Strategy and Research Program Associate

Position description

Location: Flexible (remote); Must be located and eligible to work in the U.S.

Salary: $58,800 – $72,050

Candidates will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The position will remain open until we have a sufficient pool of diverse candidates who meet the job requirements, at which point we may pause the review of new applications before the stated deadline. Please understand that you may not be contacted for several weeks after you apply.

Closing Date: May 23, 2025

Ideal Start Date: 2-4 weeks after offer

About the Center for Disaster Philanthropy

CDP began in 2010 with the goal of pioneering the practice of strategic disaster philanthropy. Since then, it has grown in its ambition, envisioning a world where the impact of disasters is minimized through thoughtful, equitable and responsible recovery for all. CDP has a $35 million budget and a team of more than 25 staff members working remotely across the U.S.

CDP is a trusted partner, expert and authoritative resource helping hundreds of individuals, foundations and corporations boost the impact of philanthropic giving in response to disasters and humanitarian crises by supporting equitable recovery and addressing root causes of vulnerabilities worldwide.

In 2024, CDP awarded approximately $16 million through 70 grants to grantee partners worldwide; demonstrated thought leadership through webinars, blog posts, featured speaking engagements and other events; and served 20+ philanthropic partners through consulting efforts.

• In 2020, CDP was a featured nonprofit for the 14th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.
• CDP has earned Charity Navigator’s Four-Star Charity rating and Candid’s Platinum Transparency seal.

As an organization grounded in racial and intersectional equity, our team members are deeply committed to strengthening communities most vulnerable to disasters because of systemic inequities. We are guided by our values of integrity, boldness and innovation, humility, and empathy in all that we do in pursuit of our mission.

Bottom line: We aspire to walk the talk of anti-racism and treat each other and our partners in ways that inspire trust, creativity, learning and care.

Be a part of our fast-growing team that offers countless ways to help communities thrive. Join us!

Responsibilities & Duties

The program associate, strategy and research will work within the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s (CDP) strategy and innovation (SI) team and play a key role in support of our mission to mobilize philanthropy to strengthen the ability of all communities to withstand disasters and recover equitably when they occur.

Reporting to the senior manager of strategy and research, the program associate will contribute to establishing and strengthening systems, practices and norms that will have a lasting impact on CDP and the field. The organization’s current strategic plan goes through 2027, and the SI team is responsible for its successful stewardship. The program associate will play a key support role in making progress on the strategic plan, which is critical for mission advancement.

The SI team has a new multi-year research, learning and evaluation (RLE) strategy that aligns with CDP’s strategic plan. The RLE strategy serves as a guide to help us become the go-to resource for insights on disaster philanthropy while also ensuring we learn about our work and improve our practice. This role will support the implementation of priority RLE projects, including our annual State of Disaster Philanthropy report, that contribute to outcomes identified in the RLE strategy.

As a fully remote workforce, CDP prioritizes employee engagement and relationship building in service of a collaborative culture rooted in equity. To this end, in-person team retreats are scheduled throughout the year in different regions of the U.S. This role will be expected to attend 2-3 retreats per year, which average 3-5 days of travel.

The successful candidate will display the following traits:

You are an excellent project manager, known for being able to manage multiple tasks at the same time and not letting things fall through the cracks. You are self-motivated and eager to contribute ideas. You can discern when to be proactive and when to seek support or input.

You are curious and eager to learn, asking powerful questions to gain clarity and move the group or conversation forward. People describe you as analytical, inquisitive and/or strategic. You are a strong collaborator and see the value in other’s contributions.

You communicate effectively with other team members and internal and external stakeholders.

Primary responsibilities include:

Project management

• Provide general project management support for strategy and research, learning and evaluation functions – both overarching and specific project support.
• Organize and maintain Redbooth workspaces and task lists, including assigning work and monitoring deadlines, and Dropbox folders for strategy and research, learning and evaluation functions.
• Maintain relevant relationship records in Raisers Edge NXT, including uploading email communication and meeting notes.
• Schedule meetings and coordinate with internal colleagues and external stakeholders, as requested.

Strategic plan support

• Provide support to CDP staff as needed to ensure the primary strategic framework is used correctly.
• Maintain the strategic plan indicator tracker, help with communications to strategy groups and assist with scheduling meetings.
• Design and implement, with input from other team members, a monthly strategy newsletter.
• Develop content for quarterly strategic plan updates in consultation with the senior manager and the vice president of strategy and innovation,
• Identify, recommend, and carry out opportunities for improvement across the implementation of the strategic plan.

Research, learning and evaluation (RLE) support

• Design and maintain tools for tracking RLE project elements, including status, stakeholder engagement and consultant assessment.
• Support the infrastructure for organizational learning through template creation, technology adoption and/or training support.
• Conduct research, proactively and/or upon request, on topics that can inform decision-making, for example, about available survey platforms.
• Participate and contribute to RLE meetings and discussions, including before and after action reviews and RLE strategy or focus area updates.
• As requested, contribute to monitoring, data collection and analysis, synthesis and sharing insights with CDP staff and/or external stakeholders.
• Support the senior manager with identifying opportunities to more effectively and creatively apply and communicate learnings and research and evaluation findings to primary audiences.
• Identify, recommend and carry out opportunities for improvement across the research, learning and evaluation function.

Other duties as assigned

As requested, take notes during calls, noting key points and actions, and communicate with relevant teams as necessary.

• Remain conversant about organizational and team priorities, the organization’s multiyear strategic plan, and the field of disaster philanthropy.
• Participate in team discussions concerning strategy development and implementation and aligning organizational values with practice.
• Collaborate effectively with colleagues across the organization to advance the function’s strategies.
• Serve on committees, panels and task forces at CDP as appropriate and as available.

This position reports to the senior manager of strategy and innovation but works in service of the whole organization.

Required qualifications

• ≥ 3 years of relevant experience in a professional setting.
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability and skills in project management, ensuring projects are completed on time utilizing appropriate resources.
• High degree of skill using Microsoft Office, particularly Word and Excel.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and within a team.
• Ability to work remotely with minimal direct supervision.
• Ability to multi-task, including managing multiple writing tasks and projects simultaneously.
• Demonstrated ability to successfully exercise judgment within established guidelines.
• Exposure to and familiarity with fundamental research, monitoring and evaluation and/or learning concepts and practices.
• Proven analytical and critical thinking with precise attention to detail.

Preferred skills and qualifications

• Experience within a philanthropic or nonprofit organization.
• Knowledge of and/or interest in disasters, humanitarian crises and philanthropy.
• Background in research design, methodology and execution, monitoring and evaluation and/or organizational learning practices such as emergent learning.
• Familiarity with strategic planning processes and strategy execution support.
• Demonstrable experience supporting or directly overseeing projects involving various complexity, stakeholder engagement and competing priorities.

Personal characteristics

• Commitment to the values intrinsic to CDP’s mission and strategy.
• Energetic and eager to tackle new projects and ideas.
• High tolerance of ambiguity and appetite to tackle issues constructively.
• A team player capable of cultivating productive relationships across teams.
• Sense of humor.

We welcome and encourage applicants with non-traditional career paths. If you don’t meet the qualifications outlined here, please apply and tell us how your experiences would equip you for the job.

CDP provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

 

Application instructions

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