Impact Policy & Research Lead, Development Economics

University of Chicago; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 81,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Job summary

The University of Chicago’s Development Innovation Lab seeks a Senior Policy & Research Manager to oversee research and policy initiatives from inception to completion. The role requires independent work, strong organizational skills, and the ability to coordinate across researchers, implementers, and funders.

Responsibilities include managing a small policy team, guiding communication strategies, developing high-quality research outputs, and translating findings for diverse audiences.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in economics, public policy, international development or related field.
• 5–7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
• Demonstrated experience with program evaluation and research design, including familiarity with and ability to evaluate RCT methodology.
• Experience leading or contributing to RCTs, ideally in low- or middle-income countries.
• Proficiency in descriptive and applied statistics, with ability to interpret quantitative findings for non-technical audiences.
• Ability to synthesize evidence across studies and translate findings into clear policy documents.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; strong organizational abilities.

Responsibilities

• Provide direct guidance to the Faculty Director, advising on strategic decisions and engagements.
• Manage development of high-quality research outputs including syntheses, literature reviews, data summaries and presentations.
• Prepare speeches and briefing materials that translate economic research for policy and practitioner audiences.
• Lead scoping and design of emerging research and policy initiatives with landscape analyses and funding proposals.
• Manage and deepen strategic relationships with partners, funders, and collaborators.
• Lead recruitment for policy roles and supervise 2–3 policy staff.
• Contribute to lab duties, trainings, onboarding, and other duties as assigned.
• Use best practices to perform lab and research-related tasks and assist with project design.

Skills

Development economics

Evidence-based policy

RCT methodology

Applied statistics

Data visualization

Communication skills

Independent work

Team leadership

Education

Master’s degree in economics or related field

Bachelor’s degree in economics or related field

Tools

Asana

Microsoft Office

Stata

R

Tableau

Datawrapper

GitHub

Job description

The University of Chicago’s Development Innovation Lab seeks a Senior Policy & Research Manager to oversee research and policy initiatives from inception to completion. The role requires independent work, strong organizational skills, and the ability to coordinate across researchers, implementers, and funders.

Responsibilities include managing a small policy team, guiding communication strategies, developing high-quality research outputs, and translating findings for diverse audiences.