Research Director/Senior Research Manager, New Initiatives

Research Director/Senior Research Manager - New Initiatives

About Prevail

In Our First Three Years, We've

• Made significant progress against our ambitious fundraising targets
• Partnered with 30+ organizations across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
• Hired 35+ mission-driven team members globally
• Run dozens of execution projects to strengthen key functions for our partners
• You can find a bit more information about Prevail Fund and what to expect from our recruitment process here.

New Initiatives at Prevail

About This Role

• Working closely with David and Dan, you’ll be helping to shape how Prevail assesses new philanthropic opportunities.
• You’ll lead a team of researchers conducting high-quality, actionable research into the most cost-effective opportunities to tackle key challenges facing low and middle-income countries.
• This is not an academic role, nor a pure people-management role; you will both develop a strong research team and drive analytical work yourself, producing practical recommendations that Prevail can launch as ambitious, well-funded programs.
• You will:
• Drive Prevail's strategy for assessing new philanthropic opportunities – set priorities, refine our assessment frameworks, derive comparable metrics across sectors, and learn from peer organizations and global experts to keep raising the bar on how Prevail decides where to deploy capital next.
• Lead and develop the New Initiatives research team – manage researchers, set quality standards, coach analysis and writing, and build the structures to help the team operate at speed and rigor as Prevail grows.
• Build and own complex quantitative and qualitative models – dive into complex opportunity analysis, building cost-effectiveness models, reach and fund-sizing estimates, durability syntheses, and other deep-dive work that anchors Prevail's investment decisions.
• Identify, diligence, and evaluate high-impact interventions through desk reviews, expert interviews, quantitative modeling, and likely some in-person visits to real-world programs.
• Synthesize and translate evidence into crisp, transparent outputs that can speak to diverse audiences – ranging from slide decks and investment memos to interactive models and visualizations.
• Answer operational and programmatic questions when evaluating new opportunities, proposing evidence-based, creative solutions that can move Prevail and its partners from ideas to large-scale action.
• Provide peer feedback to researchers in other Prevail portfolios, occasionally reviewing MEL strategies and outputs to ensure high-quality research across verticals.

About You

• You’re a research leader, skilled in managing complex, multi-workstream research agendas.
• You are excited to run a growing research team while remaining hands-on in the analysis.
• You love deep-diving into new sectors and topics to creatively synthesize punchy, data-driven recommendations, and you’re comfortable owning the conclusion in a room of senior decision-makers.
• You move easily between quantitative and qualitative insights, and between strategic framing and granular evidence review.
• You communicate complex ideas clearly to donors, implementers, and academics alike, and you thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• More specifically, you bring:
• Research experience: You have 9+ years experience in conducting research to drive decision-making.

Experience

• with implementing organizations in global development is a strong asset, but not required.
• Leadership experience: You have 4+ years leading, mentoring, and managing other researchers. You give clear, kind, specific feedback, and you’ve helped build the structures that let a small team punch above its weight.
• Action orientation: You conduct goal-oriented research, structure the most efficient analytical path, and ensure all outputs drive to the decision or actions being considered.
• Transparent thinking: You clearly track and outline how you came to key conclusions throughout the research process. You are keen to share both analytical uncertainties and strategies for resolving them.
• Synthesis skills: You integrate quantitative and qualitative data from diverse fields, like econometrics and political science. You love to synthesize complex ideas into clear frameworks, models, and recommendations. You are a creative communicator, able to develop outputs that can motivate diverse audiences.

What We Offer

• Full time, permanent contract.
• Drive real impact. Your work will directly mobilize philanthropic capital that will impact millions of lives.
• Flexibility: Work remotely from anywhere in a timezone between -6 UTC (US Central Time) and +3 UTC (EAT), with opportunities to travel and connect in person with the team 3-4 times per year.
• Competitive salary based on experience, skills and location. We share salary ranges with candidates before the first interview. Final offers are based on interview performance.
• Meaningful benefits. Health insurance and wellness benefits, home workspace or co-working stipend, plus a generous learning and development budget.
• Growth opportunities. We deeply care about investing in our team’s professional development. You’ll receive strong manager support, targeted feedback, clear pay progression, upwards or lateral mobility.
• Flexible leave policy. Including 25 days PTO, plus public holidays.

Location & start date

• This is a fully remote position.
• For timezone purposes, candidates must be based within -6 UTC (US Central Time) and +3 UTC (East Africa Time).
• We’re not normally able to sponsor visas.
• Preferred start date: as soon as possible.
• Career growth & development:
• We care about investing in our team’s professional development.
• You will have regular check-ins with your manager and career feedback sessions.
• You will also have regular access to senior leadership, both internally and with partner organizations, through your work.
• Application process:
• Our hiring process is thorough, because there are very specific skills required for this role.
• Successful candidates will go through:
• An initial conversation with the people team (45-60 minutes)
• Hiring manager interview (45-60 minutes)
• Paid take-home exercise (5-6 hours)
• Panel interview (90 minutes) and 1:1 conversations with the rest of the team, including an in-person meeting.
• Through the process, we’ll share feedback on the assessments, and invite candidates to incorporate it.
• This mirrors how we work day to day: collaboratively, with openness to feedback and iteration.
• Ready to join us?
• If you’re excited to help us scale, apply using the link below.
• We review every application and aim to invite successful candidates for an informational call within 3 weeks.
• For more information
• , we encourage you to read this in advance of the first informational call.
• For more information on Prevail in general, check out this deck.
• For info on how we hire at Prevail, check here.
• Note: If you currently work for one of Prevail’s partner organizations, we’d love to consider you for this role as long as you can provide their express permission. If this applies to you, please ask them to confirm this with us. Thank you!