Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Reports to: CEO

Type: Full-Time

Compensation: Commensurate with experience

About the McElhattan Foundation: The McElhattan Foundation is a private foundation based in Pittsburgh, PA. Our mission is to fund bold ideas that eliminate dangerous work, promote economic development in our hometowns, and improve lives in measurable ways. We operate more like a business than a charity – results-oriented, data driven, open to experimentation, and backing people of action. Our values are rooted in continuous improvement, strategic planning, competitive thinking, accountability, and measurable impact.

The Opportunity

The Director of Research and Impact will bring sharper insight, faster learning, and tougher accountability to everything we do. This is a key leadership role responsible for turning information into action, helping our team make better decisions, track what matters, and continuously improve our results. This role exists to answer: Is what we’re doing working – are we focused on the right things? - how can we do better?

Qualifications

Strong experience in research, evaluation, and statistics.
Proficient in using AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, AI Agents, etc.) and demonstrated ability to integrate them into research.
Experience in data visualization tools and dashboards (Tableau, Power BI, Domo, etc.).
PhD. preferred.

Primary Responsibilities:

Conduct research that provides insight and strategic direction to Program Officers. You will identify key questions, then go and find the answers. That might mean reviewing case studies, interviewing practitioners and experts, synthesizing existing data, or reviewing innovations in the field. Your job is answering “So what?” – turning information into insight and insight into action. You’ll support program design, grantmaking strategy, and real-time decision-making with clear, relevant intelligence.
Work with Program Officers to design systems that provide clear performance metrics.
Synthesize external research to inform strategic decision-making at the Program Officer and Director level. Stay on top of emerging trends, key studies, and relevant breakthroughs in our program areas – then distill that information into brief actionable insights for the team. In other words, you will translate complex findings into recommendations. Program Officers and Board members will rely on you for high-quality briefings that shape strategy, spark new ideas, and contribute to higher impact.
When needed, lead the commissioning of external research from universities, think tanks, or contractors to fill critical knowledge gaps and answer high-priority questions. Your focus will be on getting answers that help us to act – not academic papers that sit on the shelf.
Build real-time dashboards and tools that turn raw data into actionable insights and allow the team to monitor impact, recognize trends, act fast, and course-correct when necessary.
Use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accelerate research, uncover insights and enhance decision-making. We will expect you to stay on the cutting edge of AI. You will be our subject matter expert on AI. Integrating AI into our operations at every level will be a key differentiator in enabling us to move faster and smarter.

Job Type: Full-time

Work Location: In person

McElhattan Foundation

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Director, Research and Impact