Senior Advisor, AI

About J-PAL:

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 390 affiliated professors at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.

Position overview:

The Policy and Communications Group is a rapidly growing group within J-PAL working to translate research by J-PAL affiliates into actionable poverty alleviation policies around the world. As AI and machine learning increasingly reshape the landscape of international development, from predictive analytics in social protection to LLMs in education, J-PAL is seeking an Senior Advisor to lead its AI work portfolio across research, policy, and capacity building to ensure applications of AI in development are evidence-based and responsible.

This role is designed for a highly experienced senior leader who can provide strategic direction to J-PAL's global AI portfolio. This portfolio focuses on evaluating and scaling transformative applications of AI in development programs, advancing the field of AI and development economics research through randomized controlled trials, incorporating AI into J-PAL’s capacity building programs, and advising researchers and staff on leveraging AI to improve the quality and efficiency of J-PAL’s research, policy, and operations. 

The Senior Advisor will report to the Global Executive Director and work closely with J-PAL’s AI Faculty Co-Chairs, AI, and policy teams. The Senior Advisor will serve as the staff lead for J-PAL’s AI regranting initiatives, including managing Project AI Evidence (PAIE), and supervising the PAIE team and other colleagues contributing to J-PAL’s AI portfolio.

The position is based in Cambridge, MA or Silicon Valley, CA with frequent travel to Cambridge. Hybrid or remote arrangements may be considered in accordance with MIT/J-PAL policy. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Only applications following all instructions at the bottom of this page will be considered.

Responsibilities: 

AI Sector Leadership & Strategy: Work closely with J-PAL’s Global Executive Director and AI Faculty Co-Chairs to help shape and advance an ambitious vision and strategy for J-PAL’s rapidly expanding AI work. Lead a team managing J-PAL's "AI for Social Good" initiatives and provide strategic direction on all matters related to AI and evidence-informed policy. Provide strategic and technical leadership to ensure high-quality work in portfolio research projects, policy publications, analysis, evidence presentations and reviews, and policy recommendations. Serve as the staff lead for Project AI Evidence (PAIE), J-PAL's primary vehicle for funding new research measuring the impacts of AI tools, AI policy influence, and scaling opportunities, and increasing the diversity of our research network. Oversee and manage the PAIE team, including overseeing PAIE RFPs/funding competitions to support cutting edge pilots and randomized controlled trials to advance scientific knowledge and actionable policy insights at the intersection of AI and global development. Provide strategic and technical guidance to J-PAL’s capacity building and AI teams in incorporating training on leveraging AI for social good in J-PAL courses and capacity building partnerships with governments. The core responsibilities below describe how this strategic leadership will be carried out across research and evaluation, partnerships, government-facing AI work, and fundraising.

