Senior HR Associate - J-PAL Global

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 more than a thousand affiliated researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty

The Senior HR Associate is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, and coordinates HR activities, including employee relations, rewards and recognition, onboarding, diversity and inclusion, recruitment, performance management, and compensation, at J-PAL.

Principal duties and responsibilities (essential functions)

• HR advising and staff support
  • Advises staff on HR issues, practices, and procedures. Escalates issues to leadership as needed. Oversees and performs various HR activities for J-PAL Global such as employee relations, rewards and recognition, onboarding, recruitment, and performance management.
  • Explains and applies MIT and J-PAL policy in day-to-day situations, identifies trends and proposes solutions to address them in a systematic way.
  • Advises managers and employees on MIT’s policies and processes.
• Recruitment and hiring support
  • Runs the day-to-day recruitment process for assigned searches, from posting through offer documentation on scoping, levels, and offers.
  • Advises hiring managers on advertising, interviewing, and reference checks, and handles resume screening and interview scheduling.
  • Partners with J-PAL Global hiring managers on the recruitment and hiring process and serves as the lead project manager for recruitment and hiring, setting clear timelines and delegating roles and responsibilities to other staff as appropriate. Works with hiring managers on drafting job descriptions. Develops and implements diversity outreach and recruitment strategies. Develops search plans, posts jobs, and conducts candidate outreach on appropriate external recruiting sites. Works with hiring managers to prepare interview questions and screening matrices. Tracks open positions in the applicant tracking system. Screens resumes, develops interview schedules, coordinates interviews, and checks references. Prepares and submits search reports to MIT.
  • Manages job postings for Global, regional offices, affiliated professors, and select partners, and is the first point of contact for posting questions.
  • Manages the J-PAL applicant database, including linking postings to the system, responding to applicant queries, and administrative access.
  • Produces the monthly jobs newsletter, pulling input from the regional offices.
  • Coordinates the annual recruitment drive, including drafting job descriptions, timeline, and communications.
  • Manages day-to-day contact with temporary staffing agencies.
• HR Operations
  • Runs onboarding for new hires, including Salesforce contact records, onboarding training, and coordinating with MIT for new hire onboarding ensuring all steps are complete
  • Manages staff web bios for J-PAL team members worldwide.
  • Keeps personnel data in Salesforce accurate and complete, and flags gaps or inconsistencies.
  • Maintains updated process HR manuals - manage end to end employee data base. 
  • Supervises the collection and compilation of Outside Professional Activities (OPA) data and synthesizes findings 
  • Ensures HR activities, records, and forms are in compliance with applicable laws or guidelines.  
• Performance management and training
  • Manages employee off-boarding, conducts exit interviews for terminating employees, and shares trend information with leadership as appropriate.
  • Administers the annual performance cycle, including communications, timelines, completion tracking, and documentation
  • Coordinates training session logistics, including scheduling and communications.
• Staff engagement and recognition
  • Works with the social committee to plan and deliver monthly staff events.
  • Supports the Global teams and regional HR leads in administering J-Stars, the annual worldwide recognition program along with AD-HR.
  • Supports HR working groups by preparing agendas, facilitating meetings, and following up on action items.
• Other
  • Contributes to strategic planning and the design and creation of HR systems, policies, and programs to maximize functionality and effectiveness across the team.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Supervision received: 

The Senior HR Associate reports directly to the Associate Director of Human Resources. They take ownership of tasks and exercise good judgment in knowing when to ask for more direction from the supervisor and show initiative in adding value to processes. 

Qualifications & skills  

• Education: This position requires a Bachelor’s degree.
• Experience: Minimum of 4 years of HR experience in a professional work environment.
• Work style: Demonstrates strong attention to detail and produces accurate, reliable work. Able to manage assigned tasks independently while seeking guidance when appropriate. Brings excellent writing, copyediting, and proofreading skills, with the ability to draft clear and professional communications. Approaches work with flexibility, a collaborative mindset, and a willingness to support team priorities, while maintaining confidentiality and handling sensitive information with care.
• Software proficiency: Demonstrated proficiency with standard workplace technologies, including the effective and responsible use of AI tools, and the ability to quickly learn and adapt to new systems and applications.
• Time Management: Proven ability to handle several different projects/tasks at one time, successfully complete tasks assigned, and meet deadlines.  Strong ability to anticipate, plan, prioritize, and meet deadlines is essential.

Professional development

J-PAL invests in your professional development. As a member of the finance and operations team, you will have the opportunity to continue to learn, engage, and grow.

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.

Compensation

Salaries for most new employees are set at the starting point / lower end of this range. 

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

Benefits

You will be based at J-PAL Global, our head office at MIT in Cambridge, near Boston, MA. 

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 international development field 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 a flexible work policy that includes the opportunity to work from home two days a week. Please note this position is not eligible for full-time remote work.