Research Lead Jobs

Impact Lab is making it easy to make a difference by helping people donate to social causes they care about and track their impact. We work with grassroots-level nonprofits to analyze their programs and use that data to help you understand where your money is going, who it’s helping, and how we can increase our impact together.

We’re an early-stage venture with a small, energetic team looking for partners who are the best at what they do and are excited about building the future of social impact together. We are a remote company with members spread across North America.

Impact Funds are collections of nonprofit programs that target a specific cause from multiple angles. When a donor subscribes to a fund, we automatically distribute their donation across the portfolio of nonprofits based on where our models indicates it will have the greatest impact. The Research Lead is primarily responsible for designing the strategy behind our Impact Funds and communicating each fund’s impact with our donors.

We’re looking for someone who is proactive and excited about joining an early-stage organization. You will be given a lot of responsibility as we launch and grow our Impact Funds. Leadership is key for this position - you will be responsible for our data strategy, analysis, and setting our research agenda.

The Research Lead has three primary responsibilities:

1. Use publicly available data to determine which nonprofits should be included in a fund and what percentage of donations should go to each nonprofit.
2. Communicate with nonprofits and work together to directly measure their program performance and use that data to optimize the fund’s strategy.
3. Use both qualitative and quantitative data to tell compelling stories about the work we’re doing, the people we’re helping, and our strategies for increasing our impact.

The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of how to use data to model real-world events, as well as outstanding writing skills and a flair for narrative with the ability to explain often complex concepts in an accessible way.

This is a full-time position with an estimated base salary range of $68,000-$80,000 per year, dependent on experience.

• A successful first year in this role will see you launch several new funds in multiple major metropolitan regions across the United States and build a well oiled machine that makes data-driven decisions, tells resonant and engaging stories, and operates on a positive feedback loop which constantly produces new data it can use to improve itself.
• Work with nonprofit partners and identify opportunities for further research. Are there additional outcomes we aren’t capturing that would help paint a more complete portrait of the impact they’re creating?
• Work closely with our founding team to develop our overall strategies for building and operating funds, collaborating with nonprofits, and producing content.
• Deeply understand the existing context surrounding each cause. How big is the problem? What factors are at play? Who is already working on this and how effective are the different interventions at our disposal?
• Monitor and report on the evolving context behind each cause, as well as the effectiveness of our nonprofit partners. How can we improve our strategy and increase our impact?
• Write clear, concise reports that help our donors understand where their contributions are going, who they’re helping, and what we’re doing to increase their impact.
• Craft a well-researched, data-backed strategy for determining which nonprofits we should work with and how we should distribute donations across each fund.

• Strong data analysis and data visualization experience, ideally with modeling real-world events and creating reports.
• BA in any degree but with statistical coursework completed.
• Strong leadership skills with experience defining new processes and best practices.
• US citizen who is living/working within the United States.
• Experience with programming languages such as R, Python, or STATA.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze large data sets, offer statistically sound conclusions, and identify opportunities for further research.
• An entrepreneurial mentality that sees each new challenge as an opportunity to learn, grow, and do something that’s never been done before.
• Excellent writing skills. In addition to unimpeachable grammar and spelling, you have a flair for narrative and the ability to communicate complex concepts in accessible ways.

• Experience with SQL.
• Experience (or familiarity with) with nonprofits, government agencies, or consulting firms.
• MA in a quantitative or research related field.

We’re serious about building a company that’s as diverse and innovative as the communities we work alongside every day. If you think you’re right for this role but aren’t sure if your experience aligns perfectly with everything in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. If you’re an entrepreneur at heart and if our vision resonates with you, we want you by our side.

Impact Lab is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. Impact Lab considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Impact Lab is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please let us know.

Impact Lab is committed to providing competitive cash compensation, equity, and benefits. The compensation offered for this role will be based on multiple factors such as the role’s scope and complexity, and the candidate’s experience and expertise, and may vary from the range provided above.