(Associate) Director, Program Innovation & Evidence, The AI Access Initiative

You Will

Requirements

• The ideal candidate is an exceptional builder with the ability to drive outcomes in a fast-moving, high-stakes environment. Given the startup nature of this work, we seek contributors with high throughput, strong work ethic, and willingness to lean in and work extended hours.
• You will likely have:
• 7-10+ years' experience as a builder in international development, consulting, or an agriculture adjacent organization.
• Experience designing and running randomized or quasi-experimental evaluations (RCTs, A/B tests, or similar) – especially to measure behavior change.
• Track record translating evaluation results into product or program iteration, e.g. using comprehension or uptake data to redesign message content, format, or delivery channel.
• A proven track record of significantly scaling organizations and/or programs to deliver impact at scale, preferably in close partnership with national governments.
• Training or early career experience in a high-rigor environment (e.g., top-tier management consulting, high-growth NGO program leadership, strategy/econ research) and the ability to rapidly get up to speed in new technical areas including AI/ML forecasting concepts.
• Demonstrated success leading international development programs from idea to scaled delivery, including managing multi-stakeholder coalitions with governments, research institutions, NGO implementers, and private sector partners.
• A track record as a strong people manager and builder: able to set clear standards, empower others, and cultivate a high-performance culture across distributed and field-based teams.
• High EQ and the ability to influence across diverse partners, from AI/forecasting researchers to frontline delivery staff to senior government officials.
• Strong fluency with AI tools, and eager to experiment, learn, and adapt to emerging technologies.
• Comfort with ambiguity and fast iteration; can define and test hypotheses, adapt quickly, and maintain focus on impact.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to synthesize complex technical ideas (e.g., AI/ML weather forecasting language) into crisp narratives for different audiences.
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively internationally (~20%) to India and other low-and-middle income countries.
• Passion for the mission of ensuring that the benefits of frontier AI reach the world's poorest populations, while mitigating its downside risks.

Position Location

• This role location is flexible anywhere within the United States for fully remote candidates. Please note this role requires significant travel (~20%) to partner countries.
• We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of a U.S. employment visa at this time. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. for roles based in the U.S.
• Evidence Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to diversity. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.

Benefits

• The expected role range for this US position is listed below. We consider multiple factors when determining the base salary for a role, including but not limited to: role scope, program budgets, internal equity, and a candidate's qualifications and/or prior experience.
• Note: Pay and benefits will be commensurate with the role specifications, local statutory requirements, and the cost of labor in the markets where we operate.
• The pay range for this role is: $142,000 - $162,000 per year.
• This role will initially be housed at Evidence Action, with the explicit plan to transfer with the AI Access Initiative as a founding member of the team when that project is spun out as a new entity later this year. At that point, benefits and policies may change. For US based roles, Evidence Action provides comprehensive benefits including international health care, HSA/FSA options, life insurance, disability coverage, retirement plans with a matching component, generous and flexible leave options, as well as other employee perks on a reimbursement basis. For more information visit our careers page or ask our recruiting team!