We are seeking a Fundraising-Focused Research Senior Manager to help surface and package compelling insights, data, and evidence from our direct cash programs to engage and inform high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and foundation donors. This role will sit at the intersection of research, fundraising, and communications—transforming complex programmatic and research findings into accessible and persuasive donor-facing content.

The ideal candidate will have a strong research analytical background, excellent storytelling skills, and experience translating data into engaging narratives for external audiences.

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
• Support the fundraising team by crafting compelling narratives backed by data to demonstrate GiveDirectly’s impact
• Work closely with the partnerships and communications teams to refine messaging and tailor research outputs to different donor segments

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.