The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), based at MIT is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. J-PAL affiliated researchers and offices conduct randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty. We collaborate with NGO, government, and private sector partners to translate research into action, informing scale-ups of programs and policies that have reached more than 600 million people since 2003.
The Global Executive Director (GED) of J-PAL—Iqbal Dhaliwal—helps formula the and implement J-PAL’s worldwide strategy and organization-wide policies, communicates J-PAL’s mission and accomplishments to external partners, and coordinates operations and fundraising. He works closely with the directors of each of J-PAL’s four verticals (Policy and Communications; Research, Education, and Training; Finance and Operations; and Evidence to Scale) as well as with the senior leadership of J-PAL’s regional and country offices around the world. As one of the primary representatives of J-PAL to external stakeholders, he manages a complex set of projects, travel, and internal/external relations.
The Manager works very closely with the GED to deliver on all of his worldwide responsibilities and execute J-PAL’s global strategy. This position is an excellent opportunity for those interested in international development, public policy, and organizational strategy and management. It provides a ringside view of how strategy is designed and executed at the senior-most leadership levels of a leading global evidence-to-policy organization. The position is tailor-made for people who like a diversity of work in their portfolio, a fast-paced role and learning environment, and the opportunity to work across the entire organization to gain a wide breadth of experiences, rather than being siloed narrowly in one domain. You will be part of the Global Policy and Communications (P&C) group that plays a key role in translating research by J-PAL researchers into actionable poverty alleviation policies around the world.You should be passionate about connecting the dots between economics and policy, and excited by the prospect of working with external stakeholders, including governments, donors, implementers, companies, and others, to form partnerships for evidence-informed development policy and to effectively communicate research lessons. The Manager will also work closely with colleagues in the Research, Education, and Training (RET) and Finance and Operations teams (F&O).
This is a unique opportunity for the right candidate to gain direct exposure to J-PAL’s decision-making, governance, and operations, and to contribute significantly to J-PAL’s influence in advancing effective poverty reduction strategies globally. Candidates interested in applying to this role will be excited to work alongside J-PAL’s GED and in his work with faculty directors, professors Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Ben Olken of MIT, worldwide leadership/management team, the Board of Directors, and with various staff across the entire organization to achieve J-PAL’s mission.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. J-PAL affiliated researchers and offices conduct randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty. We collaborate with NGOs, governments, and private sector partners to translate research into action, informing scale-ups of programs and policies that have reached more than 600 million people since 2003. Headquartered in the Economics Department at MIT , J-PAL has seven regional offices worldwide and staff based in almost a dozen countries. Our affiliated researchers include five Nobel laureates in economics, and a number of Clark Medalists and MacArthur fellows. Our host university MIT is itself world-renowned for both its education and cutting-edge research. MIT welcomes people from all walks of life to bring their talent, ideas, and experience to our community. What is less well known is that MIT is also ranked among the best places to work.