The McGovern Institute is an interdisciplinary unit at MIT where scientists are pursuing innovative brain research in an exciting environment. Management, administrative, technical, and support positions are central to the fulfillment of the McGovern Institute’s research and educational goals. Current openings at the McGovern Institute can be found on the MIT Human Resources website through the link below. Postdoctoral fellows and associates are appointed through individual faculty advisors.
MIT is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, or national or ethnic origin.
Highlighted Positions
Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities
Scientists who identify as members of under-represented groups in neuroscience, including, but not limited to women, Black and African Americans, Indigenous or Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Hispanics or Latinos, and those with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. MIT is a non-discriminatory/affirmative action equal opportunity employer.
Research opportunities are available in the following research areas: brain imaging, cellular and molecular neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience, genome engineering, neuroengineering, neuroethology, and systems neuroscience.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Please submit the following information to Jill Crittenden for consideration:
- A curriculum vitae, including a summary of the applicant’s educational and training record
- A cover letter relating prior research experience, indication of which PI(s) or lab(s) you are interested in working with and a statement of why you are interested.
- Please indicate citizenship status – US citizen/Green card holder or visa sponsorship required
We also encourage researchers interested in postdoctoral positions within McGovern Institute labs to contact our faculty directly.
Center Coordinator
JOB FAMILY: Administrative Services/Program & Project Administration (IC 6)
POSITION TITLE: Center Coordinator
REPORTS TO: Asst. Director for Administration
JOB ID: 20149
PDF of the full job description can also be viewed here.
To apply for this position please visit the MIT Careers website.
Under minimal supervision, the Center Coordinator implements operational and administrative activities for programs and projects related to virtual research centers within the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. These centers and programs currently include the Tan-Yang Autism Center, Yang-Tan Molecular Therapeutics Center, Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research, Yang Post-Baccalaureate program, several graduate and postdoctoral fellowship programs, and two new centers being announced this fall. Responsibilities of this highly collaborative role span a range of program/project management, fellowship appointment and tracking, communications management including website updates and annual center reports, event planning, and finance activities. The addition of future Centers would fall under the scope of responsibilities for this role, as well.
Will serve as the primary point of contact for all things Center related, and will work closely with the MIBR Director, Scientific Advisor, Development Officer, and Communications Officer, as well as McGovern faculty and staff, to facilitate and manage planning, growth and implementation of major research initiatives and collaborative programs within MIBR Centers. Utilizing superior organizational skills, will be responsible for all Center related initiatives from conception to completion.
Will support coordination of research initiatives led by faculty and principal investigators, postdoctoral researchers, student researchers, and technicians; coordination of events such as workshops, meetings, and activities within individual centers and across multiple centers, including centers at other universities. Will monitor progress on overall portfolio of projects, coordinate Scientific Advisory Board meetings and follow up, and maintain and track annual center budgets and fellowship appointments.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions**):
PROGRAM/PROJECT MANAGEMENT (45%):
- Will organize, plan, and facilitate fellowship and award tasks, including budget oversight; organizing the fellowship announcements, review and approval process; providing insight to fellowship and award plans and strategy; developing, implementing, and monitoring nomination and allocation plans.
- Will manage fellowship recipient announcements and coordinate with Human Resources Officer or Academic Administrator to ensure appropriate appointment type and funding information.
- Will keep ongoing database of fellowship recipients and budgetary commitments for each Center.
- Serves as a liaison for all stakeholders: MIBR Director, Scientific Advisor, Development Officer, Communications Officer, donors, faculty, researchers, and other staff, and facilitates communications amongst group members about the status of center projects and programming.
- Will partner with Center leadership to organize and help implement future programming and projects.
- Communicates goals, works with faculty, researchers, and staff to develop and execute implementation plans, and monitors progress on overall portfolio of Center projects.
- Responsible for center meeting schedules, joint center gatherings, SAB meetings, and other ad hoc gatherings.
- Manages internal logistics and coordination of tasks; tracks and communicates project status to stakeholders and manages faculty, staff, and other stakeholder timeliness; tracks progress to established timelines/deadlines, publications processes, etc.
- Working with McGovern faculty and Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences staff, help coordinate the selection and appointment of candidates for the Yang Post-Baccalaureate Program.
- Additional duties as needed.
