Director – Research Management

Department

Development Economics Center

About the Department

The Development Innovation Lab at the University of Chicago uses the tools of economics to develop innovations with the potential to benefit millions of people in low- and middle-income countries. It was founded and is led by Nobel laureate Michael Kremer.

Job Summary

The Director of Research Management will play a senior role in the Lab, including helping set organizational priorities, ensuring resources are being allocated to the highest priority projects, and assisting in strategy and fundraising. The Director will work closely with the Executive Director and other senior leaders in the Lab to ensure the organization achieves its goals. This position manages a team of professional staff responsible for scientific research projects and research facilities. Ensures compliance of research activities with institutional, state, and federal regulatory policies, procedures, directives, and mandates. Manages the production of articles, reports, and manuscripts, and presents research findings at meetings and/ or conferences.

Responsibilities

• Oversees the research management for the Lab, including overseeing a team of more than 25 staff, a budget of approximately $3 million annually, and coordinating staff resources.
• Manages resource allocations to projects, including overseeing the budgeting process. Works with the Director of Finance, to create budgeting and reporting systems that support the research team in its efforts to execute on projects.
• Works with research teams to define and achieve their goals, including working with the Faculty Director and lead researchers to identify priorities and strategically supports the research team to ensure goals are achieved on time.
• Oversees the research staffing, including managing DIL’s postdoc program; growing, training and mentoring research managers; and hiring, training and supporting junior research staff to projects.
• Leads the IRB and research ethics, NDAs and DUA review process for DIL projects, including designing and refining these systems and ensuring the Lab upholds very strong standards, especially with respect to human subjects.
• Leads the coordination of research events, including selecting and recruiting presenters, managing staff who help oversee the events, and communicating with participants.
• Prepares staff for fieldwork, including travel and safety and security. Oversees a new Lab-wide committee that is driving plans to help train, support and troubleshoot issues in the field. Research members in the Lab spend extensive amounts of time in the field interacting with beneficiaries, so this is a critical function for the Lab.
• Interacts with external PIs and collaborators, including communicating with senior economists at UChicago and other leading institutions, helping the Faculty Director determine priorities with collaborators, and setting up systems for external collaborators to engage with the Faculty Director.
• Works with senior leadership to grow and maintain regionally based support for the Lab’s work. This includes growing regional and country teams and training and supporting these teams.
• Leads pre-award proposal development and budgeting for fundraising proposals and vets proposals for the Faculty Director. Includes designing and executing robust systems for working with the project teams to ensure their applications are well designed, the deliverables are ambitious but achievable with the designated budget, and the team can balance priorities to meet the deliverables on time. While grant proposals will vary, the Lab generally submits dozens of grant applications a year and receives millions of dollars of grant funding. Having a strong review process allows the Faculty Director to ensure the grants are strong, achievable, and in line with his priorities.
• Leads annual onboarding for the Lab, supports regular hiring drives, and develops ongoing professional development especially for management. This includes strategically planning how to build an effective, efficient, mission-driven culture in the Lab.
• Supports senior leadership in discussions of organizational and team strategy. This includes being part of the senior management team and helping the Executive Director and Faculty Director drive strategic decisions.
• Manages research professionals and support staff involved with planning, monitoring, and compliance aspects of research projects. Advises other researchers on long-range plans for research projects.
• Develops goals and operating procedures, practices, and guidelines for research activity based on department strategy.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Master’s degree or PhD in economics, public policy or international development including significant training in economics.

Experience:

• 10+ years of relevant work experience.
• Prior experience working on randomized evaluations, development economics research, and/or public policy in developing countries.
• Substantial experience working in one or more of the initiative areas in developing countries.
• Background working with developing country governments or large bilateral and multilateral funders.
• Working knowledge organizing policy events as well as producing policy resources and publications.
• Skillful at effecting change within governments or large multilateral organizations and/or experience implementing large scale programs.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Fluent in languages relevant to the countries where the Lab works.

Preferred Competencies

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, to communicate technical information in a way that can be understood by stakeholders with varying levels of technical background.
• Highly organized with excellent project management skills and anticipate needs before they arise.
• Comfortable navigating situations with varying degrees of ambiguity in an environment where priorities may shift often.
• Excellent people management skills, with an ability to build an open, positive, team-oriented work culture that is diverse and inclusive, sensitive to cultural differences, and everyone feels valued.
• Demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of those living in poverty in low- and middle-income countries.

Working Conditions   

• Candidates are flexible and willing to travel extensively as needed.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)
• Professional References Contact Information (3)(required)

Job Family

Research

Role Impact

People Manager

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$128,179.00 - $150,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

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