Job Description

The mission of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication (CCC) is to design tools, methods, and systems that connect rather than divide us to create a healthier society. This mission includes MIT’s own campus through CCC’s realtalk@MIT program, a new dialogue network that brings together human conversation with digital technologies to foster authentic and nuanced dialogue across the MIT campus.

realtalk@MIT enables the MIT community to come together in facilitated, small-group conversations to share stories about common experiences and interests. Groups or individuals (students, staff, faculty) can organize a realtalk@MIT “dialogue project” about a topic they care about. Participants consent to having their conversations recorded – and again to have their audio highlights shared – so that they may elevate one another’s stories for their peers and our community to hear. Human-steered AI tools will help trained sensemakers from the organizing group to surface patterns and themes across these stories, while audio medleys, data visualizations and other outputs will help us all listen and learn from this remarkable constellation of voices. 

The Program Lead will, as an entrepreneurial program builder, lead the realtalk@MIT program team and its efforts to engage the MIT community in creating durable infrastructure, build capacity, and provide ongoing support for realtalk dialogue projects across the MIT community. This includes developing and implementing with the realtalk@MIT team a plan for community outreach and engagement; establishing and managing relationships with community stakeholders; overseeing the design and management of tech-enhanced dialogue initiatives across campus (activating co-design principles with collaborating stakeholders); and guiding the team’s work with CCC and MIT on the realtalk@MIT program’s impact assessment and reporting. In close collaboration with CCC’s Translational Research team, the Program Lead will identify opportunities for piloting new methods and approaches in dialogue, facilitation, and listening and introduce CCC’s prototypes to support the design and implementation of projects. 

CCC Culture

At the MIT Center for Constructive Communication, we are committed to showing and practicing care for one another, our community at the lab, and the world more broadly through our everyday actions and larger mission. While we boldly explore new ideas, we seek diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise. We pursue excellence playfully and with a deep commitment to rigor. This is the right place for you if you are curious, believe in the power of constructive communication and the future of technology, and want to be part of a unique community that works on designing equitable futures informed by the social systems we occupy and the technology we build.

This role is for 1 year with the possibility of extension based on the course of funding.

Responsibilities

Community Outreach and Engagement 

• Develop and lead the execution of a community outreach, recruitment, and engagement strategy for building relationships with student organizations, academic departments, and administrative units that will lead to tech-enhanced real-talk dialogue projects.
• Establish and cultivate strong relationships with MIT departments, student organizations, and administrative units to create a network of realtalk collaborators across campus.
• In collaboration with CCC senior leadership oversee key, high-level community relationships with student, staff, and faculty leaders. 
• Identify, develop, and lead collaborations for realtalk with existing MIT dialogue programs.
• Collaborate with the translational research team to identify opportunities for piloting new methods and approaches and integrate prototype tools developed at CCC to enhance dialogue initiatives. 
• Work closely with Cortico Partnerships and Product teams to adapt training plans and templates deployed with partners (using the Cortico & CCC approach and tooling) for the realtalk context.

Process Design and Project Management

• Develop a plan for the realtalk team to manage complex multi-phase dialogue projects efficiently and effectively.
• Lead the realtalk team’s design of dialogue projects with community stakeholders with the goal of wishing to implementing realtalk@MIT in their student group, department/lab/center (DLC) and other MIT units, bringing a phase-by-phase partner success mindset throughout.
• Work closely with realtalk partners in their planning phase to define project learning objectives, team project roles, and timelines alongside the realtalk Program Administrator and Project Coordinator; communicate project context across the realtalk team and between the realtalk team and coordinating partner team.
• Oversee the team’s design of an overall process for realtalk@MIT and actively manage the consistent day-to-day operationalization of that process, including project planning, conversation design, facilitator and sense-maker recruitment/training, project output development and production, participant data management, and research-related IRB protocols.
• Oversee the team’s development and execution of a comprehensive project management plan (e.g., internal/stakeholder communications, timelines/action steps toward meeting objectives and deadlines) for each dialogue project.
• Manage the design and implementation of training sessions for individuals and groups across MIT on organizing, facilitating, and analyzing conversations to promote shared understanding and listening across diverse experiences, differences, and divides.
• Oversee the team’s development and execution of a platform management plan for deploying our technology platform – in collaboration with Cortico, a CCC deployment partner of realtalk – across campus and stakeholder categories (e.g., user registration and access management, data management, and tech support/services to deliver realtalk@MIT to various stakeholders).
• Collaborate with CCC’s translational research and prototyping teams to introduce relevant methods and prototype tools into the program.

Impact Assessment & Reporting 

• Collaborate with CCC senior leadership and CCC staff in developing and executing an impact assessment plan to identify 1) metrics aligned with the realtalk program’s goals that signal its success and 2) methods that enable MIT and CCC to evaluate the program’s progress against these metrics accurately. 
• Oversee the collection, analysis, and reporting of program data and use these data to inform implementation, training, program policies, and best practices.
• Lead preparation of comprehensive reports to MIT on program outcomes based on the impact assessment plan.

Qualifications

MINIMUM REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree in sociology, social work, communications, or community development.
• Minimum of 5+ years of experience in community organizing, community outreach and engagement initiatives, or civic engagement programs.
• Familiarity with campus ecosystems is highly desirable; understanding of university structures, student organizations, and campus culture; experience collaborating with academic departments, student affairs, or diversity/inclusion offices.
• Relationship-building and networking skills to connect with diverse student groups, faculty, and staff; proven ability to build trust and create an inclusive environment where individuals feel heard and valued.
• Minimum of 5+ years of related experience in program management, preferably including academic settings with multiple and diverse stakeholders and complex projects.
• Strong team management background and entrepreneurial experience in building and leading programs, projects, and/or functions.
• In addition to outstanding communication and writing skills, this job requires superior organizational skills, attention to detail, flexibility, and the ability to effectively prioritize, integrate, and balance the various ongoing efforts under strict deadlines.
• Must be comfortable working both independently and as part of a team in a dynamic, fast-paced environment; ability to juggle multiple responsibilities and adjust to evolving program needs; be comfortable meeting deadlines and balancing competing priorities

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field of expertise.
• Experience designing and implementing processes in a startup environment.
• Familiarity with tracking program impact or collecting feedback; ability to analyze and report on engagement metrics or qualitative outcomes.
• Familiarity with using AI/tech-enabled tools for dialogue or openness to learning them. 

To Apply, please visit MIT Careers at https://hr.mit.edu/careers  reference number #24678.