Senior Research Associate

Advertiser: GiveWell

Field(s) of specialization: Any field

Position type(s): Other nonacademic

Location of job: See advertisement

Degree required: Doctorate

Job start date: Flexible

Job duration: Continuing/permanent

Salary: 147,300 to 162,400 USD

Target date for applications: 31 Dec 2025

Application deadline: 31 Mar 2026 midnight UTC (accepting applications)

Posting end date: 11 Nov 2026

Interviews: Interviews will be conducted remotely by video starting December, 2025.

Summary

GiveWell is seeking exceptional Senior Research Associates to help direct hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the most cost-effective global health and poverty alleviation programs. You'll have an outsized influence on our funding decisions and help us save and improve lives on a global scale.

You'll execute ambitious research agendas, answer complex questions, and inform high-impact grantmaking decisions by combining rigorous evidence review, cost-effectiveness modeling, and thoughtful judgment.

Senior Research Associates will have the opportunity to develop into Senior Researcher or Program Officer roles, leading research agendas or owning complex grantmaking portfolios. We're open to a wide variety of professional development options depending on your preferences and our needs.

The role

You'll join a small grantmaking team to execute ambitious research agendas, sifting through the countless questions we could try to answer and honing in on those that matter most. Your decisions will inform the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars to dozens of grantees.

Your practical work will combine empirical evidence review, cost-effectiveness modeling, discussions with subject matter experts, and developing your own judgment. In the course of your work, you might approach questions like these:

• What should we believe about the impacts of improved water quality on all-cause mortality?
• What is the impact of building footbridges in rural communities?
• How can we model the general equilibrium effects of cash transfers?
• How should we prioritize programs that reduce poverty relative to programs that reduce deaths?
• How should we think about the opportunity cost of other actors' contributions to programs we fund?
• How should we account for high levels of uncertainty in our cost-effectiveness estimates?
• How do we use effects from trials conducted 30 to 40 years ago to predict impacts today?

Responsibilities include:

• Analyzing interventions (e.g., vaccine demand generation, vitamin A supplementation, seasonal malaria chemoprevention) at various levels of depth to refine our view about the cost-effectiveness of a particular intervention and recommend either deprioritization or further work.
• Building cost-effectiveness models to estimate the costs and benefits of a particular intervention.
• Reviewing specific grantmaking opportunities.
• Tackle thorny research questions with creative approaches.
• Building relationships with experts relevant to our work.
• Publishing reports and blog posts on our website.

What is career development like?

After gaining experience on the team, Senior Research Associates have the opportunity to develop into Senior Researchers, who lead the development of our research agendas. Senior Researchers may then pursue a few pathways for career development based on their preferences and GiveWell's needs.

Team structure

Our research department has over 50 people, and is currently organized into eight teams:

• Five teams focus on specific areas of grantmaking.
• The New Areas team focuses on interventions in domains that are new to GiveWell.
• The Cross-Cutting team focuses on methodological issues and research quality.
• The Commons team provides generalized research support to each of the other teams.

Team values

We think our research team has unique qualities:

• We care deeply and centrally about finding and sharing truth.
• We are independent.
• We don't waste time.
• Lean research team = huge personal impact.
• We work well together.

About you

You should be graduating with a doctoral degree in a quantitative field like economics, mathematics, or statistics.

Details

• Compensation:
  NYC or the San Francisco Bay Area: $162,400
  All other U.S. locations: $147,300
  International: Similar to the "all other U.S. locations" salary.
• Location: GiveWell's staff work primarily remotely within the U.S. and abroad.
• Flexibility: We support and encourage flexible working.
• Visa Sponsorship: We'll do our best to sponsor it.
• Benefits: Fully funded health, dental, vision, and life insurance, paid time off, parental leave, ergonomic workstations, retirement plan.

Application procedure

To apply, visit

About GiveWell

GiveWell makes grants to support cost-effective programs that save and improve lives.