Cost Transparency Initiative (CTI) and Impact Data and Evidence Aggregation Library (IDEAL) Project Job Listing at University of California in Berkeley, CA (Job ID 68683)

Description

About Berkeley

At the University of California, Berkeley, we are committed to creating a community that fosters equity of experience and opportunity, and ensures that students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds feel safe, welcome and included. Our culture of openness, freedom and belonging make it a special place for students, faculty and staff.

The University of California, Berkeley, is one of the world's leading institutions of higher education, distinguished by its combination of internationally recognized academic and research excellence; the transformative opportunity it provides to a large and diverse student body; its public mission and commitment to equity and social justice; and its roots in the California experience, animated by such values as innovation, questioning the status quo, and respect for the environment and nature. Since its founding in 1868, Berkeley has fueled a perpetual renaissance, generating unparalleled intellectual, economic and social value in California, the United States and the world.

We are looking for equity-minded applicants who represent the full diversity of California and who demonstrate a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds present in our community. When you join the team at Berkeley, you can expect to be part of an inclusive, innovative and equity-focused community that approaches higher education as a matter of social justice that requires broad collaboration among faculty, staff, students and community partners. In deciding whether to apply for a position at Berkeley, you are strongly encouraged to consider whether your values align with our Guiding Values and Principles, our Principles of Community, and our Strategic Plan.

At UC Berkeley, we believe that learning is a fundamental part of working, and our goal is for everyone on the Berkeley campus to feel supported and equipped to realize their full potential. We actively support this by providing all of our staff employees with at least 80 hours (10 days) of paid time per year to engage in professional development activities. To find out more about how you can grow your career at UC Berkeley, visit grow.berkeley.edu.

Departmental Overview

The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) is a hub for research, training and innovation headquartered at the University of California, Berkeley. We generate insights that decision-makers can use to improve policies, programs, and people's lives. Our best-in-class academic network includes nearly 200 faculty, 70 scholars from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)—primarily from East Africa, and hundreds of graduate students from diverse academic disciplines who produce rigorous evidence about what works to expand education, health, and economic opportunities for people living in poverty. Our business model involves curating policy-relevant research agendas in collaboration with development leaders, overseeing competitive grant-making to answer critical questions, investing in research capacity, and strategically connecting research and ideas to inform decision-making by governments, NGOs, and the private sector.

CEGA values diversity and seeks to include people from under-represented groups on our team. Read our values statement.

Application Review Date

The First Review Date for this job is: June 21, 2024

Responsibilities

CEGA seeks a full-time Project Manager to support the Cost Transparency Initiative (CTI) and Impact Data and Evidence Aggregation Library (IDEAL). CTI works to improve and scale the use of rigorous, high-quality cost evidence in impact evaluation research and increase the availability of rigorous cost evidence to support decision-making in global development. IDEAL seeks to dramatically accelerate the translation of evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) into action by creating an open-source platform that allows decision makers to quickly and painlessly access and compare relevant findings for a given set of studies.

Reporting to Dr. Elizabeth Brown and collaborating closely with CEGA affiliate Dr. Graeme Blair, the Project Manager will manage a diverse array of projects, contribute to technical research—including deliverables for large, multi-year research projects—support partnerships for CTI and IDEAL, and oversee administration for both initiatives. They will directly contribute to research on several costing and economic evaluation activities, including data collection and management, analysis, and synthesis. They also will manage professional communities of practice, contribute to communications, and support initiative fundraising by contributing to strategy, identifying opportunities and stewarding relationships, and drafting concept notes and grant applications. The Project Manager will manage finances for CTI and IDEAL, in close collaboration with CEGA Operations colleagues.

This is a challenging opportunity for someone who is passionate about global development and social science research; has a strong desire to expand and deepen expertise in cost and cost-effectiveness analysis; is eager to contribute to project administration, planning, and management; and is energized to help build the long-term success of a dynamic organization. While this position is based in Berkeley, there will be periodic field work assignments in multiple low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries.

RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION (45%)

• Data Collection and Analysis:
  • Plan and coordinate cost data collection, in coordination with implementing partner staff. 
  • Implement data cleaning, analysis, visualization and documentation using tools for transparency and reproducibility.
• Tool Development:
  • Contribute to the development of transparent cost-related evaluation tools and high-priority cost research with potential to advance methods and research standards. 
  • Provide feedback on templates, tools, and guidance, and coordinate external feedback with key stakeholders and other partners. This may include conducting interviews or group discussions, recording notes, extracting information and analyzing responses.
• Technical Assistance:
  • Work closely with IDEAL Research Coordinators (RCs) and Associates (RAs) to navigate technical questions that arise during data extraction, study design, econometrics, and results, providing direct feedback when possible and facilitating input from faculty when needed.
• Background Research, Review and Writing:
  • Background research, review and writing: Conduct background research and literature reviews, and contribute to the development of papers for publication when needed, including data, methods, results, visualizations, and compiling reference materials in Zotero.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT (45%)

