead on drafting applications and other materials for fundraising opportunities
  1. Reports, Communication, Knowledge Dissemination:
  • Document operational learnings from running emissions and effluents markets in practice
  • Support the development of an institutionalisation roadmap for emissions market - identifying the institutional, financial, and capacity conditions that make scaling viable.
  • Contribute to knowledge products (briefs, case studies, internal memos) that capture the practical realities of market design and operations for use by researchers, policymakers, and future implementers.
  • Prepare and present regular progress reports to relevant stakeholders.
  • Communicate complex technical results and concepts to non-technical audiences in a clear and accessible manner.
  • Quality Control :
  • Implement and supervise quality control measures to ensure that research and evaluation activities meet the required standards.
  • Resolve problems relating to data quality or project execution quickly and effectively.
  1. Regulatory and Market Landscape Awareness
  • Maintain an active working knowledge of the broader literature and policy landscape on emissions trading, effluent markets, environmental regulation, and carbon markets.
  • Engage with emerging developments in market-based environmental regulation and associated events and convenings.

 

Desired Qualifications

 

  • Master's degree in economics, public policy, education policy, statistics, or a related social science. Strong coursework in economics or quantitative methods is highly preferred.
  • Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience, with at least 2 years in a senior or managerial role involving M&E, program management, or research in the development sector.
  • Proven experience designing and leading M&E systems for multi-site or multi-partner programs; familiarity with both quantitative and qualitative research methods including supervising data collection, teams of field workers, survey design and implementation, financial reporting, and data management.
  • Proficiency in data analysis tools (Stata, R, or equivalent) and data collection platforms (especially SurveyCTO).
  • Experience working with or supporting state government counterparts, or multilateral organizations in a program management or technical assistance capacity. Prior experience of working with pollution control boards is a plus
  • Familiarity with randomized controlled trials and experimental or quasi-experimental research designs is desirable.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to produce high-quality reports, presentations, and knowledge products for diverse audiences.
  • Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams and deadlines simultaneously.

 

Note on Work Authorizations: Candidates must have work authorization to work in India. This covers citizens of India, Nepal or Bhutan, Persons of Indian origin (PIO), and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI).