We find outstanding charities and publish the full details of our analysis to help donors decide where to give.
Senior Water Researcher
Location
United States + 9 moreAll locations: United States | United Kingdom | Canada | Germany | France | India | Brazil | Australia | Estonia | Japan
Posted
17 days ago
Salary
$241K / year
Seniority
Senior
No structured requirement data.
Job Description
Senior Water Researcher
GiveWell
Role Description GiveWell is seeking a Senior Water Researcher to help direct tens of millions of dollars annually to the most cost-effective water interventions we can find. You will have an outsized influence on our funding decisions and help us save and improve lives on a global scale. As a Senior Water Researcher, you'll create and lead ambitious research agendas related to our portfolios of work and answer complex questions that will inform GiveWell's grantmaking decisions. The researchers on our team combine rigorous evidence review, cost-effectiveness modeling, and thoughtful judgment. The role involves: - Joining a small grantmaking team to contribute to our ambitious research agenda on water. - Sifting through numerous questions and honing in on those that matter most. - Communicating externally about your work and mentoring other researchers on the team. - Shaping a research agenda that brings rigor and creativity to the water team's questions. What you might work on in your first year: - Calibrating cost-effectiveness estimates to real-world program performance. - Comparing chlorination with alternative water quality methods across different settings. - Unlocking cost-effective funding by partnering with multilaterals to layer water treatment onto large-scale projects. - Shifting portfolio focus between water quality and water access. - Improving estimates of the all-cause mortality effect of chlorination on children under-5. - Using new funding mechanisms to identify and scale promising interventions. The Senior Water Researcher will help shape a major annual grantmaking portfolio, own grant investigations end-to-end, and represent GiveWell to external counterparts. Qualifications - A quantitatively oriented advanced degree (e.g., in epidemiology, environmental engineering, environmental health, public health, economics, or related fields). - Substantial professional experience in the water sector or an adjacent field. - Hands-on familiarity with water systems, epidemiology, or both is preferred. - Strong researchers whose expertise sits in any subset of the areas explored are welcome to apply. Requirements - Curiosity and willingness to interrogate others’ work. - Ability to surface value judgments and strategic commitments in your work. - Strong communication skills regarding confidence levels in findings. - Ability to moderate directness and intensity when communicating externally. - Passion for solving complex problems and reassessing mental models. Benefits - Fully funded health, dental, vision, and life insurance for you and any dependents. - Four weeks of paid time off per year, plus a one-week organization-wide summer break. - 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave. - Ergonomic home workstations or coworking space memberships. - 403(b) retirement plan. Company Description GiveWell is dedicated to finding and funding outstanding giving opportunities in global health and development, sharing the full details of our analysis with everyone for free. Since 2007, we’ve directed over $2.6 billion to cost-effective programs and interventions. - Helped governments implement high-impact health programs. - Funded program delivery alongside strengthened monitoring and evaluation. - Sought to scope and scale promising interventions. - Tested assumptions through further research.
Related Guides
Related Categories
Related Job Pages
More User Researcher Jobs
Workers Comp, Lost Time Claims Subject Matter Expert – AI SaaS
EvolutionIQLeading the artificial intelligence transformation for insurance carriers.
• Provide expert validation, feedback, and real-world context on the product's features and AI-generated outputs. • Critically assess the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated summaries against source medical documents. • Actively use and evaluate pre-release versions of the product’s features leveraging claims-handling knowledge. • Accurately and consistently label medical information within insurance claims data. • Provide detailed feedback on how the product integrates into existing daily claims management workflows. • Offer constructive criticism on the product's user interface and overall user experience.
• Design and execute generative and evaluative research studies • Conduct foundational research as needed to understand user workflows, pain points, and operational contexts • Scope research creatively to balance rigour, timeline constraints, and confidence in recommendations • Collaborate closely with design counterparts throughout the product development cycle - from discovery through validation • Participate in co-ideation sessions, translating research insights into design opportunities • Present synthesized insights with clear, actionable recommendations tied to business impact • Deliver audience-centric narratives that drive decision-making, not just research reports • Track and communicate the impact of research-informed decisions
Senior Livelihoods Researcher
GiveWellWe find outstanding charities and publish the full details of our analysis to help donors decide where to give.
Role Description GiveWell is seeking a Senior Livelihoods Researcher to help us identify and fund the most cost-effective ways to improve living standards among the global poor. You will have an outsized influence on our funding decisions and help us improve lives on a global scale. Our livelihoods team is organized around thematic verticals, which includes: - Cash transfers - Broader social protection programs - Education programs - Support for small and medium sized businesses in low-income countries As a Senior Livelihoods Researcher, you’ll create and lead ambitious research agendas related to our portfolios of work and answer complex questions that will inform GiveWell’s grantmaking decisions. Your work will combine: - Empirical evidence review - Critical synthesis - Cost-effectiveness modeling - Discussions with subject matter experts - Understanding of the broader context - Your own judgment In the course of your work, you might approach questions like these: - What effect do rural trailbridges have on the consumption of nearby communities? - What are long-run effects of unconditional cash transfers and ultra poor graduation programs on recipients? - What would happen to prices and markets if we took cash transfer and ultra poor graduation programs to scale? - How should GiveWell value interventions which try to reduce the variance of consumption (as opposed to increasing the average)? - Why have several countries in sub-Saharan Africa seen large scale-ups in donor-funded livelihoods programs over the last 30 years but very little movement in poverty headcount rates and median consumption per capita? Qualifications - A quantitatively oriented advanced degree (e.g., in economics, statistics, public policy or related fields) - Substantial professional experience in the livelihoods landscape (broadly defined), which could include experience in academic research and/or in program implementation or funding. - Soft qualities that contribute to success on our team, such as curiosity, ability to communicate confidence levels, and appreciation for strong relationships. Requirements - GiveWell’s mission and methods are personally energizing. - You’re abnormally curious and willing to interrogate others’ work. - You routinely think about and surface value judgments and strategic commitments. - You dislike strong confidence in views that lack evidence. - You love tackling complex problems and reassessing your mental models. - You constantly assess whether you and the team are working on the most important things. Benefits - Fully funded health, dental, vision, and life insurance (100% of premiums covered within the US for you and any dependents) - Four weeks of paid time off per year - 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave - Ergonomic home workstations or coworking space memberships - 403(b) retirement plan Company Description GiveWell is dedicated to finding and funding outstanding giving opportunities in global health and development, sharing the full details of our analysis with everyone for free. Since 2007, we’ve directed over $2.6 billion to cost-effective programs and interventions.
• Planning and conducting qualitative and quantitative research to better understand users’ needs, behaviors, motivations, and goals, in order to inform product and design decisions • Collaborating with product, engineering, and design teams to provide actionable insights and deliverables • Identifying and executing on high-impact projects, triaging requests, determining priority and delivering in time for results to be useful • Contributing your research and perspective throughout the entire product development cycle, from discovery and exploration, to launch and post-release • Creating research roadmaps and leading the execution of those roadmaps • Providing guidance to team members and partners on research best practices • Building and scaling research enablement resources (templates, guides, workflows) so teams can run studies efficiently and consistently • Support participant recruitment and management across internal SMEs and external customers • Partner cross-functionally with Customer Success and Support to coordinate access to customers and streamline research efforts



