MIT Blueprint Labs is recruiting a Policy and Research Manager, Education Initiatives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Blueprint is a growing group of professionals devoted to answering major policy questions related to education, the workforce, and inequality. Based in the Department of Economics at MIT, Blueprint Labs consists of academic affiliates who represent leading economic thinkers, full-time staff members, and graduate researchers. The team partners directly with leading academic, government, and nonprofit institutions to address major social policy challenges.
The Policy and Research Manager is a team player and strategic thinker who implements and oversees multiple programs within the education team, in conjunction with Blueprint’s leadership. The Policy and Research Manager supports ongoing education research projects, including the “Evaluating College Support” project featured in The New York Times. Primary responsibilities include supporting research operations, coaching junior research staff, and communicating with internal and external stakeholders.
The selected candidate will be a motivated and organized project manager, with demonstrated research experience in economics, education, public policy, or a related field. The Manager should be a clear communicator who can effectively represent the organization in person and in writing.
The Policy and Research Manager position is a full-time appointment that is renewable annually, contingent on mutual agreement. A term of at least two years is strongly desired. The anticipated salary range for this role is $100,000-103,000, based on experience.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
- Research Team Management
- Coordinate and support the Education research team, maintaining clear communication with all team members at all times
- Contribute to strategic planning and execution of projects with project faculty/PIs
- Hire, supervise, and mentor pre-doctoral research fellows, temps, and interns through regular meetings and check-ins, helping them prioritize and adjust workloads as needed in coordination with Blueprint Labs and Economics HR
- Hire and onboard other members of the research team, such as consultants and students, as needed. Maintains clear communication with PIs, research fellows, PhD students, and research associates. Develops roles and responsibilities for additional research team members
- Conduct technical screening of research fellows during the hiring process
- Advise faculty on project needs and provide support or new resources, keeping faculty apprised of developments that may affect research fellows
- Provide technical guidance to research fellows on data analysis
- Develop clear systems and processes for common research milestones, such as paper submissions and publication release
- Expand knowledge of project portfolio field through continuous literature reviews and media scans. Communicate findings to team members
- Prepare research requests and coordinate data approvals and transfers. Implement data security protocols and memorandums of understanding. Ensure compliance with human subjects regulations and maintain documentation
- Outreach and Communications
- Serve as an external representative of the organization to key stakeholders, including government agency partners and funders
- Discuss project plans and research findings in meetings and at conferences
- Create research-based content for external communications such as the website, media releases, policy briefs, and publications, with support from junior staff
- Draft research proposals and presentations, policy briefs, literature reviews, and presentations to communicate research completed by Blueprint faculty
- Data Management
- Establish and monitor data use agreements and design data security standards to ensure compliance with data requirements and maintain documentation
- Explain and ensure compliance with research protocols among members of the research team
- Manage regular data transfers
- Serve as key liaison with IT to troubleshoot technical infrastructure (e.g., servers)
- Proposal and grant management
- Lead narrative grant and donor proposals and reports
- Manage project and sponsor timelines and budgets, resolving issues as needed.
Other duties as needed or required.
Qualifications & Skills
- Master’s degree in economics, public policy, public administration, business administration, political science (or a related field) required.
- Six or more years of accumulated experience, including at least four years of full-time, post-undergraduate experience and prior experience managing staff.
- Candidates must be strategic thinkers who can handle multiple projects at once, push forward external stakeholders, meet deadlines, and effectively manage time. Must be comfortable working in a high-volume, independent, and fast-paced environment.
- Must have strong people and project management skills and the ability to prioritize and deliver results. Project management skills including the ability to plan projects, determine staffing, set timelines, and execute plans to meet organizational goals.
- Strong writing and speaking skills and proven ability to communicate across multiple stakeholders are required. Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy, particularly when communicating about research.
- Strong STATA, R, Python, or other programming skills.
- Experience in an academic research setting is strongly preferred.
- Experience with data management is preferred.
This position will be based out of Blueprint’s offices in Cambridge, MA. Occasional evening/night/weekend work may be required. This position is not eligible for any visa sponsorship.
To Apply
Submit your application via MIT’s hiring site here. If this link doesn’t work, please visit hr.mit.edu, click “Search Open Positions,” and search for Job Number #23188. Please submit the following as a single PDF:
- a one-page cover letter describing your interest in and qualifications for the position, as well as your earliest start date
- a CV or resume
Questions should be directed to Jennifer Jackson (jjacks@mitblueprintlabs.org). This position is open until filled.
MIT is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin.
