Research Portfolio Lead, Policy & AI Governance

Harvard University; Massachusetts; Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Parental leave

Health insurance

Retirement plans

Tuition assistance

Campus perks

Job summary

Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government is seeking an Associate Director of Research for the Computational Policy Lab to shape and advance a portfolio of computational and technological research addressing education, public benefits, AI governance, and other public policy areas.

Based in Cambridge, MA, this role leads strategy, funding, and operations. The Associate Director works closely with Professor Sharad Goel to drive research strategy, translating priorities into

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; minimum of 7 years of professional experience in research and program management.
• Master’s degree preferred, in public policy, computer science, statistics, economics, or related field.
• Experience with empirical or mixed-methods research is strongly preferred but not required.
• Demonstrated experience advising on research design, mixed methods, and/or contributing to academic or policy research outputs.
• Demonstrated experience with financial management, grant proposal development, and funder relationship management.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership across the lab’s research portfolio, where computational approaches are used to advance public policy.
• Shape and align research initiatives with the lab’s institutional goals.
• Identify and incubate new multi-stakeholder research and policy-engagement opportunities, ensuring coherence across projects and delivery of rigorous, policy-relevant outputs.
• Advise researchers on experimental design, mixed-methods approaches (including RCT design), data collection, and analysis; help ensure rigor and feasibility across the portfolio.
• Contribute to and co-author academic manuscripts, policy briefs, and other publications.
• Build and steward the lab’s partnerships with government agencies, funders, and other research and policy stakeholders.
• Represent the lab at relevant meetings, conferences, and convenings; author or co-author materials for external and internal stakeholders.
• Lead strategy for research dissemination and policy engagement, translating findings for varied audiences.
• Secure new funding opportunities aligned with the lab’s mission; develop proposal narratives, budgets, and other grant materials.
• Lead the development of cases for support, translating faculty priorities into fundable, high-impact initiatives.
• Manage portfolio finances in collaboration with Harvard finance offices, including budget revisions and periodic financial analysis to inform fundraising and staffing strategy.
• Recruit, onboard, supervise, and mentor lab staff and research fellows; train student researchers on best practices and lab protocols.
• Coordinate IT resources, research computing, and staffing needed to support the lab’s work.
• Oversee the lab’s operational and administrative needs—including compliance, vendor contracts, space, IT resources, research computing, and staffing.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Research design

Mixed-methods

Fundraising

Communication

Mentoring

Team management

Python

R

Stata

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

R

Python

Stata

Job description

Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government is seeking an Associate Director of Research for the Computational Policy Lab to shape and advance a portfolio of computational and technological research addressing education, public benefits, AI governance, and other public policy areas.

Based in Cambridge, MA, this role leads strategy, funding, and operations. The Associate Director works closely with Professor Sharad Goel to drive research strategy, translating priorities into