Senior Manager, Economics Pathways - J-PAL North America

About J-PAL North America

J-PAL North America, an economics research center at MIT, is actively recruiting for a Senior Manager, Economics Pathways. Working at J-PAL North America means being part of a vibrant, collaborative team of professionals who are committed to translating research into innovative policy solutions that are effective in reducing poverty. As a regional office of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), J-PAL North America is part of a network of hundreds of researchers at universities around the world, including some of the world’s leading economics researchers. J-PAL North America works closely with J-PAL’s global headquarters and six additional independent regional offices in Africa, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia to generate cutting-edge research, policy outreach, and training. This position is based on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts and provides a flexible hybrid work schedule with some days in the office and some days remote.   

To learn more about our work and team culture, visit www.povertyactionlab.org/na.

Opportunity Overview

As a member of the J-PAL North America team, you’ll be part of a Nobel-prize winning scientific movement that can transform US policy making. This new Senior Manager, Economics Pathways position offers an exciting opportunity to design and lead a new flagship initiative aimed at building the capacity of researchers to conduct high-quality randomized evaluations, diversifying the demographic composition of the economics profession, and expanding the network of emerging researchers from traditionally underrepresented groups engaged in this work. Reporting directly to the Associate Director of Research, the Senior Manager, Economics Pathways will conceptualize, develop, and oversee the Economics Pathways portfolio, including the Undergraduate Internship Program, US Scholars Program, and advanced workshops. Key responsibilities for this role include directing a range of mentorship, training, and resource support programs tailored to meet the needs of researchers at varying stages of their careers and experience with randomized evaluations. In addition, the Senior Manager, Economics Pathways will manage and mentor program staff, fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team.

We are looking for a candidate with a deep understanding of training approaches and adult-learner pedagogies, and strong project management skills. A qualified candidate will have significant experience managing people, a proven track record of conceptualizing new programs, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple streams of work and independently drive work forward while collaborating with diverse stakeholders. An ideal candidate will also have understanding of impact evaluation (specifically randomized evaluations) and/or familiarity with the academic landscape of Economics.

Key Responsibilities

Economic Pathways Program Management (80%):

●      Program Design and Management: Conceptualize, develop, and oversee a portfolio of equity-centered, culturally responsive, research-based economics pathways programs, including the Undergraduate Internship Program, US Scholars Program, and advanced workshops. Ensure that each program aligns with J-PAL North America’s strategic objectives and meets the unique needs of researchers at various career stages.  

●      Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Building: Build and maintain strong relationships with academic institutions, researchers, mentors, and other stakeholders. Foster collaborations that expand the reach and impact of the program.

●      Mentorship, Training, and Technical Assistance: Lead the coordination of mentorship, training, and technical assistance efforts, ensuring researchers receive the support they need to successfully design and conduct randomized evaluations. Work closely with mentors to facilitate fair partnerships and expectation alignment.

●      Resource Development and Dissemination: Oversee the creation and distribution of resources that assist researchers in conducting rigorous evaluations, such as training materials, research toolkits, and guides. Ensure resources are accessible to diverse audiences, including those underrepresented in the economics field.

●      Workshop Planning and Delivery: Design and organize advanced workshops that provide cutting-edge training for researchers at different levels of experience. Topics may include advanced statistical techniques and other emerging research methods.

●      Program Evaluation and Reporting: Work with an organizational impact team to track, evaluate, and report on the outcomes of the Economics Pathways programs. Use data-driven insights to continuously improve offerings and expand the program’s impact on the research community.

●      Writing and External Communications: Manage staff in producing publications and communications documents related to the Economics Pathways programs. Represent J-PAL North America at external meetings and events. 

Organizational Leadership (20%):

●      Fundraising: Develop and pursue a funding strategy for Economics Pathways in cooperation with J-PAL North America leadership. Identify and build relationships with potential donors. Prepare concept notes and proposals. Manage relationships and reporting for existing donors.

●      Strategic Leadership: Plan, develop and implement annual Economics Pathway goals, objectives and budgets and recommend appropriate staffing. Work with members of the Research team to set team objectives, plan activities for the upcoming fiscal year and oversee progress towards the goal of promoting the highest quality research practices among our network of affiliates and more broadly within the research community. Take initiative to help improve work processes and outcomes at J-PAL North America beyond just the immediate tasks at hand.

●      Personnel Management:  Identify staffing needs, carry out recruitment activities, and allocate work across the team. Manage and mentor program staff, fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team. Provide regular feedback and conduct performance reviews of direct reports. Work cross-functionally with other teams at J-PAL North America to ensure smooth execution of program activities.

Compensation & Benefits

This position offers a competitive market-based salary commensurate with experience. As an MIT employee, the selected candidate will also be eligible for a wide array of institutional benefits. Some of these MIT benefits include comprehensive health insurance, a 401(k) match up to 5% of salary plus a pension-based retirement plan, tuition assistance up to $5,250 per calendar year, commuter benefits, access to MyLifeServices, a generous vacation policy (3 weeks of paid vacation in your first year, and 4 weeks every year after that, plus an additional 12+ paid Institute-wide holidays per year and an end of year break), paid sick leave, maternity and parental leave, back-up child care benefits and much more.

