As Research analyst, you would help our efforts to find the charities which most effectively alleviate extreme poverty and advise the Giving What We Can community in their donation decisions. You would be reporting to our Director of Research, Hauke Hillebrandt.
Part of your role will be working with the ED and the Director of Research to determine what the best research strategy for GWWC is. That process will affect what the precise remit of the role is. Your strengths and interests will also determine what the focus of the role ends up being. The areas within which your activities will lie are:
- Helping to determine which charities we should recommend – based on both the effectiveness of the interventions the charities carry out, and how well those organisations implement them
- Understanding the broader landscape of top charitable interventions and organisations, in order to advise our members when deciding where to donate
- Presenting the research in compelling ways in order to encourage people to donate to the most effective charities, both via our website and through presentations
- Supervising student volunteers on their research projects
- Help writing policy white papers
We are a small team, so you’ll also have the opportunity to be involved in recruitment, fundraising, publishing our findings in the media, and whatever else most interests you.
Why work at Giving What We Can
- Be at the heart of an inspiring community of people who care about others and really put their passion into practice: We have members all around the world, all of whom are dedicating a large part of their income to helping others as much as they can, and supporting each other in doing so. You would be getting to know these members, answering their questions, providing support to them and helping them to help others.
- Work with friendly and intellectual staff: You’d be working alongside a talented, interesting and highly motivated team.
- Meet interesting and varied people: Giving What We Can shares an office with the rest of the Centre for Effective Altruism and with the Future of Humanity Institute, which is part of the University of Oxford. There are always fascinating people around, and we often hold joint seminars and training sessions, as well as many social events.
- Be part of a fast-growing organisation and social movement: It’s a hugely exciting place to be, and has opportunities for swiftly increasing responsibility
- Help the world: Each new member of Giving What We Can saves around 10 lives, meaning that the right person in this job could help prevent over 100 unnecessary deaths each year!
Why apply?
This role combines great potential for impact with great potential for growth and learning. In determining which charities Giving What We Can recommends, you will be influencing a rapidly expanding pool of donations, already over a million pounds each year, in order to help those in extreme poverty as much as possible. As one of the key team members of a rapidly growing small organisation, you’ll have a huge amount of responsibility, autonomy and room to grow.
If you work for Giving What We Can, you’ll be part of a focused team of intelligent, caring, enthusiastic colleagues who want to change the world, located in the centre of beautiful Oxford.
Who is suited to this role?
We’re looking for someone who cares deeply about extreme poverty and is fascinated by the question of how we can most quickly eradicate it.
You’ll need a combination of research skills honed on messy real-world problems, and clear written communication. The ideal candidate would also have excellent presentation skills and experience dealing with media in order to be able to take their research to a wide audience.
Some examples of experience that would be especially useful include:
- monitoring and impact evaluation in the charitable or business sector
- systematic literature review
- conducting meta analyses
- general knowledge about evaluation of scientific reports and white papers
- knowledge of statistics and quantitative research methods
- graduate study
- economics
- econometrics
- finance (especially venture capital and hedge funds)
- global health / (international) public health / public health
- development economics (poverty economics)
- social science
- public policy
- supervision of students’ research projects
- science communication experience (e.g. science blogging, giving talks)
- writing policy white papers
However, we’re interested in anyone who can demonstrate the skills.
Candidates will be selected on the following traits, and should aim to demonstrate them in their application:
- Strong analytical skills
- Robust positive self-motivation
- Having an effective altruist mindset
- Altruism
- Focus on effectiveness
- Writing and verbal skills
- Social skills and network
- Relevant experience and skills.