Senior Associate - J-PAL Global

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. Anchored by a network of over 200 affiliated professors at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.

The Senior Associate will play a central role in launching and growing the Lighthouse Collaborative, a new initiative developed by J-PAL and The Agency Fund. The Collaborative seeks to help proven AI and other social-sector innovations move beyond pilots to strengthen public systems, thereby improving outcomes, equipping policymakers with better tools, and reaching millions of people.

The Lighthouse Collaborative will bring together partners to identify and help massively scale high-impact NGOs / social enterprises in low- and middle-income countries. These "Lighthouses" will combine demonstrated impact and cost-effectiveness with strong learning systems and delivery models that can work through government.

Position Overview:

The Senior Associate will play a central role in building and launching the Lighthouse Collaborative. The role will provide the research, analysis, project management, and partner coordination needed to help promising organizations scale through evidence and public systems. Two early priorities will be supporting Lighthouse organizations to massively scale in partnership with governments, and engaging academic institutions (e.g., graduate, business, and/or public policy schools) to source entrepreneurial talent that could help bring Lighthouse organizations to new geographies.

Over time, the Senior Associate will take increasing ownership of defined work streams.

J-PAL is recruiting a Senior Associate to contribute to this mission of promoting evidence-informed policy. The preferred location for this role is Cambridge, MA, based at MIT, with at least two in-person workdays per week. We will also consider candidates based in New York City or the San Francisco Bay Area. Exceptional candidates in other locations may be considered, provided they can maintain at least four hours of overlap with both Pacific and Eastern Time working hours.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Responsibilities:

Lighthouse project management and delivery (75%)

• Develop government partnerships and pilots: Help Lighthouse organizations identify relevant government partners and turn initial interest into concrete opportunities. Research government priorities, prepare partner materials, coordinate engagement, and manage the process toward well-designed pilots and scaling partnerships.
• Build the talent pipeline: Develop partnerships with policy and business schools to recruit high-potential talent for Lighthouse organizations and support the replication of proven models in new contexts.
• Support Lighthouse organizations to scale: Maintain a close understanding of each organization’s goals, constraints, and progress. Coordinate targeted support from researchers, funders, technical experts, and other partners, to help organizations build robust internal systems for learning and iteration, "go-to-market" capabilities with government, and capacity for scale.
• Fundraising: Identify and research prospective funders, develop tailored proposals and briefing materials, and support donor conversations.
• Project management: Build the core systems needed to run the initiative, manage workplans and decision points, and coordinate across J-PAL, The Agency Fund, Lighthouse organizations, and external partners. Support fundraising and partner engagement through strong analysis, briefs, proposals, and follow-through.

Other (25%): This role will also…