1. Lead a team managing J-PAL’s Project AI Evidence (PAIE) and other AI for Social Good initiatives: Oversee and manage the PAIE team, including overseeing PAIE RFPs/funding competitions to support cutting edge pilots and randomized controlled trials to advance scientific knowledge and actionable policy insights in AI and global development. Manage the AI policy team and ensure high quality work including policy publications, analysis, evidence presentations and reviews, and policy recommendations. Provide technical and strategic guidance to strengthen J-PAL’s AI research portfolio, including PAIE-funded projects, future RFPs, policy outputs, evidence reviews, and capacity-building efforts. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
   1. Advising PAIE staff and Faculty Co-Chairs on the academic quality, coherence, and strategic direction of AI research opportunities.
   2. Helping researchers and partners distinguish between model development, algorithm evaluation, pilot testing, and downstream impact evaluation, including where additional technical development, lab partnerships, or implementation work may be needed before randomized evaluation.
   3. Provide strategic input on future PAIE RFP design, proposal review criteria, matchmaking strategy, and applicant guidance.
   4. Advising J-PAL’s capacity-building teams on how to incorporate AI for social good into trainings, government partnerships, and the development of training materials for researchers and policymakers.
   5. Developing frameworks, playbooks, and evidence-gap memos that help researchers and policymakers evaluate AI tools responsibly.
   6. Contributing to J-PAL’s external thought leadership on AI for social good through articles, policy pieces, presentations, conferences, and other public-facing outputs.
2. Developing Partnerships with AI Labs and Technology Partners:Build and structure high-value relationships with AI labs, technology companies, tech-focused funders, bilateral agencies, and international organizations, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and other relevant partners. The goal is to develop concrete opportunities where these partners can contribute technical expertise, model access, infrastructure, partner engineering, applied research support, or funding to advance J-PAL’s AI research, policy, and capacity-building work. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
   1. Identifying priority partnership opportunities with AI labs, technology companies, tech-focused funders, bilateral agencies, and international organizations.
   2. Structuring senior-level conversations with AI labs and technology partners around shared priorities in AI for social good.
   3. Assessing where technology partners can support J-PAL’s AI portfolio through model access, infrastructure, technical expertise, partner engineering, or applied research collaboration.
   4. Developing concrete partnership concepts that connect AI lab capabilities with J-PAL’s strengths in randomized evaluation, policy partnerships, and evidence-informed scale.
   5. Helping position J-PAL as a credible evidence partner for AI labs, donors, governments, and international organizations seeking to evaluate the real-world impact of AI tools.
3. Building Government AI Innovation Labs: Work with J-PAL leadership, AI Faculty Co-Chairs, regional offices, and policy teams to identify and scope government-facing AI use cases that are tied to clear policy outcomes and have a credible pathway to design, pilot, evaluation, and scale. These projects should begin as small, concrete proof-of-concept collaborations before J-PAL considers a broader advisory or matchmaking model. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
   1. Identifying priority government partners and policy areas where AI tools could plausibly improve public service delivery, targeting, decision support, administrative efficiency, or program implementation.
   2. Scope and assess proposed government AI use cases for policy relevance, credible pathway to evaluation and scale, and appropriate technical support needs (whether frontier AI labs, local providers, or off-the-shelf tools)
   3. Advising regional offices on special AI projects, including priority AI partnerships, research portfolios, and scalable evidence-informed interventions.
   4. Supporting one to two proof-of-concept collaborations, potentially including one large-country and one smaller-country partnership.
   5. Helping ensure that J-PAL’s government-facing AI work remains tied to evidence generation and does not become open-ended AI consulting.
4. Advising researchers on AI tools and methods: Advise and support J-PAL's global network of affiliated researchers and development economics researchers in effectively and responsibly integrating AI tools into their research workflows, with a particular focus on randomized evaluations. This will strengthen J-PAL's broader research network and position J-PAL as a leading source of guidance on AI tools for rigorous impact evaluation. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
   1. Developing J-PAL-branded guidance, playbooks, trainings, and best-practice frameworks to help affiliated researchers evaluate when and how to incorporate AI tools into study design, data collection, analysis, and dissemination.
   2. Advising researchers on appropriate use of AI tools across the RCT lifecycle — from using LLMs for survey instrument design and translation, to machine learning for targeting and sampling, to AI-assisted coding and qualitative data analysis.
   3. Identifying and disseminating emerging best practices on AI-assisted research methods for development economics including model and outcome evaluation, human-in-the-loop protocols, and responsible data governance in low-resource and low-connectivity field settings.
   4. Working with J-PAL's capacity-building teams to incorporate AI research methods training into existing programs for researchers and policymakers in low- and middle-income countries.
   5. Serving as a thought leader and resource for the broader development economics research community on standards and norms for AI tool use in rigorous field-based evaluation.
5. AI Fundraising and Donor Stewardship: Help raise funding for J-PAL’s AI portfolio, including resources for central AI work, PAIE-related research and policy activities, partnerships, and regional AI capacity. The Senior Advisor may also serve as a senior point of contact for selected AI donors, helping shape funder-facing concepts, support donor conversations, and build resources for J-PAL’s global and regional AI priorities. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
   1. Supporting J-PAL leadership in cultivating and stewarding relationships with tech philanthropies, bilateral agencies, foundations, individual donors, and other funding partners.
   2. Developing funding concepts, proposal inputs, donor briefs, and pitch materials for J-PAL’s AI research, policy, capacity-building, and internal innovation priorities and regional AI priorities. Helping raise resources for J-PAL’s AI portfolio, including PAIE, government-facing AI proof-of-concept projects, AI lab partnerships, and evidence-generation activities and regional AI capacity.
   3. Working with regional offices to shape fundable AI concepts that reflect local priorities, government demand, and J-PAL’s comparative advantage in evidence and evaluation.

