Research Director
$138,000–$154,000 year
RemoteUnited States
Job Summary
Provide strategic and operational leadership for Bridging Divides Initiative's core research functions, including Data and Tools and Participatory Research. Serve as a Senior Leadership Team member to advise on emerging opportunities, methodology needs, and the multi-year research agenda. Directly manage Project Managers and Senior Research Specialists while overseeing the Political Violence Dashboard, Violence Risk Index, and community-engaged qualitative interviews. Establish rigorous research design standards, maintain IRB compliance, and ensure data integrity across all projects. Partner with cross-functional directors to establish the annual product roadmap and coordinate workflows with Early Warning and External Engagement teams. Design and approve high-stakes analytical outputs, including issue briefs and memos, ensuring non-partisan rigor.
Required Qualifications
- 8-10+ years of progressive experience in research leadership, applied social science, conflict analysis, public policy, or related fields, including significant experience managing research teams and/or programs.
- Demonstrated expertise in conducting and managing both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, with a proven track record of maintaining data and research integrity across complex portfolios.
- Substantial experience directly managing, mentoring, and developing multidisciplinary teams of researchers, data specialists, or project managers in a high-performance environment.
- Experience working in or with conflict, peacebuilding, democracy, and/or political violence mitigation/prevention or closely related fields.
- Professional experience managing data-driven projects that utilize R and Tableau for analysis and visualization.
- Proven ability to manage multiple complex, multi-stakeholder research workstreams simultaneously under high-pressure, time-sensitive conditions.
- Exceptional editing, writing, and presentation skills, with a demonstrated ability to translate highly technical data into accessible narratives for policy, media, and grassroots audiences.
- Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional experience required.
- Work authorization/visa eligibility: Work must be performed within the United States and is fully remote. This job requires sustained U.S. work authorization and is not eligible for U.S. visa sponsorship.
Desired Qualifications
- PhD or advanced Master's degree in a relevant field, such as Political Science, Public Policy, International Affairs, Sociology, or Data Science.
- Prior experience leading research operations or strategic engagement within an academic institution or research-intensive nonprofit (e.g., working alongside university faculty or research centers).
- Direct experience designing or overseeing participatory research models that actively engage impacted communities in knowledge production.
- Experience coordinating and/or working in mixed collaboration teams, including academic, policy maker, and civil society actors, and navigating between competing priorities of stakeholders invested in shared research outputs.
- Experience working with spatial data, mapping tools, or public-facing interactive data dashboards.
- Proven success in leading and maintaining team cohesion within a fully remote workspace, including experience with operational tools like Asana, Slack, and G-Suite.
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