Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Position Title/Short Description

Full Text of JOE Listing:

J-PAL Title: Research Manager
Reports To: Director of Research, Education, and Training; J-PAL Global
Employer: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Location: Cambridge, MA, USA
Start Date: January 2018
Length of Commitment: Three years or more
Education: Minimum Masters, Ph.D. preferred
Special Note: This position is not eligible for any type of Visa sponsorship.

Job Description:
J-PAL Global is recruiting a Research Manager to contribute to its mission of promoting evidence-informed policy. This position is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.

The Research, Education and Training Group at J-PAL Global plays a key role in supporting research by J-PAL affiliates, applying economics and data analysis skills to address important policy challenges, and building research capacity to create actionable evidence on poverty alleviation policies.

Responsibilities
Your primary tasks as a Research Manager will be to create research resources, share and implement best practices for empirical research in economics, and track J-PAL research projects. Your work provides the foundation and direction for J-PAL’s efforts to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is based on scientific evidence.

Research Resources and Research Training: You will be responsible for disseminating the knowledge generated in our research operations, from harmonizing survey questionnaires, to sharing practical solutions to operative challenges, to creating technical know-how and resources. One of your goals will be to implement better systems of knowledge sharing. Research Managers take a lead role in collecting information from research teams and affiliate researchers, ensuring the quality of our reference materials, and creating new research resources. This includes the design of training materials as well as teaching of related classes at research staff trainings and onboarding and in our trainings and education courses. A second, long-term goal of yours will be to prepare the grounds for the use of data collected in individual projects for meta-analyses and methodological work. You will mentor junior research staff in these tasks.

Research Project Tracking: J-PAL has research protocols and best practices in place that guarantee the high quality and replicability of research. As a Research Manager, you will liaise with regional offices and field research teams as well as IT specialists at Global. Your goal will be to develop lean monitoring systems that help research staff on the ground, the Initiatives that manage funding, and Research at Global keep track of all research activities, while keeping administrative burden at a minimum. This task will require a good understanding of the challenges and realities of fieldwork, an ability to coordinate with multiple stakeholders, and the willingness to delve into process details to develop a sustainable, reliable system that works for the diverse set of research projects housed at J-PAL. The task will require a higher share of time during the planning and introductory phase and after successful launch a lower share.

Research Transparency: J-PAL Global Research is committed to leading research transparency and robustness efforts in impact evaluation and poverty alleviation research. You will play a key role in two main efforts in this space; data publication, and pre-publication research replication. You will help oversee the work of junior staff who assist affiliates in publishing their data and build data analysis tools and templates for this purpose. You will also take a lead role in overseeing and guiding the work of our graduate fellows who conduct replications of research papers prior to publication for J-PAL affiliates. This provides an opportunity to apply your programming and methodological skills in impact evaluation data analysis.

Research: In order to stay current with evolving research methods and practices of impact evaluation, the Research Manager is encouraged to collaborate on existing J-PAL research or carry out their own research projects.

Professional Development:
The Research, Education and Training Group invests in your professional development. As a Research Manager, you will learn, engage, travel, and grow.

Learn: The Research, Education and Training Group supports a culture of learning, with opportunities to attend weekly MIT–Harvard Development Seminars and take classes for credit at MIT or elsewhere with our generous tuition assistance program.

Engage: the Research Manager will have the opportunity to interact and collaborate regularly with J-PAL’s regional offices in Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. In addition to this, you may have the opportunity to work with J-PAL affiliates and other PI’s and the Research Associates tied to their projects.

Travel: the Research Manager has the opportunity to present at J-PAL’s regional offices and global staff trainings, attend research events worldwide, and support on-the-ground research in extended field visits.

Grow: the Research Manager can expect to join a peer group eager to build institutional knowledge and pass on lessons learned. Research Managers receive one-on-one mentorship from senior Group members and are eligible for internal promotions after two to three years with J-PAL. Such promotions are based on performance and ability.

Benefits:
As a member of the MIT community, you benefit from more than just your salary.

J-PAL hires highly qualified staff and rewards them accordingly. Total compensation packages are competitive for the non-profit international development field with excellent MIT benefits, including comprehensive health insurance, a 401(k) match and pension-based retirement plan, tuition assistance, commuter benefits, MIT community discounts, a generous vacation policy, and more. We like working at MIT and think you will too!

Qualifications:
Your technical expertise, strong communication and organizational skills, passion for research and teaching, and interest in international development or poverty alleviation policies make you an ideal candidate for the Research Manager position.

Education: You hold a graduate degree in economics, political science, statistics, public policy, or other related fields. You also have significant training in and a strong technical understanding of economics and econometrics.

Experience: You have at least two years of relevant field research experience, including experience as a research associate or research assistant (minimum four years with a Master’s degree). Ideally, you have experience conducting field research with a background in randomized evaluations.

Skills: You are comfortable learning computer applications, including Salesforce. Knowledge of data management, econometrics, and use of STATA or other data analysis software are required. It is strongly preferred that you have programming experience in R, but experience with SurveyCTO, Python, C++, or Matlab is a plus.

Communication: You are detail-oriented and able to adapt to different communication styles and needs while engaging with different stakeholders with diverse backgrounds, interest, and experience. Your writing and presentation skills are advanced, and you can communicate technical concepts and complex models in a clear and engaging way. You are precise, clear, and creative. Advanced proficiency in English is required.

Organization: You can successfully handle multiple projects at once, meet deadlines, and effectively manage your time. If you have experience interacting with academic and policy partners, that is a plus.

Attitude: You love learning and are willing to stay current with econometric and research methods. Your research experience and coursework demonstrate your passion for international poverty alleviation policy and the rigorous research that informs it. You are self-motivated, work hard, and enjoy working in teams.

Note: Applications are due by March 15, 2018 and reviewed on a rolling basis. Interviews will take place at the AEA meetings or J-PAL's Cambridge office at MIT.