• Project Planning:
  • Manage tasks, timelines and deliverables on one or more multi-year research projects.
  • Coordinate calendars, field travel, reporting, and logistics. Also includes coordinating the contributions and activity of several IDEAL RCs and RAs, and collaborating closely with an IDEAL postdoc.
• Partnership Development and Fundraising:
  • Liaise with research teams, implementing partners, policymakers, and funders to build partnerships and ensure smooth research implementation.
  • Assist in preparation of proposals, documents, and presentations for fundraising, reporting, and dissemination activities. 
  • Identify opportunities for funding and project expansion (e.g. new modalities or side-studies) through strategic collaboration or pursuit of funding.
• Financial Management:
  • Manage grant and departmental budgets, including a complex mix of campus, grant, contract, and gift funds and provide assistance with subawards/other agreements, including: drafting scopes of work, monitoring subawards to field partners, managing payments/invoicing, and ensuring adherence to regulations/processes, human subjects protocols, and reporting requirements. 
  • Facilitate hiring and payment of IDEAL RAs/RCs, coordinating with the World Bank.
• Costing Community of Practice (CCoP):
  • Manage the CCoP, a group of development research and practitioner organizations advancing cost methods for impact evaluation, as well as IDEAL communities of practice. 
  • Schedule meetings, develop agendas, organize work plans, develop and maintain shared planning documents, communicate with our partners, and follow up with partners on key priorities, and assemble related communications.
• Events and Dissemination:
  • Organize a calendar of monthly events (e.g. panels and networking convenings), including oversight of logistics and budgeting, calls for nominations/papers, communications, and reimbursements.
• CEGA Development: 
  • Participate in center-wide activities, including weekly staff meetings, internal working groups, and performance management.

RESEARCH SYNTHESIS AND DISSEMINATION (5%)

• Costing Community of Practice (CCoP): 
  • Manage the CCoP, a group of development research and practitioner organizations advancing cost methods for impact evaluation, as well as IDEAL communities of practice.
  • Schedule meetings, develop agendas, organize work plans, develop and maintain shared planning documents, communicate with our partners, and follow up with partners on key priorities, and assemble related communications.
• Events and dissemination: 
  • Organize a calendar of monthly events (e.g. panels and networking convenings), including oversight of logistics and budgeting, calls for nominations/papers, communications, and reimbursements.

ADMINISTRATION (5%)

• Financial management: 
  • Manage grant and departmental budgets, including a complex mix of campus, grant, contract, and gift funds and provide assistance with subawards/other agreements, including: drafting scopes of work, monitoring subawards to field partners, managing payments/invoicing, and ensuring adherence to regulations/processes, human subjects protocols, and reporting requirements. 
  • Facilitate hiring and payment of IDEAL RAs/RCs, coordinating with the World Bank.
     
• CEGA development: 
  • Participate in center-wide activities, including weekly staff meetings, internal working groups, and performance management.
    

Required Qualifications

• Ability to conduct accurate statistical and policy analyses in the field of international development.
• Coursework in quantitative research methods, including mathematical statistics, econometrics, and/or microeconomics.
• Broad knowledge of impact evaluation research methods and experience contributing to multi-country or multi-partner evaluations, including responsibility for carrying out empirical, quantitative research.
• Working knowledge of statistical software such as Stata, R, and/or Python and report integration with Overleaf and RMarkdown as well as MS Office (Excel) and GSuite applications.
• Interest in cost analyses and economic evaluation methods (e.g. cost-effectiveness analysis)
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Self-directed, intrinsically motivated; proven capacity to manage work independently, multitask and be responsive to time-sensitive deadlines.
• Strong skills in short-term planning, problem-anticipation and -solving, and customer service; ability to independently investigate solutions to administrative challenges and anticipate leadership needs.
• Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training in Economics, Public Policy, for example, Policy Analysis, Business, International Relations, Public Health or related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• MA/MS in Economics, Public Policy, Policy Analysis, Business, International Relations, Public Health or related field.
• Experience performing or consulting on costing analyses for international development projects, including oversight of field data collection and analysis.
• Experience with evidence harmonization and/or aggregation, especially in the context of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
• Financial management, grants management, and budgeting experience
• Experience with SurveyCTO, Qualtrics, Jupyter notebooks, Python, R, and experience analyzing survey data
• Experience working in low and middle-income countries (preferably in a research-related capacity)
• Experience implementing and/or evaluating USAID programs and demonstrated familiarity with the agency's policies and procedures.
• Strong and effective interpersonal skills in working with colleagues at all levels. Ability to use discretion and maintain confidentiality. Cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work diplomatically with diverse constituencies.
   

Salary & Benefits

For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University, please visit the University of California's Compensation & Benefits website.

Under California law, the University of California, Berkeley is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role and should not offer a salary outside of the range posted in this job announcement. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, analysis of internal equity, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the range for a position. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience.

The budgeted salary range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position is $78,000.00 - $99,224.

• This is a 12-month, 100%, full-time (40 hours per week), contract position that is eligible for full UC benefits with the possibility of extension.
• This position is exempt and paid monthly.

Other Information

Professional Development

CEGA invests in your professional development. In this role, you will learn, engage, and grow.

• Learn: CEGA supports a culture of learning, with opportunities to attend weekly UC Berkeley Development Seminars, CEGA events, take classes for credit at UC Berkeley (Extension) with our generous tuition assistance program.
• Engage: You will directly interact directly with CEGA senior leadership and staff across the center and potentially travel to field sites to directly contribute to research.
• Grow: You can expect to join a peer group eager to build institutional knowledge and pass on lessons learned, access $500/year in professional development support, and 2 hours/week of dedicated professional development time.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter.

Conviction History Background

This is a designated position requiring fingerprinting and a background check due to the nature of the job responsibilities. Berkeley does hire people with conviction histories and reviews information received in the context of the job responsibilities. The University reserves the right to make employment contingent upon successful completion of the background check.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. For more information about your rights as an applicant, please see the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission poster.

The University of California's Affirmative action policy.

The University of California's Anti-Discrimination policy.