Master's or Ph.D. in Economics or Public Policy with a focus on economics or development.
Minimum of 15 years in nonprofit roles with a focus on partnership development and management.
Proven track record of securing six- to eight-figure strategic partnerships.
Strong understanding of international development and emerging landscapes like AI.
Experience in social innovation and effective altruism.
Responsibilities
Cultivate and grow partnerships with external stakeholders to advance J-PAL's mission.
Expand partnerships across diverse communities in social innovation and nonprofit management.
Collaborate with the Global Director for Policy and Communications on strategic initiatives.
Engage with philanthropic advisors to enhance partnership effectiveness.
Drive the development of innovative strategies for partnership engagement.
Benefits
Flexible work location options, including remote opportunities.
Opportunity to work with a Nobel Prize-winning organization.
Engagement with a global network of over 390 affiliated professors.
Involvement in impactful projects that reach millions worldwide.
Access to a diverse and integrated leadership team.
Full Job Description
Posting Description GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), to contribute to its mission of promoting evidence-informed policy as part of J-PAL's Leadership team, a diverse and integrated group W orking to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of over 390 affiliated professors at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty. Headquartered in the Economics Department at MIT, J-PAL has seven regional offices worldwide and staff based in almost a dozen countries. In 2019, the co-founders of the lab were awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for this path-breaking work. J-PAL network research has informed scale-ups of programs and policies that have reached over 850 million people around the world since 2003.
The Global Director of Partnerships will focus on cultivating and growing partnerships with external stakeholders to further J-PAL's core mission of reducing poverty through evidence. J-PAL is seeking to expand partnerships with a broad range of communities in social innovation, artificial intelligence, aid effectiveness, strategy and non-profit management consulting, philanthropic advising, and effective altruism. This new role focusing on advancing strategic partnerships, complements the portfolios of the Global Director for Policy and Communications and the Global Director of Innovation and Strategy.
The full job description is available, here .
Job Requirements REQUIRED: Master's or Ph.D. in Economics or in Public Policy with a concentration in economics or development; a minimum of fifteen years of progressive responsibility in nonprofit roles focusing on partnership development and management, and possess an understanding of international development; this can be through university degrees, and/or work experience; a proven track record of securing and maintaining a diversified portfolio of strategic partnerships, ranging from six- to eight-figure collaborations; and a strong and current understanding of scale, Big Bet, AI, and other emerging landscapes.
The Global Director of Partnerships is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA or in the San Francisco Bay Area, with flexibility for another remote location for the right candidate.
11/6/2026
About Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The university is known for its strong emphasis on scientific and technological research and its engineering programs. MIT was founded in 1861 and has a long history of innovation and entrepreneurship. The university has produced numerous Nobel laureates, Rhodes Scholars, and MacArthur Fellows.