COMMUNICATIONS (25%):
- Based on frequent communications related business needs and requests from MIBR Development Officer, will work with Communications Officer to coordinate year-round communications activities with key constituencies.
- Acts as project manager for four or more annual center reports each year, coordinating publication schedule and writing, photography, design, print and web elements.
- Will coordinate and maintain Center websites, social media content and external outreach.
- Will provide documentation and/or reporting to internal and/or external stakeholders and respond to inquiries.
- Additional duties as needed.
EVENTS (10%):
- In collaboration with Scientific Advisor, will plan and develop annual member conferences and workshops, scientific advisory board meetings, retreats, cross-institution events (MIT/Harvard), and poster sessions.
- Will be responsible for providing “big picture” oversight of Center related events while the MIBR Events Assistant will coordinate event logistics, which may include arranging facilities and event details such as decor, catering, entertainment, transportation, location, invitee list, special guests, equipment, promotional material etc.
- Additional duties as needed.
FINANCE (15%):
- Will work with Finance team and Center directors to oversee Center budgets as well as program/project budgets. This includes administering gift accounts and donor reporting.
- Keeping track of fellowships, project based funds, and subawards.
- Advises staff and management on financial activities related to Centers.
- Additional duties as needed.
Supervision Received:
Position falls under Assistant Director for Administration with daily reporting lines to McGovern Institute Scientific Advisor and Development Officer.
Supervision Exercised:
None.
Qualifications & Skills:
Bachelor’s degree and minimum 2 years of administrative, operations, and/or project/program management experience required. Advanced degree with 5+ years of relevant experience is preferred. Superior organizational skills, including problem-solving and task completion, is required. The ideal candidate will preferably have experience in a similar research environment. Demonstrated experience in coordination and project managing multiple initiatives, each with strict but variable deadlines and reporting requirements. Strong oral and excellent written communication skills; professional demeanor and personal characteristics. Ability to juggle simultaneous tasks, prioritize, meet deadlines, and attention to detail expected. Proven ability to work independently, prioritize workload, deliver high quality results, and meet deadlines while managing multiple projects and competing demands. Candidate must possess excellent interpersonal, facilitation and relationship-building skills; exceptional organization and planning skills; and the ability to multi-task, remain organized and work effectively in fast-paced, rapidly changing work environment. Must be able to exercise discretion in managing confidential information; work both independently and collaboratively as part of a diverse team; and effectively help manage a multi-investigator research program. Mastery and extensive experience in MS office applications, including Excel, Word and Power Point; proficiency in the use of WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn).
Development Writer
JOB FAMILY: Communications
POSITION TITLE: Development Writer (Writer II – Level 7)
REPORTS TO: Development Officer
PDF of the full job description can also be viewed here.
To apply for this position please visit the MIT Careers website.
Under minimal supervision, the Development Writer manages development communications activities to support the solicitation and stewardship of donors and prospects of the McGovern Institute at MIT. Will be responsible for writing, editing, and developing a wide variety of materials for a donor audience including major gift proposals, cases for support, stewardship reports, program overviews and gift menus, fact sheets, acknowledgement letters, appeal letters, and occasional web and newsletter pieces. The Development Writer will be adept at communicating the urgent case for supporting scientific research and the impact of donor philanthropy to the McGovern Institute community and broader society. This role will work directly with the Development Officer, Communications Officer, faculty and researchers across the institute to create high-quality, donor-centered materials with consistent messaging and standards and a compelling story.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions**):
- Produces copy that is compelling, inspiring and donor-centered, translating complex neuroscience concepts into clear lay language.
- Write and edit annual/bi-annual reports for MIBR’s five research centers (in some cases managing a freelancer or content written by HQ colleagues)
- Collaborate with Development Officer to write and edit major and principal gift proposals and cases for support.
- Maintain calendar of annual stewardship reports for major gift donors, and work directly with faculty to write and edit stewardship reports for top donors.
- contributes to short- and long-term stewardship strategies for donors
- Prepares high-level communications materials for select prospect visits and events, and for projects that are priorities of McGovern Institute’s director and faculty.
- Communicates regularly with writers and communications officers within MIT Schools and MIT Resource Development.
- Demonstrates an understanding of the value of creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work
- Actively supports and engages in creating and sustaining a workplace that fosters creativity and innovation.
