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Senior Finance Associate - J-PAL North America
Country
United States
Education
Bachelor's
Language Requirement
English
Length of Commitment
More than two years
Start Date
ASAP
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a network of over 140 affiliated professors from over 40 universities who conduct randomized evaluations (randomized controlled trials, RCTs) of social policies aimed at reducing poverty by ensuring that policy is based on scientific evidence.
J-PAL North America (J-PAL NA) seeks to reduce poverty in the region by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. We accomplish this through scientific research, policy outreach, and capacity building.
J-PAL NA is recruiting a Senior Finance Associate to develop and monitor budgets, create financial projections, and provide grants administration for research grants. The Senior Finance Associate will primarily support projects led by J-PAL North America co-Scientific Director, Amy Finkelstein. The Senior Finance Associate will be responsible for developing and managing multi-year budgets within and across grants, including timely assembly and submission of proposals and progress reports that meet University and Donor requirements. This is an early professional-level position that will report to and work with the Senior Manager for Finance and Administration.
The position is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.
Responsibilities
J-PAL North America’s co-Scientific Director, Professor Amy Finkelstein, is involved in numerous research projects in the fields of health economics and health care delivery. Examples of her work include research on the effect of expanding public health insurance (www.nber.org/oregon), analysis of the impacts of healthcare hotspotting on super-utilizers, and a study of the effect of Clinical Decision Support on physician scan ordering. To support these many commitments, Professor Finkelstein, and her related team at J-PAL North America, require a capable, efficient, and motivated financial professional to provide:
Financial Management: Manage grant funds in accordance with MIT and donor requirements. Reconcile budgets, track personnel allocations and other expenditures across grants, and develop multi-year financial projections for the research group of Principal Investigators (PIs) and research assistants. Monitor actual and projected costs, regularly communicate these to Research Managers and PIs, and identify potential overruns. Report regularly to J-PAL North America’s senior leadership, research managers, and Professor Finkelstein on grant financials.
Grant Administration: Work with PIs and research managers to develop budgets for grant proposals. Create annual progress reports, create and interpret financial reports in accordance with specific grant requirements. Liaise with central MIT offices and partner organizations to establish awards, subawards, and purchase orders. Manage service contracts and vendor relationships, including procurement. Liaise with central MIT offices to support the completion of data use agreements, human subjects reviews, and other documents required for research. Process and track expenses and reimbursements. Monitor project deadlines and deliverables by notifying the team of upcoming deadlines.
Professional Development
J-PAL invests in your professional development. As a Senior Finance Associate you will learn, engage, and grow. As this position supports a research team, there may be potential to learn, engage, and grow with other aspects of research project management, based on interest and availability of opportunities.
Learn: J-PAL 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. All J-PAL staff are also eligible to take the innovative online MITx MicroMasters credential in Data, Economics, and Development Policy (DEDP) free of charge.
Engage: In addition to working directly with Professor Finkelstein, the Senior Finance Associate will have the opportunity to be involved with and learn about cutting-edge randomized evaluations that focus on poverty reduction in the North America region.
Grow: You can expect to join a team eager to continuously improve upon the systems that keep our office running smoothly. As a member of the team, you will have the opportunity to develop and create systems, make decisions on how those systems are implemented, and find creative solutions to problems as they arise.
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 and government fields 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.
Qualifications
Your technical expertise, strong communication and analytic skills, attention to detail, and passion for translating research into action make you an ideal candidate for this position.
Education: You hold a bachelor’s degree.
Experience: You have 3 or more years of related experience in finance administration. Experience in grants management, such as tracking grants deliverables, IRBs, and data use agreements, is a plus but not required – these skills may be learned on the job.
Communication: You are detail-oriented and have advanced written and verbal communication skills. You demonstrate confidence in communicating with executives and external parties.
Technical skills: You have strong skills in Excel, and experience with an enterprise resource and finance planning system such as SAP. You are comfortable and interested in learning computer applications, including Dropbox, SalesForce, SharePoint, and other platforms. Experience using SAP is a plus.
Organization: You are a strategic thinker. You enjoy building and managing effective systems. You can handle multiple projects at once, push forward agreements with external stakeholders, meet deadlines, and effectively manage your time. You pride yourself on your exceptional level of attention to detail.
Team player: You are able to build trust and good relationships within the larger J-PAL organization, its network of academics, partner organizations, and the MIT community. You maintain good relationships with a sense of humor.
For more information about J-PAL North America and the recruitment process, please view our webinar recording. You can also download the slides to our webinar.
How to Apply
Ready to join a team of supportive, engaging, and fun colleagues? Apply now.
Do you have permanent work authorization in the US? This position is not eligible for any type of visa sponsorship via MIT.
1. Fill out our very short application form HERE.
2. Create a single PDF with the filename “Firstname_Lastname” that includes:
- One page cover letter addressed to Rose Harvey stating:
- Why you’re interested
- Why you’re qualified
- Curriculum vitae or resume (no more than 2 pages)
3. E-mail the PDF to najobs@povertyactionlab.org with the subject line: Senior Finance Associate 8087 – [your last name].
4. Submit a short application via MIT’s human resources system. Visit http://jobs.mit.edu/external, search for job ID 14258, and complete an application. This is required for all MIT-based positions, and all you need do is complete the required fields and upload a resume; do not complete any optional items.