Job Description

About the Milken Institute

The Milken Institute is a globally minded, publicly supported, non-partisan, and nonprofit think tank headquartered in Santa Monica, with offices in Washington, DC, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. For the past three decades, the Milken Institute has served as a catalyst for practical, scalable solutions to global challenges by connecting human, financial, and educational resources to those who need them. Guided by a conviction that the best ideas, under-resourced, cannot succeed, we conduct research and analysis and convene top experts, innovators, and influencers from different backgrounds and competing viewpoints. We leverage this expertise and insight to construct programs and policy initiatives. These activities are designed to help people build meaningful lives, in which they can experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities.

The Milken Institute’s events and programmatic activities, involve the exchange of ideas with leaders from around the world. The Institute hosts more than 200 events each year, with our annual flagship event, Global Conference, bringing together 4,500+ participants from around the world, featuring more than 900+ speakers throughout 200+ sessions over the course of the event.

About the Position

The Milken Institute (MI) seeks an Associate Director to join our dynamic Global Programming team. Members of this team oversee the content development, stakeholder engagement, and editorial oversight throughout all the Institute’s signature events, including our flagship Global Conference and slate of Summits, Symposia, and Dialogues. Successful candidates will bring organization, attention to detail, and creativity to bear, adding value to the Institute’s programmatic reputation and event execution.

Working closely with the Milken Institute’s Finance team and reporting to the Senior Director of Global Programming, the Associate Director will support several key functions including session development and speaker outreach for the Institute’s signature events. In coordination with the appropriate colleagues, the incoming Associate Director will serve as the primary internal liaison between the Milken Institute’s Global Programming team and Finance pillar to bring the pillar’s year-round programmatic work, policy initiatives, and expertise to life at our year-round convenings. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, proactive, diplomatic, and thrives in a fast-paced, high-profile event environment.

The Milken Institute Finance pillar addresses challenges across the financial system to increase access to capital, savings, and investments, particularly for underserved individuals, businesses, and communities. Our thought leadership, research, and insights influence private sector practices and public sector policies that improve equitable access, efficiency, and reliability of financial markets and institutions.

Responsibilities

• Topical Research and Content Development:
  • Conduct research on timely global challenges, priorities, and trends to help inform program development, session descriptions, thought leadership, and talking points within speaker briefing materials.
  • Stay abreast of important trends connected to the Institute’s mission and conduct research on timely global challenges, priorities, and opportunities particularly related to global financial markets, geoeconomics, fintech, and similar fields to help inform program development, session descriptions, thought leadership, and talking points within speaker briefing materials.
  • Research and identify prominent and emerging industry leaders – including social entrepreneurs, innovative corporate executives, leading researchers, and public influencers – to complement the existing high-level Milken Institute network.
  • Conduct due diligence on potential speakers for public and private sessions across Institute events—including the Global Conference, Summits, Symposiums, and Dialogues. Assess each candidate’s fit based on subject matter expertise, audience engagement skills, speaker chemistry, and ability to participate in thoughtful, respectful, and dynamic conversations aligned with program goals.
  • Contribute to creative ideation between programming colleagues, business development, and finance-focused research pillar to ensure the most relevant, innovative, and action-oriented content is highlighted at our events.
  • Drive content curation and session development, draft session descriptions and briefing documents, and ensure program materials have mission-aligned narratives and clear, timely objectives.
• Internal Coordination with MI Finance:
  • Serve as the primary expert within the global programming team on financial topics, collaborating with our MI Finance pillar, as well as other teams and departments across the organization, to create high-level content that resonates with issue-area experts, core Milken Institute stakeholders, media, and the general public.
  • Support year-round events by serving as liaison between our MI Finance pillar and our Business and Program Development team related to both finance-focused programming and broader event needs.
  • Support the successful program development and execution of the Milken Institute’s Finance Forum as well as finance-driven content led by the MI Finance Pillar at our flagship Global Conference.
  • Support inter- and intradepartmental communications to ensure smooth collaboration, effective processes, and deadlines are met for relevant deliverables.
  • Keep relevant databases and Institute CRM up to date with accurate and thorough information.
  • Maintain collaborative working documents within the programming department and across other teams as necessary/relevant.
• Relationship Management and Stakeholder Engagement:
  • Contribute to an increasingly inclusive pool of thought leaders to ensure that all Milken Institute programs reflect a diversity of both perspective and peoples.
  • Cultivate new meaningful relationships for the Institute and collaborate on enhancing engagement for existing relationships.
  • Support speaker outreach and relationship management when drafting speaker invitations, researching principal expertise, and identifying direct/secondary paths of communication to principal offices.
  • Support strategic engagement of global programming relationships at signature events to amplify speaker experience onsite, including private meetings, relevant introductions, itinerary building, private session and event participation, etc.
• Event Execution:
  • Attend and staff Institute events as needed to support Global Programming team and assist with speaker greeting, escorting, and the execution of a timely program.
• Duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in journalism, finance, business administration, economics, public policy, international affairs, or a related field.
• 7-10 years of relevant professional experience in one or more of the following fields: finance, banking, technology, journalism, think-tanks, research, or associations that focus on the field of finance and/or economics.
• Working knowledge of at least three areas of finance a plus – financial markets, asset management, wealth management, impact investing, banking, private equity, private credit, venture capital, entrepreneurship, corporate finance, financial accounting, FinTech, infrastructure finance, community finance, housing finance, global trade, geoeconomics, and financial regulation
• Exceptional attention to detail and ability to thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Excellent writing and interpersonal communication skills.
• Proven project management and leadership skill set. Strong organizational and research skills.
• Ability to balance multiple workstreams, respond quickly to shifting priorities, and collaborate across teams.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and Salesforce.

Working Conditions & Travel Requirements

This position will work in a professional office environment on a hybrid schedule consisting of three (3) days per week reporting in-person to your respective office location (Tuesday – Thursday), with the remaining two (2) days working remotely. Please understand, this schedule is subject to change at the Institute’s sole discretion.

This person will also be required to travel occasionally to other offices and/or venues to assist with events as needed, requiring occasional work outside of traditional hours. International, along with domestic travel, is possible. Additionally, this position requires interacting virtually on a regular basis with Milken Institute staff based in other locations in the United States and around the world.

Note

The statements herein are intended to describe the overall nature and level of work being performed by employees and are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the employer.

We are interested in qualified candidates who are eligible to work in the United States. Please note, we are not sponsoring visas at this time, being authorized to work in the U.S. is a precondition]]> <

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