Associate Director for Emerging Talent

Associate Director for Emerging Talent
Jameel World Education Lab

MIT Open Learning

 

Associate Director for Emerging Talent at MIT Jameel World Education Lab at MIT Open Learning to oversee the day-to-day activities and overall direction of two core programs: MIT Emerging Talent and MIT Refugee Action Hub (ReACT), programs while building links to other J-WEL activities in the global South and emerging economies and delivering significant relevant contributions to J-WEL’s work in innovation. The Associate Director for Emerging Talent develops new relationships with educational, entrepreneurial, governmental, and corporate entities interested in working with MIT through these and other Open Learning offerings to reach entrepreneurially and technically inclined learners across the world in creative new ways that leverage MIT content and resources. 

 

The Emerging Talent unit operates within MIT J-WEL (MIT Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab). The position requires working closely with J-WEL workforce and higher education efforts, as well as collaborating with several MIT Open Learning units to deliver high quality online and hybrid learning experiences to underserved learners in the U.S. and around the world, particularly refugees, migrants, and first-generation low-income students from historically marginalized backgrounds. With entrepreneurial thinking, technical skills focus, and preparation to join the formal economy as the focus, programs overseen by the Associate Director offer vast potential for innovation in delivery, content, and impact that could scale widely. The Associate Director for Emerging Talent supervises a small staff team, while managing external vendors and freelancers and collaborating with J-WEL and Open Learning colleagues on new offerings. The position will report directly to Anjali Sastry, Faculty Director of MIT J-WEL and Associate Dean of Open Learning.

 

Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions):

 

• Emerging Talent
  • Manages the MIT Emerging Talent program and its Certificate in Computer and Data Science offered to underrepresented talent globally.
  • Manages team of staff and freelancers in areas of instructional design and curriculum development, media production (video, podcasts) and platform development.
  • Leads the strategic planning, design, and execution of MIT Emerging Talent, leading all aspects of the development, execution, and tracking of strategic plans for administrative, operational, and financial sustainability, communications and fundraising efforts, and internal and external relationship building.
  • Oversees the operations, yearly planning, fundraising, and budgets, along with team management for MIT Emerging Talent.  Supervise and lead a team, mentor staff, develop staff professionally, and oversee organizational growth and change.
  • Builds and maintains strong relationships among MIT faculty and staff, external university, philanthropic, corporate, and NGO partners, donors, and MIT alumni in order to develop a sustainable business model.
  • Increase the visibility of MIT Emerging Talent through communications, publications, conferences, convenings and other engagements, raising visibility of the programs for fundraising and strategic

 

• MIT Refugee Action Hub
  • Manages the MIT Refugee Action Hub (ReACT) sub-unit within Emerging Talent, and its portfolio of projects, which include collaborations with the MIT Emerging Talent Certificate programs, the Migration Summit, and other sponsored projects. This position leads the strategy and execution of the MIT ReACT program, working closely with the MIT ReACT Faculty Advisor.
    Serves as representative in the Connected Learning in Crisis Consortium and MIT Working Group on Catastrophic Response. 
     
• Entrepreneurially-minded J-WEL projects and membership activities
  • Develop and help manage lines of work related to workforce- and higher-education-anchored J-WEL projects and member activities. Emerging efforts, such as a new innovation hub project, will rely on J-WEL’s ability to build connections to industry and entrepreneurial opportunities with our member institutions. Work with J-WEL leadership to develop new offerings in concert with entrepreneurial members who are joining J-WEL, leveraging MIT know-how and courses

REQUIRED:

Five to ten years’ experience in relevant project management.

Undergraduate degree required.

Ability to set priorities and coordinate multiple tasks, to meet competing deadlines, and deliver results against negotiated deliverables. Ability to shepherd contracts through internal and external processes. Demonstrated success managing complex projects including setting goals, establishing timelines, managing budgets, tracking workflows, and meeting deliverables.

Ability to think strategically, define opportunities, and design feasible tests and projects to explore and refine plans. Evidence of ability to develop a sustainable business model over time.

Cross-cultural and within-institution skills in building consensus, negotiating, and working across social and geographic boundaries.

Track record of building and maintaining partnerships with companies, universities, government and community organizations to develop financial sustainability for program needs and shore up stakeholder support.

Ability to effectively engage, relate to, and negotiate with senior faculty, university administrators, and outside stakeholders in all sectors.

Effective presentation and oral and written communication skills, in producing program materials, fundraising proposals and grant applications, project progress and impact reports.

Ability to work independently and to collaborate within a decentralized environment and lead and manage a team.

Strong leadership, program management, organizational, relationship- and network-building, and mentoring skills, including in working for underserved learners.

Ability to develop and communicate big picture and long-term goals, foster an environment where innovative solutions and approaches are pursued, and generate win-win solutions.

 

PREFERRED:

Advanced degree.

Instructional design and curriculum development experience.

Familiarity with media (video, podcasts) and platform development for program delivery.

Social media and other platform communication knowhow.

Management experience in an educational environment. 

Lived experience or professional experience working with underrepresented communities (refugees, migrants, underrepresented minorities in STEM).

Ability to travel internationally and domestically every few months.

A technical background in computing such as data science, AI, or cybersecurity is strongly desired as MIT Emerging Talent/ReACT offers certificates in these areas to enrolled learners. In lieu of formal training in these areas, a track record of successfully working directly with learners, researchers, and faculty in these domains and an interest in and ability to learn about key relevant aspects of computing and technology.

 

 

Supervision Exercised:  Direct supervision of Emerging Talent program coordinator

 

Supervision Received:  Reports to J-WEL Director