Associate Director, Research

Job Title : Associate Director, Research

Team : Product

Location : Hybrid in Chicago (IL), Atlanta (GA), or New York City (NYC)

Employment Type : Full-time

Start Date : ASAP

About Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students followed by support that lasts through graduation.

Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream. To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Jobs Report .

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring an Associate Director, Research who will lead a robust portfolio of continuous improvement and thought-leadership projects from Braven’s Research Agenda.

This role is for an experienced researcher with expertise in program evaluation, a strong grounding in applied methods (qualitative and quantitative methodology), and a passion for using evidence to drive strategic decision-making. As part of the Research team within Braven’s broader Product function, you will design and lead learning agendas, run pilots to answer key questions about program effectiveness, and translate findings into actionable insights that inform the evolution of Braven’s program model. You will also steward external research partnerships and qualitative research with our key stakeholders (students, higher education, and employers) to help shape Braven’s public voice through literature reviews and support for thought-leadership efforts.

This role is on the Product team and reports directly to the Head of Research.

What You’ll Do.

Thought leadership research and data collection (70%)

• Lead qualitative research process from front to end (e.g., from designing interview / focus group protocols and facilitating sessions to analyzing data and surfacing actionable insights.
• Own content creation of thought leadership papers, including outlining, drafting sections, and coordinating with external designers for final publication.
• Support managing external research partnerships by synthesizing insights from both Braven's data and external research to create a compelling, unified narrative.

Continuous improvement research and data collection to strengthen our program model (25%)

Cross-functional projects (5%)

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

Preferred Qualifications

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

Additional Requirements

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be :

Benefits

Compensation and Benefits

Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking.

New hires can expect a starting salary at the beginning of the range to allow room for growth with performance, and so that Braven maintains internal equity. The salary ranges, by geographic market, for this role are set forth $65,500-$81,800 in Atlanta, $69,000-$86,200 in Chicago, and $76,000-$94,900 in New York, NY. This is a full-time, regular, exempt, and benefits eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity.

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include :

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include :

Location

We gather in the office 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday) and work remotely 2 days a week (Monday and Friday). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of one of our hubs : Atlanta, Chicago, or New York. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face, and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.