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Research Analyst
The role
As a Research Analyst on GiveWell's Commons team, you will support our broader research team in
identifying cost-effective giving opportunities. Your work will contribute to GiveWell’s decisions about
how hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to save and improve the lives of people living in the
lowest-income communities in the world. You will also play a key role in fulfilling our commitment to
transparency and ensuring that the work we produce is accurate and high quality.

You will contribute to our work in a variety of ways, including:

Writing public summaries of the reasoning behind our grant decisions

Quality checking pages we publish about our work and spreadsheets that we rely on to inform
our decision making
Answering defined research questions via desk research (for example, “What options does a
maize farmer in Malawi have for selling their product?” or “How does the U.S. Congress make
decisions about how to appropriate funding for global health programs?”)
Summarizing results from the monitoring and evaluation reports that grantees send us
Updating our cost-effectiveness analyses to reflect new information or analysis performed by
other research staff
Providing occasional project management support (more detail below)

Team structure
Our research team is organized into subteams that each focus on a specific area of our grantmaking
(malaria, water quality, vaccines, etc.). The Commons team is external to these subteams; we
provide shared and flexible research capacity so we can direct our effort toward the highest priority
areas at a given time. As a Research Analyst on the Commons team, you will have opportunities to
learn about and contribute to investigations across research subteams, giving you a breadth of
knowledge about GiveWell's work.

You may also have opportunities to temporarily embed in a subteam for the duration of a grant
investigation or other project. During these periods, in addition to the research work noted above,
you may be asked to help with the project management of research investigations, which can
include tasks like maintaining our information management systems, keeping track of progress and
checking in with relevant stakeholders as needed, scheduling and taking notes during calls with
external contacts, and generally driving our investigations forward.

In some cases, we expect that Research Analysts who are excelling in their role will be embedded
permanently in a research subteam.

Role details and benefits

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Salary: Our salaries are competitive with peer organizations like private foundations, academic
institutions/think tanks, and the World Bank. We adjust the salaries of remote employees using a tier
system. Our pay for this role:

Tier 1 (San Francisco Bay Area or New York City): $105,800. This includes a base salary of
$92,000 and an additional $13,800 (15% of salary) in cash in lieu of a separate retirement
benefit.
Tier 2 (all other US locations): $95,900. This includes a base salary of $83,400 and an
additional $12,500 (15% of salary) in cash in lieu of a separate retirement benefit.
International: Custom based on location.

Location: GiveWell staff primarily work remotely within the U.S. GiveWell has offices in Oakland,
California, and Brooklyn, New York City, which you are welcome but not required to work from. We
may employ staff internationally on a case-by-case basis. We require that employees either work in
time zones shared by the continental U.S. or, if working outside those time zones, be willing to work
hours that are compatible with regular meetings scheduled around U.S. time zones.

Flexibility: We support and encourage flexible working, including flexible hours, working remotely,
and working from the office when you choose. The majority of our staff, including senior
management, work flexibly in one way or another.

Benefits: Our benefits include:

Fully funded health, dental, vision, and life insurance (we cover 100% of premiums within the
U.S. for you and any dependents)
Four weeks of paid time off per year
Four months of fully paid parental leave
Ergonomic home workstations or coworking space memberships
403(b) retirement plan

You can see our full list of benefits here.

Visa sponsorship: We will attempt to sponsor work visas for hired staff members who wish to move
to the U.S. However, please be aware that we are unable to control visa eligibility or processing
times and cannot guarantee visa approval.

Timeline: We’re reviewing applications on a rolling basis.

About you
We expect you will be characterized by most of the qualities listed below.

Strong communicator: You write clearly and concisely. You are able to interface respectfully,
effectively, and efficiently with people in all program areas at GiveWell and externally. You
clearly communicate what you believe and why, as well as what you are uncertain about. You
check in proactively when you’re unsure about something or when you notice a potential
problem. You are able to translate clear, detailed write-ups about complex topics into clear and
succinct public summaries.
Analytical: You are able to make judgment calls about how to interpret and use messy data
and explain your reasoning for your choices. You are sufficiently comfortable with quantitative
reasoning to summarize main points and identify key details within technical content.
Conscientious: You have meticulous attention to detail. You are highly productive and keep
your work organized. You are able to carefully follow a process with many steps. You are
thoughtful about how you approach your work, keeping the big picture in mind and, when

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appropriate, asking questions about why we do things the way we do. You perform high-quality
work, with or without supervision. You are receptive to feedback. You learn from your mistakes
and rarely repeat them.
Mission-motivated: You are passionate about maximizing global well-being. GiveWell is
focused on programs that aim to save lives and improve human well-being in low- and middle-
income countries. You want to contribute to GiveWell’s mission and are passionate about
accomplishing as much as possible with the resources available.
Curious and versatile: You are excited to learn about a wide cross-section of our
grantmaking and to work with a variety of people.

The ideal candidate for this position will possess most of the skills described above and will have a
bachelor's degree or equivalent experience. However, there is no such thing as a “perfect”
candidate. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified,
we would strongly encourage you to apply.

About GiveWell
GiveWell is motivated by the simple question: How can we do as much good as possible?

Our staff researches and makes grants to support the most cost-effective global health programs
that save and improve lives. We focus on global health and poverty alleviation in the lowest-income
parts of the world because that is where we've found we can have the greatest impact.

Since 2007, we’ve directed over $2 billion to cost-effective programs and interventions. In 2022, we
directed over $400 million. GiveWell is one of the world’s largest private funders of global
development efforts, and we estimate that the funding we've directed will save more than 200,000
lives.
Recent grants have supported programs that:

Are evidence-backed, cost-effective, transparent, and in need of more funding. Many of our
largest grants have supported malaria chemoprevention, antimalarial nets, vaccine
incentivization, vitamin A supplementation, and deworming medication.
Seek to scope and scale promising interventions that don't have clear existing implementers.
We are supporting the Clinton Health Access Initiative's Incubator and Evidence Action's
Accelerator to identify potentially cost-effective interventions and create programs that we
would be excited to support in the future. For example, we recently funded a program to
provide diarrhea treatment to children in Nigeria that we co-designed with CHAI through the
Incubator program.
Test our assumptions through further research, including studies on the effect of water
chlorination on mortality, the impact of a tree-planting program on farmers' income, and the
effects of combining the RTS,S malaria vaccine and perennial malaria chemoprevention.

To apply
Apply here. We only accept applications through our website.

We use work exercises to evaluate candidates’ abilities. If we choose to move you forward as a
candidate after your initial work exercise, we will ask you to complete up to two additional work
projects (compensated at salary-equivalent rates) as well as participate in an interview. More
information about our process here. We plan to respond to all submissions. Please contact
[email protected] with any questions.

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If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at

[email protected].

As part of our dedication to the diversity of our staff, GiveWell is committed to the principles of Equal
Employment Opportunity and to making employment decisions based on merit and value. We are
committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing Equal Employment
Opportunities, as well as all laws related to terms and conditions of employment. We desire to
maintain a work environment free of harassment or discrimination due to sex, race, religion, color,
creed, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, citizenship, physical
or mental disability, marital status, familial status, ethnicity, ancestry, status as a victim of domestic
violence or sexual assault, age, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Source URL: https://www.givewell.org/about/jobs/research-analyst

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