Analyst, Research

Analyst, Research
San Francisco, CA

The Research team at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) seeks a highly motivated Analyst with a desire to utilize their abilities to create positive social impact by improving the performance of charitable funders and, through them, the nonprofit sector as a whole. We are seeking candidates who express a defined interest in contributing to research by helping to design methodologically sound studies and conducting rigorous quantitative and qualitative analyses.

This is an opportunity to contribute to CEP’s organizational mission of creating insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness. CEP’s Research team provides evidence-based reports on foundation effectiveness and the state of philanthropic practice across a wide range of topics, for example:

• A Sector in Crisis:
  How U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations Are Responding to Threats
• Mounting Pressure: U.S. Foundations and Nonprofits on the 2025 Political Climate
• AI With
  
  Purpose:
  
  How Foundations and Nonprofits are Thinking About and Using Artificial Intelligence
• Breaking the Mold:
  The Transformative Effect of Mac Kenzie Scott’s Big Gifts

If you are seeking a mission driven and socially meaningful opportunity to contribute to a highly motivated and dynamic team in a fast-paced environment, we strongly encourage you to apply.

This position is based in CEP’s San Francisco, CA office.

• You understand that CEP’s work depends on the high quality of our analysis and, likewise, have high standards for quality control, task management, and attention to detail.
• You are flexible and adaptable in a fast-paced environment; you are gifted at managing up.
• You are confident in your work but are humble in the knowledge that you are always learning and improving.
• You are extremely organized and detail-oriented. You consistently produce high-quality, error-free work, reflecting an ability to complete tasks on or ahead of time with quality and accuracy.
• You enjoy a mix of working independently as well as on teams, and you bring a hard-working, empathetic, and reliable approach to both situations.
• You take initiative, when appropriate, and you are tolerant of ambiguity.
• You are curious and ask questions; you thrive in an environment that encourages diversity of opinion.
• You have the highest level of personal integrity and commitment to excellence.
• You work well within a close-knit team as well as across other departments at the organization.
• Your highly positive attitude, shared commitment to excellence, and thoughtfulness are an asset to CEP.
• You are an excellent ambassador of CEP’s values, both internally and externally, and across multiple settings.
• You are proactive and have a strong orientation towards successful problem-solving.

The Analyst will work closely with CEP’s energetic and diverse staff to provide foundation executives, boards, and staff with data-driven insights to enhance the effectiveness of their work.

More specifically, the Analyst can expect to be involved in the following:

• Contributing seminal research to the philanthropic sector
• Performing rigorous quantitative and qualitative analyses using data collected from foundations, grantee organizations, beneficiaries, and/or other stakeholders in the nonprofit sector
• Synthesizing findings, shaping the ideas communicated in final materials, and developing clear and compelling reports
• Designing survey questions and managing processes associated with fielding surveys, as well as collecting information for survey samples
• Independently managing delegated project tasks, and associated timelines, with support from senior team members
• Actively contributing to team discussions, collaborating on cross-team projects, and helping develop CEP’s internal knowledge base and operations

For almost 25 years, CEP has led the movement to improve philanthropy through a powerful combination of dispassionate analysis and a passionate commitment to improving lives. Today, over 350 foundations have used CEP’s assessment tools to gather honest feedback from their stakeholders in an effort to learn how to be even more effective. CEOs and trustees have come to rely on our research for insights into foundation effectiveness on a wide range of topics, from assessing performance to developing strategy to managing stakeholder relationships.

Our highly regarded programming—including our biennial conference—gives foundation leaders an exclusive and unprecedented opportunity to connect with their peers. Strengths of CEP’s work culture are entrepreneurialism, accountability, teamwork, collegiality, diversity, and mutual respect. CEP is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a second office in San Francisco, California.