Senior Manager, Research

5 days ago

Nairobi, Nairobi Area, Kenya GiveDirectly Full time $108,000 per year
About GiveDirectly

Position type:

Location:

About The Role

Fundraising-Focused Research Senior Manager

This Senior Manager Should Spike On
  • Curiosity: empowered to be an 'internal journalist,' you dig through our data, outside research, and recipient narratives to discover original throughlines
  • Lateral thinking: you're focused on connecting the dots into a compelling narrative, saying something clear and compelling even amidst ambiguity
  • Code-switching: on an average day, you will be thinking like an academic researcher, writing for a time-poor layperson, and speaking with program staff on the ground.
  • Details: your layperson assets will be scrutinized by research experts, so plan to triple-check
  • Doggedness: to move your projects along, you'll need members of the research, programs, communications, and design teams along with outside researchers to answer your requests and hit deadlines

Key Responsibilities
  • Research & Insights Generation
    • Identify, analyze, and synthesize key data points and evidence from GiveDirectly's programs, surveys, and external research.
    • Conduct deep dives into our program data to uncover trends, case studies, and insights relevant to donor engagement.
    • Stay updated on external research related to cash transfers, poverty alleviation, and philanthropy to contextualize GiveDirectly's work.
  • Donor-Facing Content Development
    • Translate program data and impact evaluations into digestible, donor-friendly insights, decks, reports, blogs, and case studies (example)
    • Support the fundraising team by crafting compelling narratives backed by data to demonstrate GiveDirectly's impact (example)
    • Work closely with the partnerships and communications teams to refine messaging and tailor research outputs to different donor segments (example)
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration
    • Partner with internal teams (programs, research, fundraising, communications) to ensure alignment in messaging and storytelling.
    • Work closely with frontline fundraisers to anticipate donor questions and proactively develop data-backed responses.
    • Serve as a resource for the partnerships and philanthropy teams, providing analytical support for grant proposals, donor presentations, and impact reports
  • Strategic Thought Leadership
    • Identify opportunities to position GiveDirectly as a leader in evidence-based philanthropy.
    • Collaborate on thought leadership content, including white papers, blog posts, and donor briefings.
    • Train key GiveDirectly staff to be well-versed in our body of research and able to sell in the room.
Qualifications (must Haves)
  • 4-7 years of experience in research, impact evaluation, or a related analytical role.
  • Strong ability to translate complex research data into compelling narratives for external audiences, particularly donors.
  • Familiarity with impact evaluation methods and the ability to interpret and summarize research findings.
  • Familiarity with data analysis tools (e.g., Excel, Stata, R, Python) and data visualization tools (e.g. Adobe, Canva, Flourish)
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills - particularly critical is strong writing free of jargon, but the strongest candidates will be able to communicate using a variety of media, including presentations, charts, etc.
  • Strong project management skills and the ability to juggle multiple workstreams.
  • Ability to work cross-functionally and translate research insights into actionable fundraising content.

Nice to haves
  • Experience in international development, global health, philanthropy, fundraising, or poverty alleviation.
  • Experience in writing or data storytelling for large layperson audiences.
  • Fluent in a language other than English, especially German, French, Swahili, or Portuguese

Compensation
  • The United States base salary for this role is $108,000.
  • The Kenya base salary for this role is $77,500.

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