Partnership for Battery Action, Research and Methods Lead

Company Description

About one in three children in low- and middle-income countries is lead poisoned, and roughly a third of that traces back to unsafe battery recycling. The Battery Index is how we figure out which recyclers are safer than others - the standard buyers, investors, and regulators use to decide who should operate. The Research & Methods Lead will build the science behind this critical tool.

• Organization: Partnership for Battery Action, incubated by the Global Development Incubator
• Location:  Remote, with at least 5 hours of daily overlap with Eastern North American timezone
• Travel:  International field travel 4-5 times per year
• Contract Type:  Full-time equivalent; 220 days annually
• Reports To:  Battery Index Strategy Lead
• Application Deadline:  17 July 2026; applications reviewed on a rolling basis
• Start Date: As soon as possible; 1-year contract minimum

About The Partnership for Battery Action

Lead poisoning affects an estimated 800 million children worldwide. Its health burden is comparable to tuberculosis or malaria, yet it receives a fraction of the attention and funding. At least one-third of lead poisoning in low-income countries traces to a single source: unsafe recycling of used lead-acid batteries (ULABs) at facilities with few or no pollution controls, releasing lead into surrounding communities, soil, water, and air (Crawfurd et al, 2026).

Unsafe recycling persists not because safer alternatives are technically impossible, but because the market rewards cheap, polluting operators. The Partnership for Battery Action (Pb Action) exists to change that. Our 15-year goal is to eliminate more than 80% of unsafe ULAB recycling globally by consolidating the industry toward fewer, safer facilities - making responsible recycling financially sustainable while removing the conditions that let unsafe operators compete.

Pb Action is incubated by the Global Development Incubator, Inc (GDI), a US nonprofit organization. The successful candidate will be contracted by GDI as a full-time contractor. This role will be an integral part of the Pb Action team, participating in weekly calls with the rest of the team as well as leading our technical strategy for the Battery Index. .

About the Battery Index

The Battery Index is the centerpiece of our strategy: it is designed to build a credible, scalable methodology and standard for assessing recycler safety globally in low-resource settings. We assess ULAB recyclers on facility standards, air and soil pollution, and blood lead levels in surrounding communities. We then translate the results into a tiered classification that gives buyers, investors, and regulators the information they need to improve the safety of ULAB recycling.

We are piloting the Battery Index in Ghana in 2026. Preliminary results from facility and soil assessments indicate that this data could have transformative effects on improving the safety of communities. We are now poised to refine our methodology for air monitoring and blood lead level testing, and are ready to hire a technical leader who can help us hone our approach and scale to 4-6 additional markets in the next 12 months. While we anticipate continuous improvement and methodology refinements over the next few years, the decisions made in this period will define how recycler safety is measured and understood globally for years to come.

The Research & Methods Lead owns the scientific basis of the Battery Index. You will design and standardize the methodology that determines how recyclers are assessed and classified - and make sure it holds up in the field across contexts and under scrutiny. You will also be supported by the Battery Index Strategy Lead who will manage the strategy of the program, government and partner relationships, and formal output development.

Some of the key questions you'll work through in your first year:

• Air Monitoring: How do you design a lean protocol that accurately captures air pollution from a facility's footprint, while considering wind direction, technology limitations, and recycler idling? How do we creatively design air monitoring strategies that continue to assess factories when they are out of the spotlight?

• Blood Lead Sampling: How do you design a feasible and reliable community blood lead level assessment strategy? How should we assess worker blood lead levels accurately, safely and in a way that doesn’t adversely affect these workers’ livelihoods? How do we engage with communities to share our learning about their blood lead levels?

• Classification: How do you weigh facility, air, soil, potentially food crop, and blood data into a classification decision, particularly if the signals are unexpected? What components matter most to our assessment of recycler safety and how can we continuously iterate on the methodology over time in a way that doesn’t negate earlier assessments?

Responsibilities include

• Air and soil sampling methodology: Refine Pb Action's existing air and soil sampling protocols to balance data reliability with feasible field application - sample sizes, sampling technology, and QA/QC. Determine how to partner with local civil society organizations and government entities to support their capacity-building and mutual learning about ULAB facilities’ lead poisoning.

• Blood lead level sampling: Define the Battery Index approach to worker and community blood lead sampling, including data reliability, ethical review and informed consent, and community engagement.

• Assessment analysis and classification: Build a rigorous, standardized process for evaluating sample data and converting multiple data streams into a recommended recycler classification, with final decisions made together with Pb Action leadership.

• Field execution and training: Manage in-country execution of soil, air, and blood sampling in multiple geographies. Train and oversee enumerators and field consultants, coordinate laboratory analysis, and support execution on the ground.

• Data systems and documentation: Maintain clean, auditable datasets and clearly documented protocols so the methodology replicates consistently as the Index scales across markets.

• Research collaboration: Work with the lead pollution research community to identify collaborations, draw in relevant research and technology, and help build the evidence base in a nascent field.

Qualifications

We are looking for an exceptional researcher with 5+ years of post-graduate experience, ready to take a leadership role in the lead poisoning elimination landscape. You bring:

• Environmental research expertise: Deep understanding of what high-quality, reliable environmental research requires - ideally including exposure assessment or environmental sampling. A graduate degree in environmental engineering, environmental science, environmental chemistry, epidemiology, public health, or a related field, or equivalent applied experience.

• Field research experience: A track record of executing research in low-resource environments, and the judgment to adapt protocols to field reality without compromising the data.

• Quantitative skills: Comfort analyzing environmental and health datasets with tools like R, Python, or Stata, and designing data collection that supports rigorous analysis.

• Strong project management: You keep things moving, manage simultaneous workstreams across countries, and follow through with excellence.

• Science communication: You can clearly communicate research objectives, protocols, and findings to field teams, implementers, regulators, funders, and the research community.

• Entrepreneurial: Comfortable in a startup environment, working well with a team and taking initiative. You are a self-starter, constantly looking for ways to improve process, substance and learning for the team without being prodded to do so.

• Collaborative: You are a team player, who enjoys collaborating with and learning from diverse groups of people with different skillsets. You have examples of working in settings where you rolled up your sleeves to achieve a collective goal.

Preferred, not a requirement: experience with heavy-metal exposure or lead specifically; familiarity with human subjects research and IRB processes; work experience in West Africa, South Asia, or Southeast Asia.

Additional Information

The Battery Index will only have its intended impact if the science holds up. Your methodology decisions will determine how recyclers get classified and those classifications will shape where buyers source, where investors put money, how interventions are designed, and which facilities regulators pay attention to. If successful, this work will protect children and families living near these facilities from lead poisoning. This is a role for a research-minded expert who is passionate about real-world results that can change lives. This is a small, results-oriented, early stage team with a highly ambitious 15-year goal to end the vast majority of lead poisoning from used-lead acid batteries.

How to Apply

If you are interested in this position and meet the qualifications above, please submit a single PDF document containing a one-page cover letter, CV/resume, and daily rate in USD outlining your interest in this position and why you would be a good fit. Applicants without a cover letter will not be considered. We review applications on a rolling basis. GDI is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes candidates from all regions.

Note: As an independent contractor of GDI the successful candidate will not receive health or other benefits from GDI and will be responsible for their own taxes. Rates are negotiable, and we encourage applicants to submit a rate that reflects their experience, expertise, and cost of operating as an independent contractor.