Global Health and Development Researchers, Senior Researchers and Research Manager

About the Position and our Department

• Researcher / Senior Researcher: core desk-based research role
• Senior Research Manager: research-management role, involving people & project leadership

(Senior) Researcher

1.  Conducting secondary research on a variety of global health, international development, and climate change topics. Our research process usually involves:
   • Literature review (including assessment of the quality of evidence)
   • Expert outreach and interviews
   • Some form of quantitative modeling (e.g., back of the envelope calculations, cost-effectiveness analyses)
   • Writing  and reviewing client- and public-facing research reports
2.  Leading research projects, which generally includes:
   • Developing the overall research approach and execution plan, based on the decision to be informed, requested outputs, and time available 
   • Coordinating tasks and seeing them through to completion with teammates
   • Leading regular meetings with clients and teammates to communicate progress, discuss uncertainties, and agree next steps
3.  Contributing to the GHD Department’s strategy as requested, which may include:
   • Identifying or developing promising research ideas
   • Supporting departmental fundraising efforts
   • Providing input to our department’s strategy and priorities 

Senior Research Manager

1.  Managing research projects 
   • Input to research approaches and plans, to ensure high-quality, timely outputs
   • Review of secondary research conducted by project teams
   • Client engagement and relationship management, particularly at the beginning and ends of research projects
2.  Direct line management and wider team management, including: 
   • Management of 1-2 researchers, including weekly 1:1s, biannual performance evaluations, and ongoing coaching for professional development
   • Scheduling team capacity for commissioned research projects and other internal priorities
   • Quality assurance of public-facing outputs
   • Other support provided to the team as required, e.g., hiring, retreat planning
3.  Contributing to the GHD Department’s strategy, which will involve working with the GHD Director and other RP teams to:
   • Execute our medium-term strategy, and update our approach where needed 
   • Cultivate external relationships through warm and cold outreach 
   • Develop proposals and budgets for commissioned research 
   • Provide input to our department’s strategy and priorities 

Skills and Competencies

• Impact focus: Rethink Priorities’ mission is to support relevant stakeholders to achieve significant positive impact. Our research projects and other initiatives are always carried out with potential for impact as one of the main considerations.
• Research rigor: researchers and managers are responsible for conducting and/or directing secondary research that will be informative and useful for our clients and the broader community. As such, relying on a sound methodology to collate the relevant evidence and being able to critically assess its quality and properly summarize its findings is key.
• Strategic and critical thinking: within research projects, strategic and critical thinking is necessary to propose the best course of action given constraints (e.g. scope, time) and pivot as needed given new evidence or external events (e.g., change in client preferences). Senior Researchers and Managers will also more often be expected to display these skills by contributing to the GHD department’s strategy. 
• Reasoning transparency: we hope that our research reports help key stakeholders improve their decision making. To support this mission, we strive for utmost clarity in our outputs, particularly around the reasoning supporting our conclusions. It is therefore important to be able to document key steps in arguments and identify/summarize important takeaways, while recognizing and highlighting uncertainties; it is also crucial to include sources of support for any claims.
• Quantitative modeling: researchers and managers must be comfortable building and engaging with quantitative models, such as spreadsheet analyses of cost-effectiveness. Our secondary research often involves identifying and assessing relevant statistical analyses in academic papers, so comfortable understanding and interpreting results from such analysis is necessary.
• Self-/time-management: our projects are often commissioned and fast-paced, and often involve coordinating multiple types of research (e.g., modelling, desk research, and expert interviews) simultaneously. Senior Researchers and Managers also juggle additional responsibilities in addition to research projects. At all levels, being able to confidently and independently capture, prioritize, and execute on tasks is paramount.
• Project management: excellent project management skills to ensure proper coordination across teammates and timely completion of the work will be essential.
• Collaboration/teamwork: most of our research is conducted collaboratively. Being able to work and communicate well and regularly with teammates is key for our projects’ success, and our team’s close-knit and supportive culture. 
• Written and verbal communication: our primary outputs are written reports, which inform those who commissioned them and, where possible, are also shared more widely with relevant stakeholders. As a result, good writing skills are crucial. Strong communication skills -  both written and verbal - are also necessary to ensure clarity and alignment internally within project teams, and externally with clients.
• Outreach: researchers will routinely conduct outreach to contact experts for interviews (whether through existing connections or cold contact). Outreach may also be required as part of fundraising and networking activities, especially for more senior staff.
  
  

• Review: we maintain high quality in our research outputs through a rigorous system of internal review. This process applies both to client deliverables, and reports we make available to the public. Research managers must exercise judgement to identify and triage areas for improvement across a range of priorities, including reasoning transparency, research rigor, and writing clarity. 
• Workflow and skills management: our team aims to have the most impact possible with the resources available. Scheduling is a vital component of this: ensuring we staff projects and other priorities appropriately, with the right mix of skills. 
• Line management: our department has a supportive and collaborative culture. As a manager, it will be important to continue to foster this through coaching, feedback, active listening, and strong interpersonal skills. 

