J-PAL is a network of 45 affiliated professors around the world who are united by their use of Randomized Evaluations (REs) to answer questions critical to poverty alleviation. The J-PAL network's headquarters is a research center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, and J-PAL's regional offices are at the Paris School of Economics, the Pontifícia Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile, and the Institute for Financial Management and Research in Chennai, India. J-PAL affiliates employ research staff through a variety of research centers, including Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Centre for Microfinance, Center for International Development's Micro-Development Initiative, Center of Evaluation for Global Action, Ideas 42, and the Small Enterprise Finance Center. Sometimes affiliates employ research staff through the universities where they are based.

Openings are posted below as they arise, and are taken down once filled. Application instructions are provided under each opening.

March 10 2010 – Update on the annual recruitment drive: The majority of openings advertised during the annual recruitment drive have still not been filled. For most positions, interviews are somewhat underway, and for a few, they haven't yet started. All of the positions you see posted below are still open, and professors and hiring managers are continuing to draw from the pool of applicants who applied during the drive, by the January 31st deadline. As new jobs are always opening up, you might even be contacted as late as May/June/July/August/September 2010.

What kinds of positions are usually available?

All positions are full time, and require a minimum commitment of one or two years, unless explicitly noted otherwise. Worldwide, there are at least 200 full-time staff working on J-PAL studies, although since J-PAL is a network, the exact number is hard to know. Approximately 20% of openings require more experience.

Positions fall into one of three tracks:

• Research – 90% of positions
• Operations (people dedicated 100% to logistics) – 5% of positions
• Policy (presenting policy lessons from studies) – 5% of positions

Most research positions involve managing primary data collection on the ground in a developing country. Staff tasks include designing survey questionnaires, managing survey teams, negotiating contracts with survey firms, checking and analyzing data, and coordinating with local partners running the programs to be evaluated. A very small handful of research positions involve primarily working with data, and these require a higher level of technical (economics and programming) skills.

Approximately 50% of openings are on the summer cycle, since many employees go on to further schooling, and an annual recruitment drive takes place each January to help fill these.

What kinds of people usually get hired?

Because J-PAL is a research network of economists, candidates who have completed and performed well in basic coursework in economics, including microeconomics, development economics, and econometrics are preferred, including for policy and operations track positions. For positions based in developing countries, prior developing country experience is highly valued, and local language skills are desirable (and in the case of Spanish and French speaking countries, fluency is required). Most employees have either a bachelor's or a master's degree.

What do these positions lead to?

For people who are looking to get a strong grounding in development, research, development economics, or monitoring and evaluation, J-PAL jobs are ideal. Many of those who have worked with the J-PAL network in the past have gone on to graduate studies including at MIT (PhD in economics), Harvard (economics PhD, Law school, medical school, MPA/ID at the Kennedy School), Berkeley (PhD in economics), Princeton (MPA), and other top schools. This partly reflects the quality of people who are accepted to these positions but also the fact that our staff and others we work with acquire a range of important skills and experiences on the job.

Also, as the J-PAL network and its work grows, so do the number of mid- and senior-level positions, many of which are ideally suited for people with prior J-PAL network experience. For employees who do well in their first position, many promotion and transfer opportunities can open up.

When will I know if I'm going to be interviewed / offered a job?

Both recruitment and hiring throughout the J-PAL network are fairly decentralized (though we tend to share notes with each other). Only those selected for interviews are contacted, and this doesn't happen along any particular schedule, as each hiring manager and professor act according to their own personal timeline. We are unable to provide feedback on specific applications.

Are there any summer internship opportunities available? How do I apply?

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the Centre for Microfinance have structured internship programs.

What do I do if I need help with my application?

Phone calls and email inquires cannot be accepted, due to the fact that the hiring managers are located all over the world, at different offices, and also due to the large volume of applications received. Difficulties of a technical nature may be directed to jobs@povertyactionlab.org

What if I've applied for a job in the past?

If sometime in the past you submitted an application using J-PAL's common application system (apply.povertyactionlab.org), and now are interested in applying for a position that is receiving applications through the common application, we ask that instead of creating a new username and application, please revise your old application. Please remember to update your "earliest available start date," and to click "resubmit."

What if I'm currently employed by a JPAL or IPA affiliate and want to apply for one of these openings?

People with previous experience on randomized evaluations can be great candidates for other positions within the network that require more responsibility. If you are currently employed by someone in the J-PAL network, and are hoping to switch to a new position, project, or location, please talk with your supervisor(s) and principal investigator(s) about your goals and your plans in addition to applying.

Are Project Associate and Research Associate positions entry-level positions?

While they are not appropriate for someone with a PhD, they can be appropriate for people with a masters and some experience, if the objective is to gain hands on experience with field research. They can also be good opportunities for people who are looking for a more limited time commitment of one or two years (each job posting lists the desired commitment period).