Career Opportunities

 
 
 

Director of Finance & Operations

We’re hiring!

The Abigail Adams Institute (AAI), located in the heart of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is seeking an enthusiastic, highly organized, and self-driven Director of Finance & Operations.

AAI is an independent humanities institute dedicated to promoting open and civil inquiry at Harvard and other leading universities in the Boston area. Through engaging programming such as reading and discussion groups, workshops, intellectual retreats, lectures, and mentorship, AAI cultivates a cross-disciplinary environment with events that supplement students’ formal academic courses. Inspired by Abigail Adams—whose wisdom, insight, and commitment to education deeply impacted the early development of our nation—AAI is dedicated to fostering an intellectual community that understands the profound role of the humanities in the pursuit of wisdom and the good life. 

Job Description

As Director of Finance & Operations, you will play a key role in overseeing the Institute’s day-to-day operations, finances, grant management, donor relations, programming, and organizational logistics. This is a unique opportunity to develop nonprofit administration skills while engaging with a community that values intellectual growth. You will also enjoy access to AAI’s enriching programming, offering continuous intellectual formation alongside your professional responsibilities. 

Key Responsibilities

Accounting & Financial Management:

  • Oversee the Institute’s bookkeeping and work with external accountants to ensure smooth financial operations

  • Manage and execute bi-monthly payroll and employee benefits operations

  • Create, maintain, and monitor the annual operating budget

  • Prepare financial reports for internal review and bi-annual board meetings 

  • Work with the Director, Board of Trustees, and Director of Marketing & Communications to analyze data and make financial decisions for the advancement of the Institute’s mission and operations

  • Ensure compliance and lead the annual audit

Grant Management:

  • Assist in drafting proposals and narrative reports for new and existing grants

  • Manage financial tracking and reporting for grants

Donor relations & development:

  • Ensure that all donation data is accurately and promptly recorded and updated in QuickBooks and Bloomerang (nonprofit CRM)

  • Directly solicit individual donors via direct mail, in person, phone, and email communications

  • Facilitate donor relations through gift acknowledgements and communications

Event Management & Student Mentorship:

  • Coordinate with fellow staff, faculty, students, and other organizations to plan and execute programming and events

  • Serve as a mentor and role model for students engaged in AAI programs

General Administration & Project Management:

  • Maintain database integrity

  • Utilize IT skills to keep financial and operational processes running efficiently.

  • Assist with administrative support and office tasks as needed

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree

  • Strategic and analytical mindset

  • Experience in Excel, Google Suite, and Adobe, with curiosity and ability to quickly master new platforms

  • Commitment to intellectual growth and understanding of the importance of the humanities

  • Strong interpersonal skills

  • Exceptional attention to detail

  • A self-starter with the ability to juggle multiple projects and work independently

  • Flexibility to work some evenings and weekends as needed

Preferred/Bonus Qualifications:

  • Familiarity with QuickBooks or other accounting software

  • Experience with CRM platforms

  • Understanding of GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) and nonprofit accounting principles

  • 1-2 years of bookkeeping or grant management experience

Why You Should Apply:

  • You’ll be part of a passionate, intellectually vibrant community that is committed to reinvigorating liberal arts education

  • You’ll gain valuable financial management experience and develop administrative and leadership skills in the nonprofit sector

  • You'll have the opportunity to mentor bright, motivated students

  • You’ll work in a collaborative and supportive environment

Compensation & Benefits

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Health insurance.

Paid vacation and standard holidays.

To Apply

To apply, submit your resume, cover letter, and the names/contact information of two references. Please compile all documents into a single PDF file and send them to Danilo Petranovich, Director, at director@abigailadamsinstitute.org.

We look forward to learning how your unique talents, experiences, and vision will help further the mission of the Abigail Adams Institute.

 
 

Pedagogy Lead & Developer

We’re hiring!

The Pedagogy Lead & Resource Developer is a senior leadership position at the Practical Wisdom Project (PWP), responsible for driving instructional excellence, coherence, and innovation across all learning experiences, tools, and public-facing educational resources. A key member of the Wisdom at Work Project Leadership Team, the Pedagogy Lead plays a central role in translating research insights into effective professional learning experiences, ensuring that all pedagogical content—from facilitator training to digital tools to podcasts—is rooted in both scholarly rigor and practical relevance.