Knowledge and Experience

• Research experience
• Comfort with independent, remote work
• Excellent writing, communication, and project management skills
• Comfort reaching out to and engaging professionally with experts in a variety of fields
• (Managers only) Direct line-management experience 

• Experience with (cost-effectiveness) modeling
• Experience working in the domains of global health, international development, and/or climate change
• Experience leading collaborative projects and stakeholder engagement
• Experience with research fundraising
• Comfort with or openness to using project management and communication tools such as Slack, Zoom, Asana, and Google Workspace
• Comfort with or openness to using tools such as Deep Research, Gemini, ChatGPT, etc.

Compensation

• We offer annual salary between the following ranges for a full-time position, prorated for part-time work:
  • Researcher
    • $75,000 - $90,000 USD pre-tax
    • £58,000 - £69,000 GBP pre-tax 
    • €67,000 - €80,000 EUR pre-tax
  • Senior Researcher
    • $114,000 - $142,000 USD pre-tax
    • £88,000 - £110,000 GBP pre-tax 
    • €102,000 - €127,000 EUR pre-tax
  • Senior Research Manager
    • $118,000 - $142,000 USD pre-tax
    • £91,000 - £110,000 GBP pre-tax 
    • €105,000 - €127,000 EUR pre-tax
• The exact salary will be based on the candidate’s prior relevant experience and corresponding title level, and calculated using RP’s salary algorithm. 
• Compensation is not restricted to the currencies listed above. 
• To ensure fairness across the entire organization, RP does not negotiate salaries. 

Other Benefits

• Opportunity to contribute to a fast-growing, high-impact organization — our research is used by key decision makers who influence the distribution of hundreds of millions of charitable dollars.
• Flexible work hours and location.
• Comprehensive global benefits package (while this varies by country, we make every effort to ensure that our benefits package is equitable and high-quality for all staff). 
• Generous paid time off (PTO) leave and unpaid leave, including:
  • “Mandated” 3-week total mid- and end-year organization-wide breaks
  • Unlimited (within reason) personal and sick paid and unpaid leave
  • Parental leave - up to 4 months paid and up to an additional 5 months unpaid parental leave that can be taken prior to and/or during the first 2 years after a child’s birth or adoption 
  • Other paid and unpaid leave (e.g., bereavement)
• A caring team that values respectful work relations and a healthy work-life balance.
• Opportunities to grow/advance your career and engage in professional development.
• Low administrative bureaucracy.
• We don’t provide snacks, but we could mail you a box of Oreos if you want!

Additional Information

Role-Specific

• Work Environment and Visa Sponsorship: This role is fully remote and we are able to legally hire in many countries. In certain cases, we may be able to provide visa sponsorship to the US or UK and help candidates relocate. If you have questions about whether we can hire or provide visa sponsorship in another country and if this will influence your decision about applying, please contact careers@rethinkpriorities.org before submitting your application.
• Time Zones and Working Hours: While we welcome applicants from all time zones, you may be expected to attend meetings with those working in a range of time zones, from US Pacific to Central European time. Depending on your personal timezone, this might mean early morning or evening calls; however, you would not be required to attend calls outside of waking hours. 
• Full-Time Position: This role is open to full-time and part-time candidates who are available to work at least 30 hours per week.
• Travel: Travel is not an essential requirement for this position. However, a majority of our staff travel a few times per year for conferences, team and all-staff retreats, and other work-related purposes. In most cases, travel is not mandatory, but encouraged. If, for any reason, you would prefer not to travel for work, please do not be discouraged from applying. Depending on the event, we can likely make accommodations, such as allowing virtual participation when possible.
• Language: Professional level of English language is required for all roles at Rethink Priorities. 

About Rethink Priorities

1.  A consultancy doing commissioned work in response to demands from organizations doing high-impact work 
2.  A research institute driven by research agendas we set according to our own priorities.
3.  A think tank aiming to inform public policy to improve the world.
4.  An accelerator, incubator, and base for priority projects.

• Bringing attention to neglected issues, such as lead exposure, fungal diseases, and shrimp welfare. 
• Increasing the collective impact of advocates across each field in which we work through strategic coordination.
• Investigating potential interventions and identifying the most cost-effective options. In 2025, our research influenced tens of millions of dollars in foundation grants. 
• Creating practical tools for philanthropists to compare resource allocations across different species and cause areas and to build giving portfolios despite uncertainties.
• Providing organizations with data to inform their decisions. For example, we have conducted surveys on perceptions of existential risks, AI, effective giving, and other topics. 
• Providing fiscal sponsorship and operational support to ensure that high-impact initiatives in areas like AI safety and animal welfare can launch and grow effectively.