Research Manager in UNITED KINGDOM

Key Details

Application deadline: October 26th, 11:59 pm London UK time.

Expected hours: Full-time (35 hours per week)

Location: London (strongly preferred, visa sponsorship and moving costs support available); otherwise remote

Compensation: Based on needs and location, the typical range in line with our salaries across the organisation is £40,000-50,000 gross per annum.

Start date: January 2026 preferred

About Ambitious Impact (AIM)

Ambitious Impact (AIM), formerly Charity Entrepreneurship, launches organizations that cost-effectively improve human and animal lives at scale. To do so, we find talented potential entrepreneurs and provide them with world-class training, research, mentorship, and funding to start new organizations. 

Since 2018, we have incubated over 50 charities, providing talented founders with evidence-based intervention ideas, ongoing mentorship, and seed funding. Together, they are estimated to improve the lives of more than 75 million people and 1 billion animals worldwide and have been backed by organizations like GiveWell, Mulago, the Gates Foundation, and Animal Charity Evaluators. 

Our flagship Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program currently launches ~10 nonprofits per year. In 2026, we want to double this, launching more than 20 charities improving lives at scale. Our bottleneck to launching more impactful charities isn't funding – it's finding the right people and ideas. Will you join us to help find the ideas that our next founders will turn into world-changing organizations?

About the Role

We seek two analytic and entrepreneurial Research Managers to contribute to our ambitious research agenda, and scale the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program from launching ~12 charities per year to 20. In these roles, you will be key in finding the ideas we recommend to future entrepreneurs.

Research roles at AIM offer unparalleled opportunities to do good through research. Within six months to a year of publication, our work becomes a fully fledged non-profit working to implement the solutions proposed by our analysis. 

You will join a tight-knit team of researchers, which currently includes Filip (Senior Research Manager, Global Health and Development), Vicky (Senior Research Manager, Animal Welfare), and Morgan (Research Director).

“Research work at AIM is really unique in how applied it is. With most other research, you have to hope that you change someone's mind, or that anyone reads it. With AIM, you will have people picking up your work and dedicating their careers to working on the issue you have identified as little as 6 months later.

I've been here for six years because I love the work and think it is rewarding. Even though the process hasn't changed too much over that time, I haven't gotten bored because I kept looking into different ideas all the time, which keeps it new and interesting.” 

Vicky Cox (Senior Research Manager, Animals) - Author of reports that led to Shrimp Welfare Project and Animal Policy International.

Core research focus:

We are seeking two research managers to join the team. We prefer individuals who are interested in multiple cause areas and domains.

• We plan to hire one manager who will focus on human well-being. All else equal, we prefer candidates willing to work on animal welfare as well. 
• We plan to hire one manager focused on animal welfare. Given our research pipeline, we expect the candidate to be willing to work on human well-being as well. 

Specific Responsibilities

(The exact % split may change based on updates to AIM’s strategy and the number of programs we are running.)

Contributions to the research process [85%]

Research analysis tasks as depicted in our research methodology. Our research stages include tasks involving:

• Brainstorming and creative work, finding solutions to problems
• Scoring ideas based on priors, judgments, and rapid analysis.
• Carrying out rapid (1h) evidence reviews and back-of-the-envelope calculations  
• Extensive research to produce reports as shown here, including: 
• Quantitative modeling
• Rapid decision-making-based analysis 
• Expert interviews
• Literature review

Other research tasks [15%]

Research analysis tasks outside of our core research process, including: 

• Work to improve our methodology
• Special investigations 
• Monitoring and Evaluation tasks 
• Supporting and managing research fellows and volunteers. 

About You

We are most excited about candidates who can tell us why their unique skills and background will lead to better recommendations of highly impactful organisations that the aspiring founders will launch. 

Our researchers come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. We value transparency and a narrow and ruthless focus on making good decisions based on research. 

Personality traits:

• Conscientious and organized with exceptional project management abilities
• Has a bias toward action and strategic execution
• High emotional intelligence and cultural sensitivity
• Calm under pressure when others around them may feel stressed out
• High standards and a constant desire to improve systems and outcomes
• Excited to ruthlessly focus on only the most effective tasks and strategies
• Highly collaborative with low personal ego
• Keen to give and receive feedback at both strategic and tactical levels
• Quick and self-driven learner across multiple domains

Core competencies:

• Strength in research skills and tool mastery: The ability to carry out and quality assure evidence reviews, cost-effectiveness analyses, and theories of change (as well as other tools commonly used in our research process) to an excellent standard. 
• Transparency and decision-making focus: Demonstrating exceptional reasoning, transparency, and focus on decision-making.
• Work at pace: Demonstrating capacity for timely and agile work

Experience and technical skills:

• Nonprofit Sector Knowledge: Deep understanding of charity operations and scaling challenges
• Impact Focus: Proven track record of results-oriented, impact-minded work
• Cause Area Familiarity: Experience with global health & development, animal welfare, policy, or related areas
• Evidence-Based Approach: Comfort with empirical research and evidence evaluation
• Cross-Cultural Competency: Ability to work effectively with international founders and stakeholders

Potential bonus skills or experience:

• Experience evaluating or carrying out monitoring and evaluation in early-stage organizations, particularly nonprofits
• Research experience in nonprofit effectiveness or organizational development
• Existing networks in global development, or animal welfare communities
• Experience working or living in low- or lower-middle-income countries

What We Offer

• A role with significant and tangible impact: the charity ideas we research and recommend are incubated as non-profits that implement solutions based on our analyses. 
• Flat hierarchy, low bureaucracy, and a supportive, impact-focused team of ~20
• 30 days of paid leave plus flexible working arrangements
• Parental, dependents, and compassionate leave schemes
• A range of other benefits, including a payroll giving scheme, staff tenure donation scheme, and a workplace pension
• An annual cost-covered retreat to bring our whole team together to celebrate our achievements
• Dedicated time and budget for personal development
• UK visa sponsorship and relocation support if needed
• A workspace in our vibrant London office hub for impact-focused organizations and AIM alumni, with flexibility to work remotely

Future Growth Trajectories

The AIM research team is an excellent training and development ground for researchers. Over time, we expect research managers to gain increasing degrees of independence and eventually own work streams as senior research managers. 

Application Process

Our application process is designed to be efficient and informative. Our application is designed to identify and evaluate skills that are actually predictive of an applicant’s performance on the job (such as test tasks) rather than conventional but less predictive assignments (such as cover letters). We only invite candidates to the next stage if we think they have a good chance of advancing, and take care to choose tasks and interview questions that will also give you a good sense of the role and our culture.

For this staff role, we will ask candidates to complete the following stages:

1. Written application (30–60 minutes)
2. Short test task & record interview (2 hours total)
3. Job simulation task (3 hours)
4. Final interview (~75 minutes)
5. Reference check

Applications close on October 26th. We assess applications on a rolling basis and encourage early applications. 

Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We particularly encourage applications from women, people of color, and neurodivergent applicants.