Because J-PAL’s AI work is still evolving, this role will be fluid and may evolve over time. We therefore seek candidates who are excited about, and able to operate effectively within, a changing and fast-developing environment.

Initial Priorities:

During the first 6 to 12 months, the Senior Advisor, AI will be expected to make progress on the following priorities, including, but not limited to:

• Effectively oversee and manage the PAIE team, including managing the team to deliver successful RFP(s) and produce high quality policy products and donor deliverables
• Develop a relationship map and engagement strategy for priority AI labs, technology companies, funders, and international organizations and advance one to two concrete partnership concepts. 
• Scope one to two government-facing AI proof-of-concept projects with a clear policy problem, partner, technical need, and evaluation pathway.
• Provide strategic input on future PAIE RFPs, proposal review criteria, applicant guidance, and matchmaking efforts.
• Develop at least one J-PAL-branded resource, playbook, training, or memo for researchers, governments, staff, or external partners.
• Support selected donor engagements, partner conversations, conferences, policy activities, and thought-leadership opportunities related to AI for social good.

Supervision received:

The position will report to the Global Executive Director. He/she takes ownership of tasks and exercises excellent judgment in knowing when to seek feedback from the supervisor. The Senior Advisor is expected to work independently and take initiative in shaping J-PAL's AI strategy, demonstrating strategic thinking and forward-looking vision.

Supervision exercised:

The Senior Advisor will provide strategic guidance and cross-cutting support to PAIE staff and other colleagues contributing to J-PAL’s AI portfolio. The Senior Advisor will supervise the PAIE team and may also coach managers and staff on AI-related strategy, partnerships, research quality, and special projects.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Education: This position is for people with at least a master's degree in economics, public policy, international development, computer science, or a related field. A strong technical understanding of economics is necessary to ensure that J-PAL's findings are translated into general policy conclusions in a way that is both simple to follow but also accurate and undistorted. Training in machine learning, AI, computer science, or related technical fields is strongly preferred.
• Experience: 10 years of work experience, including prior experience working in randomized evaluations, economics research, international development policy, and/or technology innovation. Experience overseeing research and policy grant funding competitions is strongly preferred. Demonstrated expertise with technology, product development, AI tools, and emerging technology adoption is strongly preferred. Experience in strategic advisory roles and/or thought leadership in the AI or development sectors is a significant plus.
• Leadership & Collaboration: Self-motivated and able to work collaboratively with J-PAL's Global Executive Director to shape strategy and achieve institutional goals. Ability to exercise excellent judgment on when to secure approval and when to provide updates independently. Proven ability to lead teams and mentors, recruiting and managing staff with good humor and responsibility. Experience working across complex, matrixed organizational structures is a plus.
• Execution & Communication: Proven ability to multitask and successfully execute strategic initiatives on tight deadlines with minimal supervision. Willingness to work hard and continuously learn is essential to success in this role. Excellent writing skills required, including experience writing articles for print and online publications and interfacing with media. Attention to detail and advanced presentation skills for communicating complex policy and technical lessons to diverse audiences (policymakers, technologists, donors). This requires clear, precise, non-technical writing, and confident, effective public speaking skills.
• Additional: Knowledge of local languages of one or more of the developing countries where J-PAL affiliates have field studies is a plus. Experience, comfort, and expertise in public speaking and representing organizations at high-level forums is required.
• Travel: Willingness to undertake domestic and international travel (~20% of time).

Compensation:

Information about the pay range and pay grade for this position can be found here.