Research Director
Prevail Fund
📍 Remote (Global) 🕔 Full Time
🔄 Rolling Applications
The Research Director will directly conduct high-quality, actionable research into the most cost-effective opportunities to tackle key challenges facing low-income countries. This is not an academic role: we want you to propose practical solutions that we can actually launch as ambitious, well-funded programs.
As Prevail Fund’s Research Director you will:
Conduct practical research into the most cost-effective ways to spend large philanthropic sums in low-income countries: this will involve reviewing or conducting meta-analyses and speaking with leading experts across a range of sectors, and will likely also include getting into the weeds by visiting programs in person
Synthesize and translate evidence from this research to determine what is and is not working, what might scale cost-effectively, and identify the breadth of actors working on the issue that might be able to absorb significant funding
Identify removable key bottlenecks and new opportunities in pressing global challenges, and propose nonprofit solutions to address them: major global challenges, such as disease elimination, poverty reduction or fighting climate change, often have specific bottlenecks that can be removed or opportunities that can be pursued through targeted philanthropy, such as specific R&D investments or purchase guarantees to create a market. Your role will be to identify those bottlenecks and opportunities, and propose evidence-based solutions in response
Developing clear, succinct written outputs: we value crisp writing
Conduct research to answer key programmatic questions: examples might include, “In which countries should we launch a dengue fever elimination initiative?” and “Do the effects of literacy programs for children persist into adulthood?”
Conduct bespoke research to support the giving plans of leading philanthropists
Partner with other key members of the team to iterate on research needs
About You
You're an experienced research professional driven to see your research make a real-world impact. You can communicate complex ideas clearly and thrive in a fast-paced environment.
Action orientation: You conduct goal-oriented research, identify the most efficient path to reaching that goal and ensure all outputs are directly relevant to the decision or actions being considered.
Research Experience: You have significant (10+ years) experience in conducting decision-relevant research. Examples might include economics or quantitative social science research. Experience in global development research is a strong asset but not required.
Reasoning transparency and humility: You transparently outline how you came to key conclusions, you are open about your key uncertainties and can propose strategies to remove those uncertainties
Data Skills: You have an analytical mindset but we do not expect you to directly conduct analysis or study design. Most importantly, you love to synthesise complex data and identify clear recommendations.
Concise Communication. You can communicate complex concepts/analysis and ideas to colleagues and partners in a clear and compelling way.
About Our Team
We work in a fast-paced, results-driven environment. Our culture is built on the following values and competencies:
Ownership and Outcomes: We have a bias for informed action. When something goes wrong, we reflect inward, and take responsibility for outcomes. When we see an opportunity to improve, we proactively take the lead and rally others to find a solution.
Humility: We prioritise collective success over personal accolades, welcome constructive criticism, and have a strong ethos of continuous feedback.
Scout Mindset: We are life-long learners, value open-mindedness and champion a genuine willingness to change our beliefs based on evidence.
Data: We look for the right data and metrics to understand the context, draw conclusions and make informed recommendations.
Motivated by Scale: We are energised by ambitious targets and moving fast to achieve them.
Team Oriented: We are quick to ask for help, and we are quick to help others before being asked.
High Adaptability: We thrive in rapidly changing, low-context environments and can quickly pivot based on new information, adjusting priorities as needed.
Job Location & Travel
Prevail is a globally distributed team with all staff operating remotely. For this role, we are open to applicants based in any country but we cannot normally sponsor work permits. If you would require visa sponsorship, please let us know in your application. You should be open to modest travel to conferences and team retreats, perhaps up to 10% of your time.
Compensation and Benefits
The compensation for this role depends on the successful candidate's skillset, their experience level, and their desired working location. We always share salary bands for roles before the informational call, with the final salary offer determined on interview performance.
We offer a comprehensive benefits package including health insurance, a home workspace or coworking stipend, a learning and development allowance, and a competitive and flexible leave policy.
Career Growth and Development
We have a culture of constant learning and we invest in developing people. Although this is a start-up environment, you will have regular check-ins with your manager, regular career feedback sessions, and constant feedback generally. Constructive career growth is very important to us.
Hiring Process
If we see a match with your skills and experiences, we’ll invite you for a 30 minute informational call with our recruitment team where you can ask any questions you like about the role, or working at Prevail. The second round is a 60 minute call with the hiring manager. The final round is a work sample exercise and final interview brief. We aim to always provide feedback within one week of any interview.
