Director, Global Health and Development Team

Please click "Apply Now" to respond to the initial questions in the application form and submit your CV. We ask that you spend no more than 3 hours preparing your responses to the prompts. Application Deadline: Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the end of the day (23:59) Anywhere on Earth (UTC-12:00). About the Position and Team We are seeking an ambitious leader to serve as Director of the Global Health and Development (GHD) Department at Rethink Priorities (RP). The GHD department carries out rigorous, transparent research, often commissioned by philanthropic organizations and other impact-oriented actors in the domains of global health, international development, and climate change. Our clients include large funders such as Coefficient Giving and the Gates Foundation, as well as smaller, high-impact nonprofits. Alongside this commissioned work, we pursue an agenda of independent, think-tank style research. You can read some examples of our past work on our website. This is a pivotal moment to step into the role. A new wave of philanthropy is emerging: alongside established foundations, a new generation of donors, including many from the AI sector, is expected to direct substantial resources toward global health and development in the coming years. The incoming Director will set the department’s strategy for its next chapter, positioning our research to help inform how this funding is allocated, while continuing to deliver for the funders and clients who already rely on our work. The role offers considerable latitude to shape the team’s research agenda, client portfolio, and direction of growth. In their daily work, the Director of Global Health and Development will oversee the team’s research, guiding and coordinating projects, and leading the team’s strategy processes. Because of this, we are looking for a person with high autonomy and research experience who will feel comfortable working collaboratively and overseeing tight deadline projects on a variety of global health and development topics. The Director will lead the team’s fundraising execution and will be responsible for maintaining relationships with various stakeholders. This may include outreach to potential clients and funders, and promoting the team’s services when relevant. This position is ideal for someone who is interested in setting the strategic direction of an established research team, overseeing secondary research on a wide range of topics, building relationships with major funders, achieving a positive impact through their work, and leading in a collaborative environment. We expect the successful candidate to coordinate work across the team members, ensuring quality and timeliness. We also expect them to be comfortable switching between multiple tasks, since the seniority of this role will imply changing hats to work on research, coordination/leadership, fundraising, and strategy/management support as needed. In addition to being highly proficient in interpersonal acumen, we expect the successful candidate to excel at organizational communication, workflow management, adaptability, performance management, and giving and receiving constructive feedback. This role is fully remote and we are able to legally hire in many countries. In certain cases, we may be able to provide visa sponsorship to the US or UK and help candidates relocate. If you have questions about whether we can hire or provide visa sponsorship in another country and if this will influence your decision about applying, please contact before submitting your application. While we welcome applicants from all time zones, our current team members are based in various North American and European time zones, and given the collaborative nature of our work, you will be expected to attend some meetings during working hours between UTC-8 and UTC+1. This role is open to part-time (minimum 32 hours per week) and full-time candidates; however, we have a preference for candidates who are able to work full-time (40 hours per week). Please note that international travel is an essential requirement for this position. A majority of our staff travel a few times per year for conferences, team and all-staff retreats, and other work-related purposes. For this position, as a minimum, attending the annual organization retreat will be necessary. Outside of that all staff retreat, depending on the event, we can likely make accommodations, such as allowing virtual participation when possible. We encourage candidates with substantial research and leadership experience to apply even if they are uncertain whether they are an exact match for the Director role. Ideally, we would like the successful candidate to join our team by January 2027. Key Responsibilities Improve Strategy and Execution of Projects, Programs, Causes and the Department Overall Set and optimize strategy at the department level alongside the President of Rethink Priorities and the team’s Senior Research Managers. Includes importantly contributing to strategy across and within program areas, projects, or causes, with particular emphasis on wherever the most value can be added. Evaluate, contribute to, and execute the “big picture” strategy for RP. Help evaluate, revise, and optimize the implementation of theory of change models. Understand RP’s capabilities, culture, comparative advantages, and the operational landscape, to skillfully identify and advise on key impact opportunities and threats. Consult with various staff to advise on key projects or programs or deliverables. Liaise with communications and fundraising staff in order to help communicate the strategy and plans, including completing the contents of fundraising and grant applications. Annually organize and help lead at least one strategy retreat for the department. Lead Fundraising Execution and Client Relationship Maintenance Lead the creation and maintenance of relationships with potential and current funders and clients, with the support of the Development and Communications Team. Engage in warm and cold outreach to potential and existing clients and fundraising leads. Pitch RP's GHD research services to existing and potential clients via calls, emails, and, when relevant, in person meetings. Keep Generally Abreast of Developments in Order To Best Contribute to Strategy and Execution, or Important Contributing Research Help grow and maintain relationships with other organizations, institutions, and individuals working on projects, or with interests, relevant to the Global Health and Development department, in order to further optimize the organization’s actions. Work closely with staff to ensure an accurate picture of current activities and progress. Otherwise stay up to date in areas that are of interest to the department. Keep organizational leadership up to date on areas of interest in order to optimize RP’s strategy. Reporting, Management, and Leadership Structure Directly report to the President of Rethink Priorities . Manage other managers in the GHD department. Lead hiring and staffing efforts in the department. What We Are Looking For Skills and Competencies Impact Focus: Rethink Priorities ’ mission is to support relevant stakeholders to achieve a high positive impact. Our research projects and other initiatives are always carried out with potential for impact as one of the main considerations. Research Rigor: The Director's responsibility will be to oversee secondary research that will be informative and useful for our clients and the broader community. As such, assessing methodological soundness to collate the relevant evidence and being able to assess its quality and the proper summation of its findings will be key. Strategic and Critical Thinking: As an overseer of most of the research projects they participate in, the Director will need to display good strategic and critical thinking, being able to propose the best course of action for a project given constraints (e.g., scope, time, etc.) and pivot as needed given new evidence or external events (e.g., change in client preferences). Reasoning Transparency: We hope that our research reports help key stakeholders improve their decision making in the GHD space. To support this mission, we strive for utmost clarity in our outputs, particularly around the reasoning supporting our conclusions. The successful candidate will be able to document key steps in arguments and identify/summarize important takeaways, while recognizing and highlighting any uncertainties. They will also be careful to include sources of support for any claims. Time/Self-management: On some of our projects, we work with pretty tight deadlines, and the Director is asked to provide support with coordination and strategy tasks in addition to conducting research, so great time management will be paramount. Collaboration/Teamwork: Most of our work is done collaboratively, so the Director will routinely work on projects with teammates. Being able to work and communicate well with others is key for our projects’ success. Written and Verbal Communication: Our primary outputs are written reports, which we share with our clients but also share through broad and targeted dissemination when possible. Good writing skills are important to ensure our research findings come across clearly. Verbal communication is relevant to ensure clarity about the project status and next steps when interacting with the clients, as well as appropriate dissemination of our findings when we share them verbally through webinars or other outlets. Outreach/Networking: Outreach will be a routine part of the role, both to contact experts (whether through a connection or cold contact) for interviews, as well as to reach out to relevant parties for dissemination of our complete reports. Statistical Analysis and Quantitative Modeling: Analyzing research publications will be a key for the Department, so comfort understanding and interpreting results from statistical analysis will be