J-PAL North America, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, seeks a Training Manager to develop and lead training activities, and manage a portfolio of training courses hosted by the North America regional office in coordination with J-PAL Global and partner organizations.
- An annual research staff training targeted to research assistants working for J-PAL or partner organizations, covering best practices in implementing and managing randomized evaluations
- J-PAL North America’s flagship Executive Education course targeted to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers from governments and nonprofits, providing an overview of randomized evaluation methodology through group work and lectures
- Custom courses, lectures, or workshops provided to policymakers or practitioners
Through these training activities, J-PAL North America supports the work of top economists across the region, builds the capacity of research staff across different organizations, and develops strong relationships with researchers and influential policymakers. These programs are a key part of J-PAL North America’s strategy for developing a cohort of researchers interested in and capable of conducting high-quality randomized evaluations, and for building the capacity of government leaders and innovative service providers to partner with researchers and apply the lessons from research into their policymaking. For examples of trainings held by J-PAL North America and other J-PAL offices, see povertyactionlab.org/training.
The Training Manager is a new position at J-PAL North America, which will oversee both the transition of these existing programs from J-PAL Global to the North America office, and the development of new training programs and capacity building activities for the office. We are seeking an experienced individual to run our high-profile annual events, and to provide thought leadership and strategic planning for the future of our training portfolio.
The Department of Economics at MIT is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds and welcome candidates with experience working in the United States or abroad.
Responsibilities
Staff Training and Executive Education Program Management:
- Liaise with J-PAL research and training staff, partner organizations, and other stakeholders to determine training needs and design a curriculum.
- Manage J-PAL North America’s annual research staff training program and Executive Education program. This includes directing an events coordinator to manage logistics, coordinating with trainers, finalizing attendees, developing the agenda, supervising communications about the events, developing relationships with attendees, and fostering the development of a research community.
- Deliver training sessions, presentations, or serve as a Teaching Assistant.
Training Resource Development:
- Coordinate and classify a standardized set of training materials and presentations for use throughout the J-PAL North America team
- Identify and leverage existing diverse resources from the J-PAL network to transform into training materials and presentations; drive the creation of new training materials
- Apply best practices in pedagogy to improve training materials, ensuring courses are designed to maximize participant engagement and learning
Strategy and Personnel Management:
- Formulate and execute a training and capacity building strategy for J-PAL North America.
- Recruit, screen, manage, and mentor research and training associates or interns.
Qualifications:
Education:
- A Master’s degree in economics, education, public policy, international development, or other related fields strongly preferred. Significant training in and a strong technical understanding of randomized impact evaluations is required.
Experience:
- 4 or more years of relevant work experience is required. Experience conducting randomized impact evaluations is a plus. Experience working in a pedagogical setting is a plus, but not required.
Skills & Interests:
- Attention to detail, and advanced writing and presentation skills for communicating across a variety of stakeholders.
- Proven project and time management skills with a demonstrated ability to prioritize among projects, successfully complete tasks assigned, and meet deadlines.
- Strong leadership and relationship-building skills, with the ability to interact with institutional partners, academic researchers, policymakers, and staff. Previous experience managing staff is a plus.
- Interest in encouraging evidence-based policymaking through training and capacity building.
- Knowledge of data collection, data management, data analysis in Stata or R, econometrics, and/or randomized impact evaluation methodology is strongly desirable.
- Willingness and flexibility to travel within the United States and on occasion, to J-PAL offices in other countries, is required.
Benefits
This position is eligible for MIT benefits.
How to Apply
This position is not eligible for any type of visa sponsorship. 1. Submit a short application via MIT’s human resources system. Visit http://jobs.mit.edu/external, search for jobs at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, select “Training Manager – J-PAL North America” (MIT job number 15235) and complete an application. Please upload your resume and cover letter to that system. Short-listed applicants will be asked to complete a writing and technical exercise and may be asked to provide transcripts. Finalists will be called for an in-person interview.