Data, Reporting, and Grants Administrator, J-WEL

General Overview

MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab promotes excellence and transformation in education worldwide. Under the supervision of the Faculty Director who leads J-WEL, in this new role the Data, Reporting, and Grants Administrator will bring expertise in data collection and organization to J-WEL’s work across domains and settings, enabling us to bring MIT strengths to collaborations with educational innovators everywhere. Key goals: enable J-WEL’s $1 million annual grants to MIT faculty; design data capture and collect relevant data to enable strategic impact and focus in J-WEL’s work with collaborators, others across MIT, and educators worldwide; and embed project management approaches into grants and data management.

Position Overview Statement

The Data, Reporting, and Grants Administrator supports J-WEL, its collaborators and partners, and educators across the world by designing, enabling, implementing, and managing the collection of data, both quantitative and qualitative, that J-WEL relies upon to plan, manage, and check the impact of its work.

A central aspect of the role is to manage the data flows, platform, and reporting related to J-WEL’s MIT education innovation grants programs which disburses some $1 million to MIT faculty and PIs every year.

Equally importantly, the Data, Reporting, and Grants Administrator will support team practices for J-WEL’s reporting. Duties include assessing, improving, and managing the entire chain of data collection and analysis, finding new ways to use data more effectively, and contributing to our external reporting. This person will help ensure that J-WEL data better tracks reach and impact quantitatively and qualitatively. Note that J-WEL data collection includes gathering and creating narrative text, video, and audio, along with academic publications.

In addition to working closely within the team, the Data, Reporting, and Grants Administrator collaborates with Open Learning, central administrative units and MIT departments, labs, and centers to support J-WEL’s global impact. The role entails a high level of MIT community interaction along with potential interactions with J-WEL’s members, project collaborators, and financial supporters.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions):

• Leads the process and design of grants administration, working with other J-WEL team members and Faculty Advisory Committee members. Designs relevant meeting agendas, leads meetings, and maintains documentation.

• Selects platforms, specifies and enables any required customization, and designs and develops resources including internal databases, process and decision documentation, and policies and procedures.

• Manages the grants process for disbursing around $1 million in Faculty grants every year.

• Develops and manages relationships with grant recipients to ensure excellent reporting of the work enabled by the grants. Refines past grants databases and ensures completion of data collection for current and prior grants.

• Establishes timelines/action steps on an annual cycle for both grants and data reporting and works with others to meet objectives and deadlines.

• Develops basic communication plans to share information with internal and external stakeholders on both grants and data reporting.

• Develops a project management approach to track, implement, analyze, and improve grant and data processes. Compiles, reviews, and analyzes relevant processes to determine and lead requisite next steps to resolve issues.

• Works with team to determine objectives and success metrics. Develops methods for collecting feedback and tracks key metrics.

• Works with Open Learning colleagues to ensure information is shared and processes are completed as needed.

Additional responsibilities as required and feasible, for instance with regard to data for impact tracking.

Qualifications

Minimum required:

• Bachelor’s degree

• Five years of administrative, operations, and/or project/program management experience

• Strong analytical skills and ability to understand processes and procedures; ability to adapt to and support change; effective written and verbal communication – must have consistent, clear, concise, and articulate communication skills

• Experience and interest in working with databases and technology platforms, including learning new tools (such as Quickbase)

• Ability to deliver exceptional support in a team-based environment; must be motivated, innovative, and have a proactive approach while working under minimal supervision

• Capacity to promote a team culture with shared goals and responsibilities, and leverage strengths, expertise, and diverse perspectives to maintain a high-performing team

• Ability to pay meticulous attention to detail and maintain a high level of confidentiality and capability to prioritize competing requirements and multiple deadlines

Preferred:

• Advanced academic training in educational administration and information technology.

• Familiarity with academic grants design and administration.

• Knowledge of higher education business operations, especially organizations with complex global impact aspirations involving multiple stakeholders.

• Interest in data for impact assessment.

• Familiarity with MIT financial, administrative, and operational policies and procedures

Supervision Received

Reports to the J-WEL Faculty Director

Supervision Exercised

None

Remote Work

Subject to change, this work may, at present, be performed in a hybrid model of three days per week remote, two days per week in the office. During key periods, more frequent in person work may be required.

Covid and other policies

MIT currently requires Covid-19 vaccination for all MIT employees who work in the United States. Individuals may request an exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons. See MIT Now for more information on MIT’s Covid policies. Offers of employment are contingent on an applicant’s compliance with MIT’s Covid-19 vaccine/exemption requirements.

A background check (including checking criminal records) will be required for the final candidate.

MIT is unable to provide work authorization and/or visa sponsorship for this position.

This position has a 6-month probationary period for new employees to the Institute.

MIT considers equivalent combinations of experience and education for certain jobs. All candidates who believe they possess equivalent experience and education are encouraged to apply.