Professional Development Opportunities

J-PAL North America supports a culture of learning, with opportunities to attend weekly seminars, engage in small-group discussions with other J-PAL staff, participate in workshops, or take classes for credit at MIT or elsewhere with our generous tuition assistance program. J-PAL North America employees also receive an annual professional development stipend.

Qualifications

●      Education: Master’s degree or higher in Economics, Public Policy, Education, Sociology or a related field. 

●      Experience: This position requires 7 years of directly relevant experience, which can include experience gained through part-time work, college level coursework, related internships, or volunteer experiences. Successful applicants will have a strong understanding of training approaches, pedagogies in supporting adult learners, mentoring and an understanding of the challenges and opportunities within an academic setting, especially for underrepresented groups. Experience should demonstrate sensitivity, knowledge, and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, gender identity, sexual orientation, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of the researchers we serve and sensitivity to and knowledge and understanding of groups historically underrepresented, and groups who may have experienced discrimination. Prior lived or direct experience working with communities of color and/or those experiencing poverty in North America is a plus.

●      Technical Skills: Actively demonstrates the technical skills and expertise necessary to ensure a high quality of work and cultivate technical skills in more junior staff. Can apply technical skills and expertise across formats and audiences without supervision, including the ability to accurately explain concepts related to randomized evaluation, other impact evaluation methodologies, and research generalizability. Proven ability to conceptualize and develop new programs with a high degree of independence and initiative. Demonstrated creativity and strategic thinking in building initiatives that align with organizational goals and researcher needs. Demonstrated proficiency in using office computer applications, software and systems to perform key responsibilities; and willingness to learn new computer skills as needed to complete assignments.

●      Ownership of Work: Takes responsibility and is accountable for making major decisions and exercising independent judgment. Meticulous attention to detail and ability to independently drive work forward, managing multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously while ensuring high-quality outcomes. Effectively prioritizes their own work and that of direct and indirect reports. Follows up with staff as needed and ensures that projects are completed on time and at the quality expected. Accurately identifies tasks and requests as being in or out of scope and responds appropriately to the request, with minimal need for consultation. Effectively identifies, assesses, and executes strategic opportunities for new major areas of work or strategic priorities.

●      Written Communication: Accurately, succinctly, and persuasively communicates complex ideas in writing to staff, researchers, and project stakeholders. Produces high-quality communications, reports and presentations for high-level external audiences with minimal supervision from senior-level staff. Able to edit the work of other staff and coach more junior staff in written communications.  

●      Oral Communication: Demonstrates strong active listening skills, and accurately, succinctly, and persuasively communicates information orally to staff, researchers and external partners, and represents J-PAL North America externally to high-level external audiences and media with minimal or no director-level supervision. Proposes the structure and scope of presentations or other oral communications. Adapts communication style to the audience. Provides feedback on presentation style and structure to colleagues. 

●      External Stakeholder Relations: Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build and maintain relationships with researchers, academic institutions, funders, and other stakeholders with minimal supervision. Experience fostering collaborative partnerships. Advises managers and junior staff on stakeholder relations. 

●      Task & Project Management:  Proven ability to manage complex, multi-faceted programs, with strong organizational and planning skills. Experience conceptualizing new programs and guiding them from design to implementation. Initiates and manages a process-oriented task, plans and organizes work, delegates appropriately, coordinates with others, establishes appropriate priorities and timelines, exercises follow through, finishes it well, and adds overall value to the team. Effectively allocates projects to employees to achieve balanced workloads that accomplish set goals and help the employee develop professionally. Coordinates efforts of stakeholders and managers doing related work; manages priorities and staffing across major areas of work. Identifies the need for additional staffing or resources and develops a plan to fill the need. 

●      Problem Solving/Decision Making: Demonstrates adeptness at analyzing facts, good judgment, and strong decision-making ability. Identifies and responds to problems, issues, and opportunities, and identifies relevant constraints. Identifies who must be consulted on decision-making and problem-solving and who must approve decisions. Seeks input from others for appropriate courses of action. Incorporates long term or big picture implications of each option or constraint in decision-making. Ensures buy-in and understanding of the decision as relevant. Takes responsibility for decisions made and executed. 

●      People Management: Demonstrated success in managing and mentoring staff and ability to build a positive team culture and collaborate across departments. May supervise managers, senior associates, associates or interns. May serve on hiring committees and provide support to the hiring process. Provides candid feedback to and about colleagues. Seeks feedback and areas for improvement. Willingly receives and acts on feedback.   

●      Travel: Willingness and ability to travel as needed locally and in the US (usually minimal) to attend events or participate in meetings. 

●      Commitment to Mission & Values: Cares personally and deeply about policy that has the potential to reduce poverty and the rigorous research that informs it. Demonstrates interest in poverty alleviation in the North American (primarily the United States) context in particular. Demonstrates a commitment to J-PAL North America’s values.