Responsibilities
- Lead and develop research strategies that address critical questions influencing major funding decisions.
- Identify and prioritize the most impactful research questions from a broad set of possibilities.
- Represent the organization externally and guide junior researchers through mentorship and collaboration.
- Develop a rigorous and innovative research agenda focused on resolving the most challenging open questions.
- Integrate evidence synthesis, cost-effectiveness analysis, expert consultation, and contextual understanding to inform conclusions.
- Investigate complex issues within current research portfolios using analytical and critical methods.
- Design and manage grants aimed at generating new evidence and learning.
- Expand knowledge in emerging program areas through targeted research and data collection.
- Support funding decisions with robust, evidence-based research analysis.
- Take full ownership of grant evaluations—from initial question formulation to final recommendations—and engage with external partners.
- Have the autonomy to propose and initiate new research directions.
Benefits
- Full coverage of health, dental, vision, and life insurance premiums for employees and dependents in the U.S.
- Four weeks of paid vacation annually, plus a one-week organization-wide summer closure.
- 16 weeks of fully paid leave for new parents.
- Provision of ergonomic home office setups or access to coworking spaces.
- Employer contribution of 5% of gross salary to a 403(b) retirement plan for U.S. staff.
Compensation
Competitive salary with benefits including retirement contributions and full insurance coverage.
Work Arrangement
Fully remote option with flexibility; some overlap with American working hours required.
Team
Lean, high-performing research team committed to truth-seeking, independence, efficiency, and collaborative excellence.
Team values
We prioritize truth-seeking as a core value, openly share mistakes, and foster a culture of honest feedback. Researchers maintain independence, focusing solely on identifying the most effective ways to improve lives without compromising integrity. We avoid unnecessary work, dropping low-impact questions quickly. With a small team managing hundreds of millions in grants, each member has substantial influence. We hire top talent through skills assessments and sustain a collaborative, high-performance environment with appropriate compensation.
What you might work on in your first year
Address difficult research problems in current portfolios, such as assessing unintended consequences of health interventions or modeling reinfection risks. Design and supervise learning grants, guiding evaluations from conception to integration into decision models. Strengthen evidence in new areas through literature reviews, commissioned studies, and primary data funding to assess cost-effectiveness and scalability. Support grantmakers by refining cost-effectiveness models, testing assumptions, and identifying key uncertainties needing further study.
Other
- Remote work is fully supported; candidates must align with U.S. working hours to some extent.
- Optional access to office locations in Oakland, Brooklyn, or London; relocation costs may be covered.
- International employment considered case by case.
- Flexible work hours and locations encouraged; most staff use flexible arrangements.
- Visa sponsorship available with potential full coverage of relocation expenses.
- Occasional international travel for site visits or conferences (1–2 per year), plus team retreats.
- Start date is as soon as possible after offer, with moderate flexibility for delays.
- Full-time applicants preferred; part-time considered, but not contract or project-based roles.
Available; the organization will assist with visa sponsorship and may cover relocation expenses on a case-by-case basis.
