Director of Research and Insights, YouthTruth

About the Position

YouthTruth is seeking a Director of Research and Insights to lead the development and execution of our research and publications agenda and manage the continued evolution of our core school culture and climate survey instruments. This role is ideal for an education practitioner who thrives at the intersection of research, data strategy, and advocacy, and is passionate about ensuring research and data is accessible, pragmatic, and informs real-world practice. The Director will lead initiatives including all research and publications on YouthTruth’s aggregate data set, collaborate with the Vice President on fundraising related to building our research portfolio, and oversee updates to YouthTruth’s core survey instruments.

Ideal candidates will bring expertise and deep appreciation for applying research to inform practice, comfort with both quantitative and qualitative methods, and crafting narratives that are accessible to wide and diverse audiences. They will be deeply familiar with school culture and climate measures and have a strong appreciation for the power of student, staff, and family perception data.

Reporting to CEP’s Vice President of YouthTruth, the Director will sit on YouthTruth’s five-person leadership team to connect research and publications efforts to our overarching strategy and client work, build culture across YouthTruth, and work closely with our Data Systems and Analytics team.

As a strategic partner to the Vice President and YouthTruth leadership team, the Director will help shape the future of YouthTruth’s data and research agenda. This includes leading processes to review and improve our core school culture and climate survey instruments—ensuring our tools are evolving with the field, upholding the highest quality user experience, and positioning YouthTruth to elevate young peoples’ experiences on key topics and issues relevant to K-12 education and broader youth-serving systems. With an aggregate data set informed by more than 4 million youth and adult respondents, and partnerships that enable us to hear from over 200,000 students each year, we’re building on a strong foundation and rich data assets to help leaders everywhere prioritize listening and deeply understanding to what young people are experiencing.

This is an exciting professional opportunity for researchers and advocates interested in applying a rigorous approach to deriving insights from young people and communities, and using the power of research and publications to move people to act. You’ll have the flexibility to shape the vision in collaboration with the Vice President and others by engaging in ongoing dialogue to refine strategies. The ideal candidate is passionate about the role of research in influencing systems and helping leaders use student experience data to increase opportunities and outcomes for all young people. This is a hybrid position working in person at our San Francisco office a minimum of two days each week.

Position Responsibilities

Work with the YouthTruth Vice President, leadership team, and other advisors to develop a clear research agenda relevant to YouthTruth clients, prospects, and the broader education ecosystem
Lead and directly manage all discrete research projects, including planning and scoping goals, objectives, and timelines; conducting literature reviews; developing frameworks; designing survey items; coordinating analyses; and writing narratives
Lead the development of complementary engagement tools, including guidebooks, toolkits, and workshop resources that increase uptake and application of YouthTruth research in the field
Serve as internal expert on YouthTruth’s core survey instruments, developing and incorporating special topic questions for research projects
Represent YouthTruth externally by authoring op-eds, blog posts, and articles, and speaking at conferences and virtual convenings
Work closely with the Vice President to create new opportunities for philanthropic investment in YouthTruth research by co-developing concept papers, engaging with current and prospective funders, and writing progress reports
Develop relevant and innovative partnerships to secure private support, amplify YouthTruth research and public voice, and drive sustained conversations in the field
Serve on YouthTruth’s five-person leadership team—setting vision and strategy, maintaining a collaborative and high-performance culture, and achieving cross-function across all sub-teams
Serve as a thought leader and mentor to colleagues across YouthTruth
Travel up to 20% of time to represent YouthTruth, present research, and connect with clients and partners in the field

Qualifications

Excellent research and analytical skills, including the ability to take research projects from idea generation to final product

Outstanding written communication skills, with the ability to craft narratives that compel readers to engage and take action
Well-versed in mixed methods research approaches, with a strong track record of quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques
Superior analytical skills and comfort drawing insights from data and applying them to broader context and application
At least 10 years of relevant work experience, including experience managing teams in a fast‐paced and high‐growth nonprofit or business start‐up environment
Commitment to the role that data can play in improving the performance of education improvement efforts
Demonstrated project management experience including developing clear timelines, budgets, and project plans
Passionate about youth voice and the importance of student experience data in driving tangible improvements in education
Strong people management skills and abilities with a desire to help colleagues grow and learn
Familiarity with AI technologies in research
Strong risk tolerance and comfort with ambiguity
Ability to lead, supervise, motivate, and support staff

Compensation and Benefits

Our nonprofit model is central to our identity: our bottom line is impact, not profit. Yet even as a nonprofit, we successfully compete for top talent across both the public and private sectors and offer competitive compensation and benefits including:

A commitment to pay parity and salary equity. The 2026 annual salary for this position is $180,000. In addition, this role is eligible for competitive Performance Based Incentive Compensation.
Comprehensive health, vision, and dental insurance plans.
Generous paid time off plan, including three weeks of annually accrued vacation, up to 15 holidays, plus an end-of-year break.
401(k) plan with a 1:1 Employer Match up to 5% of total compensation.
Generous annual personal professional development allowance.
Flexible spending and dependent care tax free savings plans.
Life insurance covered 100% by the organization.

We strive to balance in-person time with flexibility and the needs of each person, their team, and the larger organization. We believe culture, collaboration, communication, trust- and relationship-building, training, and certain kinds of creative work benefit from in-office interactions – and we believe that the flexibility of remote work also has many advantages. We expect staff to be in the office at least two days per week, and more frequently during new staff introduction periods to support a robust orientation. Everyone will enjoy the option to work fully remotely from anywhere four weeks per year.

Location

We have offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California. The YouthTruth team resides alongside staff in other departments at The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), YouthTruth’s parent nonprofit. This role is based in our San Francisco office. This position is not available for all-remote work.

Our Process

Our rolling process includes three interview rounds: an initial phone conversation with the Vice President of People and Culture, a virtual interview with the Vice President of YouthTruth, and an in-person day of interviews with members of the team that includes a presentation. Our process also includes the checking of references in final stages. Check out CEP’s careers page to learn more about how we hire.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

How to Apply

Please fill out our application for employment and attach a resume and a thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position. If you have any questions, please contact our People and Culture department at jobs {at} cep {dot} org. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

About YouthTruth

Since 2008, YouthTruth has been working side by side with leaders in K-12 education and philanthropy to deeply understand the experiences of young people in schools and use data to improve opportunities and outcomes. To date we’ve heard from more than 3 million students and hundreds of thousands of family members and staff across 39 states. When you join YouthTruth, you become part of a team of passionate and experienced professionals committed to ensuring every young person finds a pathway to success.

About CEP

For over 20 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 around the world 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. Through custom workshops and peer learning cohorts, our new Learning Institute supports funders in driving changes in their philanthropic practice. CEP is based in Cambridge Massachusetts, with a second office in San Francisco, California. Strengths of CEP’s work culture are entrepreneurialism, accountability, teamwork, collegiality, diversity, and mutual respect.