Director of Research

About SFE 

Siegel Family Endowment (SFE) is a foundation focused on understanding and shaping the impact of technology on society.  SFE supports organizations whose work contributes to giving everyone the opportunity to learn and contribute to a rapidly changing society. Our Chairman, David M. Siegel, is the Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Two Sigma Investments, LP.  We primarily focus on three interest areas: Learning, Workforce, and Infrastructure. Our grantmaking philosophy and process differs from many more traditional foundations -- we encourage you to read through the “Our Approach” on www.siegelendowment.org/​ to understand more about how we work with potential grantees.

Position Summary 

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Research will translate SFE’s strategies and mission into a research agenda and produce valuable, applicable insights that relate to our work and can be shared with the field at large. They will work closely with the grantmaking team to assess and share the learnings from grantmaking, connecting them to the furtherance of our mission. 

Responsibilities 

• Manage and produce internal landscape and research reports to help inform and define strategic initiatives, as requested by the Executive Director
• Shape and oversee SFE’s internally produced and externally sourced/directed research, resulting in conference and journal publications
• Produce white papers, briefs, and other written content for varied audiences
• Build and ultimately oversee a team producing practical/applied research with academic rigor
• Contribute to the management of research-related grants, providing a research and policy analysis lens and ensuring appropriate evaluation metrics are in place
• Design research projects and partnerships, with a focus on generating resources to benefit practitioners and policymakers and field knowledge advancement (e.g., synthesis of existing evidence related to the initiative’s knowledge agenda, implementation evaluations, outcome studies, and opportunities and challenges for an initiative to inform policy)
• Create a research dissemination strategy to connect research findings to a broader audience
• Cultivate relationships with policy makers, practitioners, thought leaders, external networks such as funder collaboratives, and professional associations to advance the thinking and dialogue in the fields relevant to SFE’s mission
• Represent SFE at professional conferences, convenings and events

Qualifications​

• PhD in economics, political science, or a related field with a focus on applied research and/or policy analysis in a field related to SFE’s grantmaking
• 10+ years of demonstrated experience conducting a variety of research approaches employing both quantitative and qualitative methods
• 10+ years of experience managing a small team on a broad array of research projects and/or as a principal investigator on major research projects  
• Strong portfolio of scholarly writing and research publications  
• Strong public speaking skills with history of speaking engagements, with preferred experience in public policy and/or advocacy or research and editorial review processes
• Exceptional interpersonal and collaboration skills
• Strong organizational, project management, and problem-solving skills; excellent time management skills and the ability to prioritize work