Description

The Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center (AALAC) seeks a talented, dynamic, and entrepreneurial Assistant Director focused on the Caribbean to help drive one of the Center’s growing regional portfolios.

Working closely with Center leadership, the Assistant Director will help shape and execute AALAC’s work across the Caribbean, including English-speaking islands with attention paid to the Dominican Republic and with an overall focus on strengthening US engagement with the region and elevating the Caribbean.

The Assistant Director will play a central role in the Center’s flagship Caribbean work and programming, including management and expansion of the Dominican Republic–US Task Force, and development of programming across the broader Caribbean. The individual will also help coordinate an emerging body of work on ports and strategic infrastructure across Latin America and the Caribbean, examining their importance to trade, supply-chain resilience, economic security, and US strategic interests.

This is a highly entrepreneurial role for someone who combines regional expertise with strong execution. The successful candidate will help generate new programming ideas, produce policy-relevant analysis, build relationships with governments and the private sector, organize high-level public and private convenings, contribute to fundraising and partnership development, and increasingly represent AALAC externally.

The ideal candidate is an excellent writer and project manager who is intellectually curious, highly organized, comfortable engaging senior stakeholders, and eager to build a substantive profile on Caribbean affairs and US policy toward the region.

This position will be based in Washington, DC, requiring a minimum of 4 days per week in office. The Atlantic Council offers a competitive compensation package commensurate with experience and education, with offers from $70,000 to $74,000. Applications submitted by October 1, 2026, will be prioritized for consideration.

 

Job Responsibilities

• In partnership with AALAC leadership, help shape and execute the Center’s Caribbean strategy, with a focus on the English-speaking Caribbean, Dominican Republic, and identify opportunities for new programming, partnerships, and policy impact.
• Manage and help grow the Dominican Republic–US Task Force, including its substantive agenda, stakeholder engagement, convenings, follow-up, and development of actionable recommendations.
• Help develop AALAC’s emerging work on ports and strategic infrastructure across Latin America and the Caribbean, with particular attention to economic security, trade, supply-chain resilience, investment, and geopolitics.
• Help manage and contribute to timely, decision-relevant analysis and publications, including issue briefs, memos, commentaries, op-eds, talking points, and other products related to assigned portfolios.
• Drive high-level public and private convenings from concept through execution, including developing agendas, engaging speakers and participants, preparing substantive materials, and translating discussions into concrete outcomes and follow-up.
• Coordinate and help support relationships with the Caribbean diplomatic corps, regional governments, private-sector leaders, multilateral institutions, donors, and policy experts, serving as a key AALAC point of contact for the portfolio.
• Contribute to fundraising and business development, including identifying prospective partners and funders and developing concept notes, proposals, donor briefings, and other sponsor-facing materials.
• Represent AALAC externally, as appropriate, through meetings, public events, media engagement, and partnerships, while collaborating across AALAC and the Atlantic Council to develop integrated programming and advance Center-wide priorities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, international affairs, or international development; Master’s degree preferred;
• 2-4 years of combined professional experience in international affairs, public policy, and economics;
• Comprehensive knowledge of political, economic, and social issues in the Caribbean; experience living, working, or studying in the Caribbean a plus;
• At least 2 years of experience in project or event management;
• Ability to represent the Atlantic Council to external constituencies, such as senior officials, diplomatic officials, board members, and donors;
• Proven track record in managing multiple projects simultaneously and a demonstrated ability to work efficiently and collaboratively with both junior-level and senior-level colleagues;
• Native-level Spanish-language and English-language skills (writing, editing, and oral communications), and superior communication skills;
• Proven ability to balance multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment;
• At least some experience with WordPress, Canva, HubSpot, and others to produce and edit visual content such as videos, photos, infographics, and others;
• At least some experience with Salesforce or a similar grant and database management;
• Excellent organizational, logistical, and administrative skills;
• An extensive understanding of the Washington policy environment.

To produce quality work and to successfully achieve our mission, we recognize the need for our staff to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a work/life balance. Our comprehensive benefits package helps to keep costs low for our staff and their families. Benefits include, but are not limited to comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance, paid time off, 403(b) plan, FSA options, pet insurance, Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility, and wellness benefits.