Associate, Operations & People - CEGA

The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) seeks a committed and resourceful full-time Associate to support the administration of CEGA’s broad and diverse portfolio of research and training programs. A critical member of the Operations team, the Associate will work across the Center to set up and manage funded research, enhance financial management and information systems across the center, and improve processes for quality assurance, reporting, and knowledge management.

About CEGA

The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) is a hub for research, training and innovation headquartered at the University of California, Berkeley. We generate insights that decision-makers can use to improve policies, programs, and people’s lives. Our best-in-class academic network includes nearly 200 faculty, 80 scholars from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)—primarily from East and West Africa—and hundreds of graduate students from diverse academic disciplines who produce rigorous evidence about what works to expand education, health, and economic opportunities for people living in poverty. Our business model involves curating policy-relevant research agendas in collaboration with development leaders, overseeing competitive grant-making to answer critical questions, investing in research capacity, and strategically connecting research and ideas to inform decision-making by governments, NGOs, and the private sector.

CEGA values diversity and seeks to include people from under-represented groups on our team. Read our values statement.

Application Review Date

The First Review Date for this job is: March 24, 2025

About the Position

Reporting to the Director of Operations, the Associate takes responsibility for developing and implementing CEGA’s people and culture function to facilitate recruitment and retention of staff, graduate student researchers, and interns; boost staff morale; and help cultivate a welcoming, fair, and open workplace environment. This position could be a strong fit for someone interested in gaining a big-picture view of the operations work required to run an effective organization.

The role works closely with campus People and Culture to carry out important HR-related activities and ensure CEGA’s adherence to campus policies and processes. Additionally, the Associate develops internal process improvements, guidelines and information resources; supports organizational learning; and promotes staff productivity while reinforcing commitments to effective feedback and performance management practices, professional development, and DEI. The Associate also leads general office management activities including coordinating space use and maintenance, ergonomics, IT, software, equipment, and supplies inventory.

This position is a key contributor to a centralized Operations team at CEGA, which supports a series of integrated activities that strengthen center management practices and boost overall organizational productivity—including talent management and resource/systems administration, to financial management, sustainability, and strategic planning.

This position requires regular presence in the CEGA offices at UC Berkeley, with some flexibility to work remotely 2-3 days per week.

Key Responsibilities

People and Culture (60%)

• The Associate serves as the Center’s internal coordinator and advocate for human resources.
• Serve as primary liaison to Berkeley People and Culture (HR) as well as CEGA hiring managers, ensuring timely, effective, high-quality service.
• Coordinate CEGA human resources activities, which are ongoing throughout the year, including appointments, training, classification, and ensuring completion of forms and documents related to HR and Payroll, often in campus systems.
• Coordinate staff recruitment, onboarding/offboarding activities, reappointments, and performance reviews. Create templates, advise colleagues on best practices, and project manage processes.
• Develop systems/tools to improve processes and outcomes, including gathering, analyzing, and preparing reports and monitoring/tracking relevant data to ensure that CEGA is recruiting for excellence/diversity and living our values.
• Coordinate periodic performance reviews, quarterly “ops syncs,” CEGA’s pre-doctoral fellow program, annual climate survey (including data analysis), and introduce process improvements.
• Serve as HR liaison for Visiting Scholars, graduate student researchers, student interns, and center-wide internship programs, and support appointment setup and payments.
• Research and share staff development opportunities, including trainings, workshops, professional development opportunities, and tools to support and advance our organizational values.
• Design new processes and provide support to ensure a healthy workplace culture, including planning and implementing safety improvements, promotion of diversity, ergonomic assessments, and other activities that strengthen CEGA’s people and culture function.
• Support and occasionally lead staff engagement and team building, for example, roundtables where staff share updates on their work, team lunches, holiday parties, and happy hours, Center-wide retreats, other activities.

Operations and Office Management (40%)

• The Associate is CEGA’s office manager and contributes to overall center operations through implementation of long/short-term space planning, IT and equipment coordination, budgeting, and procurement.
• Implement and oversee center-wide supply/snack/equipment procurement and maintenance, including modest budget management and development of guidance and process improvements for purchasing by other staff.
• Lead center-wide scheduling and calendar management (e.g. weekly staff meeting schedule, team meetings, conference room bookings, interviews, etc.).
• Liaise with campus IT and ergonomic services to ensure that all staff have secure, operational, modern equipment.
• Evaluate space use and propose short/long-term space use strategies and improvements, including activities and investments to promote workplace safety and productivity.
• Actively participate in Center-wide activities, including weekly staff meetings, annual staff retreat, major events, maintenance of standard operating procedures, staff recruitment and onboarding, performance management, and other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and/or equivalent years experience and/or training.

Preferred Qualifications

• Well-organized, strong administrative skills, outstanding attention to detail and ability to multitask to meet deadlines.
• Self-directed, intrinsically motivated; proven capacity to manage work independently.
• Solid communication and interpersonal skills to communicate effectively with faculty, staff and partners of all levels, both verbally and in writing.
• Strong skills in short-term planning, analysis, problem-anticipation and -solving, and customer service; ability to independently investigate solutions to administrative challenges and anticipate leadership needs.
• Ability to use discretion and maintain confidentiality, as well as sound judgment in responding to issues and concerns, including those related to space/facilities, workplace safety, and personnel disputes.
• Cultural sensitivity, positive can-do attitude, a sense of humor, and demonstrated ability to work diplomatically, proactively, and with integrity across diverse constituencies.
• Knowledge of a variety of administrative operations, such as budget creation, calendars and scheduling, hiring graduate and undergraduate students.
• Ability to present complex operational policies and practices to diverse audiences.
• Ability to remain flexible and able to adapt to change.
• Strong competency with MS Office and Google applications.
• Experience with campus policies, procedures, processes related to human resources, procurement, vendoring, and reimbursements/payments.

Professional Development

• CEGA invests in your professional development. In this role, you will learn, engage, and grow.
• Learn: CEGA supports a culture of learning, with opportunities to attend weekly UC Berkeley Development Seminars and take classes for credit at UC Berkeley (Extension) with our generous tuition assistance program.
• Engage: You will directly interact directly with CEGA faculty, senior leadership and staff of all levels.
• Grow: You can expect to join multiple peer groups to build institutional knowledge and pass on lessons learned.
• Salary and Benefits
• The salary range for this position is $70,000 -$89,467.

Visit this page for information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University.