This individual will lead the development of high-quality, research-informed instructional content across four major strands: program delivery, design-based research integration, facilitator training, and a digital resource library. They will work closely with the Research Team, Project Manager, and external consultants to create tools that serve both practitioner and academic audiences. This is a unique opportunity for an experienced educator, instructional designer, or academic practitioner with a passion for bridging the worlds of research and teaching in service of flourishing school leadership.

What You’ll Be Doing:

1. Instructional Leadership & Program Design

  • Serve as the chief implementer and lead content designer across all pedagogical strands of the Wisdom at Work initiative

  • Develop and refine tools, protocols, and instructional resources that support the Deep Learning and Execution/Brokering phases of the PWAL program

  • Oversee and contribute to facilitator preparation and support, integrating participant feedback into future content

  • Ensure alignment between theory and practice in every element of teaching and learning, from workshop facilitation to resource development

2. Research Integration, Writing & Continuous Improvement

  • Collaborate with the Design-Based Research (DbR) Team to ensure instructional tools remain responsive to empirical findings and grounded in the evolving theory of practice

  • Translate research insights into accessible and actionable strategies for educators and leaders

  • Take a lead role in co-authoring or contributing to written products across the project—both academic publications and public-facing resources—ensuring pedagogical coherence, clarity, and rigor

  • Contribute to drafting case studies, practitioner tools, and reflective essays that accompany the PWAL framework and support broader dissemination efforts

  • Implement revisions and improvements to teaching resources based on research feedback loops and participant data

3. Facilitator Licensure Program Development

  • Co-design the structure and curriculum of the Facilitator Licensure Program (FLP), including developing training materials and a facilitator toolkit

  • Partner with external consultants specializing in online learning and facilitator development to ensure tools are scalable, high-quality, and user-friendly

  • Support training and capacity-building for future facilitators to ensure instructional fidelity and sustainability

4. Resource Curation & Dissemination

  • Curate and produce practitioner-facing tools for the PWAL Subscription Library, ensuring resources are relevant, beautifully designed, and pedagogically sound

  • Collaborate on the Wisdom at Work podcast and publication efforts by contributing written content, pedagogical framing, and editorial refinement

  • Work in close partnership with the Project Manager, who leads the communications strategy and engagement planning, to ensure that content reaches and resonates with key audiences across sectors

5. Community of Practice Support

  • Provide pedagogical leadership to sustain a dynamic Community of Practice among school leaders and facilitators

  • Develop instructional experiences that foster shared learning, peer-to-peer exchange, and collective growth

  • Model and promote best practices in online and hybrid learning environments tailored to adult learners

What We’re Looking For:

You are a seasoned educator, instructional designer, or scholar-practitioner with deep experience in creating transformational learning experiences for adults and a passion for scholarship. You are a strong and flexible writer with the ability to translate complex ideas into clear, engaging formats for both scholarly and practitioner audiences. You value both intellectual rigor and practical utility, and thrive in collaborative, mission-driven environments. You understand the power of research-informed pedagogy—and have a passion for helping others grow.

Preferred Experience

  • Master’s degree or higher in education, liberal arts or related field

  • Minimum 4 years’ experience in education, including teaching, leadership, or program design

  • Proven expertise in creating, refining, and delivering high-quality online learning experiences for professional or adult learners

  • Demonstrated excellence in writing and research, with experience contributing to both academic and public-facing publications

  • Experience translating research into practitioner-facing tools, publications, or curriculum

  • Familiarity with leadership development, Communities of Practice, or adult learning theory

  • Strong collaboration skills and a readiness to lead across functions and with consultants

  • A deep commitment to the mission and values of the Practical Wisdom Project

Why You Should Apply:

  • You’ll be part of a passionate, intellectually vibrant community that is committed to revitalizing formative school leadership, that nurtures and promotes flourishing and advances the research and cultivation of practical wisdom.

  • You’ll work with a dynamic, international team in a professionally focused environment in Harvard Square, Cambridge.

Salary & Benefits

The starting salary for this position is commensurate with experience and skills. AAI offers paid time off in addition to the standard holidays. 

To apply, submit your resume, cover letter, and the names/contact information of two references. Please compile all documents into a single PDF file and send them to Karen Bohlin, Director of the Practical Wisdom Project, at kbohlin@abigailadamsinstitute.org.

Thank you.