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Job Number: 25516
Functional Area: Administration
Department: Sloan School of Management
School Area: Sloan School of Management
Pay Range Minimum: $88,550
Pay Range Maximum: $120,000
Employment Type: Full-time (Hybrid)
Employment Category: Exempt
Visa Sponsorship Available: No
Schedule:
Pay Grade: 9
Position Overview:
Reporting to the Executive Director of the MIT Climate Policy Center, the Associate Policy Director leads efforts to amplify and strategically enhance existing climate policy-relevant research at MIT and identify new opportunities for climate policy-relevant analysis based on policymaker needs. Working closely with research and communications teams, program managers, and affiliated faculty, the Associate Policy Director helps execute the MIT Climate Policy Center’s mission and strategy; leads proactive and responsive policy engagement; ensures timely, high-quality external communications; and oversees the development of a range of knowledge products. The position will also serve as a liaison for policy initiatives across campus beyond climate.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Policy Analysis, Research & Communications (40%)
• Research: In collaboration with the faculty director, research director, and principal investigators, provides critical guidance to researchers and research teams when incorporating policy implications into research design and execution.
• Knowledge Product Creation & Development: Leads efforts and contributes to authoring knowledge products that effectively communicate MIT policy analysis and research (e.g. policy briefs, research commentaries); Drafts and edits science policy documents on behalf of MIT Climate Policy Center leadership and faculty; Oversees products developed by UROPs, research assistants and post-doctoral researchers affiliated with MIT Climate Policy Center.
● Teaching & Training: Develops and updates educational resources for MIT researchers to explain various aspects of public policy (e.g. how Congress works, how to write an effective policy memo); Facilitates online learning modules to provide asynchronous education to the global public, including through MITx and edX; provides specific training and guidance to faculty in advance of presentations to policy audiences.
● Convening: Directs events that bring together researchers and policy ecosystem leaders to advance evidence-based policy, including both on and off campus (e.g. workshops, panel discussions, etc); Contributes to the development of annual MIT Congressional Staff Seminars; Identifies opportunities for and contributes to the development of educational seminars, symposia, and forums for policy stakeholder audiences.
● Communications: Serves as the primary resource for the MIT Climate Policy Center on framing MIT research for policymaker audiences (e.g. develops presentation materials for marketing policy projects, drafting op-eds, and social media communications); represents MIT Climate Policy Center at academic and policy conferences and events to disseminate knowledge products.
Researcher Relationship Management, Opportunity Identification and Qualification (30%)
• MIT Researcher Relationship Management: Identifies and qualifies relevant MIT research that could contribute to and enhance public policy proposals, recommendations, and rules; Cultivates relationships with MIT researchers and provides strategic guidance in engaging with policy audiences; attends academic conferences. Monitors research publication communications (MIT News, Google Scholar alerts, etc) to stay abreast of emerging MIT policy-relevant research.
• Project Opportunity Identification: Leverages existing policy ecosystem relationships to identify time-sensitive opportunities for MIT faculty to analyze and inform existing and forthcoming policy; leverages MIT researcher relationships to identify existing and emerging research at MIT that can inform and enhance policy discourse and design.
• Project Qualification: Ensures identified projects meet MIT quality standards, are appropriately resourced, high-leverage, and align with MIT strategic objectives.
• Policy Ecosystem Coordination: Works in close collaboration with the MIT Washington Office to identify and engage general and issue-specific policy ecosystem members within subnational, national, and international domains including government, non-government, and private sector stakeholders; Coordinates with the MIT Washington Office to cultivate relationships within those ecosystems to leverage MIT research and expertise; where appropriate, attends events, symposia, seminars, panel discussions to stay abreast of policymaker needs.
Management and Administration (30%)
● Identifies opportunities for UROP research projects, and provides managerial oversight of UROP student projects
● Accountable for the development, implementation of projects associated with all identified workstreams including developing plans, holding contributors accountable to deadlines, and informing relevant parties of key decisions and outcomes
Supervision Received:
Reports to the Executive Director of the MIT Climate Policy Center
Supervision Exercised:
Not applicable
Qualifications & Skills:
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field of study required; Master’s or Doctoral degree in natural sciences, social sciences, economics, or engineering preferred.
• Excellent project management skills and an established record of managing and prioritizing multiple time-sensitive demands.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience required, including program/project management, policy development, and/or policy advisory experience.
• Strong writing and analytical capabilities required.
• Significant demonstrated experience with federal and/or state-level government relations and/or policy communications. Local and international policy experience preferred.
• Mature understanding of legislative and regulatory processes, including topical jurisdiction and policy ecosystems.
• Demonstrated excellence at cultivating relationships within an organization and with external constituencies, including Capitol Hill, federal agencies, state legislatures, and executive branches, NGOs, think tanks, and other relevant policy stakeholders.
• Superior communication skills with an ability to understand, distill, and translate complex technical material for different policy audiences.
• Must be adaptable – job responsibilities are subject to change in response to rapidly evolving policy and political landscape.
Competencies:
• Contribute: Is self-directed and proactive while advancing work and achieving results.
• Collaborate: Communicates openly and effectively by exchanging high-quality information, ideas, and opinions in an open and timely manner with internal and external audiences
• Engage: Fosters innovation and experimentation by applying original thinking, expertise, and professional experience to solve problems and develop new options and approaches.
• Lead: Focuses on impact and outcomes while working to make a difference and achieve organizational goals. Initiates and sustains change that creates value.
• Manage: Manages people and teams by providing direction, support, and encouragement to accomplish organizational goals.
Occasional weekday evening and weekend work and travel will be required.
U.S. citizenship or permanent residency is required.
** To comply with regulations by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), the principal duties in job descriptions must be essential to the job. To identify essential functions, focus on the purpose and the result of the duties rather than the manner in which they are performed. The following definition applies: a job function is essential if removal of that function would fundamentally change the job.