- Write and design giving opportunity menus for donors, including ad-hoc materials by donor request.
- Write and design overviews of current research within major themes to share with donors; coordinate with communications officer on creating any related video/animation/web content for these themes.
- Curate and summarize recent news to share with donors.
- Writes materials to support fundraising activities including appeal letters and emails, donor stewardship pieces such as newsletters, and acknowledgement letters for 150+ gifts every year.
- Work with grad students and postdoc fellows to steward fellowship donors, including sharing sample letters and editing letters before they are sent to donors.
- Assist with brainstorming and creating event concepts and any event writing needs (invitation materials, event handouts, panel discussion scripts, etc).
- Collaborate with Development Officer and Communications Officer on newsletter content, website content, video and animation ideas, meaningful donor stewardship gifts, and assists both positions with other ad-hoc tasks as needed.
- Manage development communications requests from other MIT offices including MIT Resource Development, Alumni Association, School of Science.
- Keeps current on the McGovern Institute’s strategic plan and fundraising priorities, helping to create messaging that reflects these priorities for use in written communications.
- Ensures projects are completed on deadline in accordance with established guidelines and standards.
- Performs other job duties as assigned.
Supervision Received:
Position reports to the McGovern Institute Development Officer and also works directly with the McGovern Institute Communications Officer.
Supervision Exercised:
None.
Qualifications & Skills:
Bachelor’s degree required; concentration in English, journalism, communications or related area of study preferred. A minimum of 3 years’ experience in communications, writing or related role; writing experience in a research, non-profit, academic, or health care environment is strongly preferred. Excellent writing, editing and verbal communications skills. Exceptional writing skills, proven ability to write in another person’s voice, and in-depth understanding of English grammar and usage. Must be detail oriented and an accurate proofreader with experience giving and receiving constructive feedback. Must be able to convey highly scientific and technical information in a compelling way to a lay audience. Requires analytic and research skills to gather and determine essential data from scientific sources and researchers. Must be able to complete assignments in a deadline-driven environment with a minimum amount of supervision. Excellent attention to detail. Strong, demonstrated skills in creating powerful, compelling written communications for fundraising, with the ability to convey complex ideas through brief, simple materials and through comprehensive proposals and stewardship materials aimed at cultivating deeper ties with donors. Basic understanding of the finances around named donor programs, funds, endowments and other recognition vehicles. Experience in project management for stewardship projects and for proposal and case development projects, including close coordination with colleagues to achieve desired outcomes. Ability to handle complex and multiple tasks in a professional and efficient manner, and meet deadlines, either independently or as part of a project team. Strong sense of initiative and with development of new projects that will help deepen current donor relationships and forge new ones. Solid general computer skills, including proficiency with MS Office and fundraising software. Professional and courteous demeanor; ability to engage positively and work professionally with researchers, administrative leaders, donors, prospects and administrative colleagues; commitment to honor confidentiality.
Financial Assistant II
JOB FAMILY: Finance/Accounting (Level 5/Support)
POSITION TITLE: Financial Assistant II
REPORTS TO: Senior Financial Officer
To apply for this position please visit the MIT Careers website.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANT II, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, to provide complex financial assistance on pre- and post-award sponsored research activities. Responsibilities include reconciling accounts, monitoring activity in cost objects, performing account maintenance, researching discrepancies, and using discretion to resolve problems and complete transactions; monitoring and correcting account transaction activity; providing regular projections on account expenditures; maintaining records and files; assisting financial officers with the preparation of proposals and budgets and the processing of interim budget adjustments; preparing and processing requisitions; processing invoices, preparing journal vouchers, verifying credit card charges, and approving financial documents (e.g., travel vouchers, requested for payment, etc.); serving as a resource for faculty, staff, and researchers on financial transactions; providing support to financial officers; and performing other duties as assigned.
Job Requirements
REQUIRED: a high school diploma or its equivalent; at least three years of experience in accounting or finance; strong analytical, communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills; good judgment and the ability to use discretion and maintain confidentiality; attention to detail; ability to meet deadlines despite frequent interruptions, set priorities, and work both independently and in a team-oriented environment; and proficiency with Microsoft Excel. PREFERRED: bachelor’s degree and knowledge of SAP and MIT’s accounting and purchasing systems and reporting tools.