Research Director

Research Director

The Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) is a non-partisan research project at Princeton University that tracks and mitigates political violence in the United States. BDI is working for a future where thriving communities are prepared to respond in periods of risk, empowered to address long-term divides, and supported to build a pluralistic, multi-racial democracy.

The Research Director will provide strategic and operational leadership for Bridging Divides Initiative's (BDI) core research functions: Data and Tools, and Participatory Research. The Research Director will report to the Executive Director and serve as a key member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).

This role bridges high-level strategic planning with the day-to-day management of a multidisciplinary research team, ensuring that BDI continues to deliver timely, actionable, and rigorous data, tools, and original analysis to mitigate political violence in the U.S.

This is a full-time, benefits-eligible, 1-year-term position with the possibility of extension. Work must be performed within the United States and is fully remote.

Responsibilities

Serve as a core member of BDI's Senior Leadership Team, contributing to organizational governance, cross-functional strategy, and the alignment of research activities with overall mission priorities and BDI's Theory of Change.

Proactively advise the SLT on emerging research opportunities, methodology needs, and the multi-year research agenda that fits BDI's strategic goals.

Support the Executive Director, COO, and Development Director in proposal writing and providing expert oversight of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) design, particularly on data and participatory research grants.

Act as a senior research spokesperson for BDI, delivering high-level briefings to senior leaders, academic conferences, and civil society audiences to communicate BDI's data and provide insights into emerging trends.

Build and maintain collaborative partnerships with external researchers, universities, and research organizations to co-produce impactful research products. Media spokesperson role available based on interest.

Serve as BDI's senior-most expert on conflict data and analysis, BDI-specific tools, and participatory research findings.

Continually evaluate BDI's core value-add, set methodological standards, and articulate research insights to both internal staff and external stakeholders.

Provide executive oversight for two of BDI's core functional workstreams, serving as Principal Investigator (PI) where relevant. Maintain Institutional Review Board (IRB) compliance, ethical research standards, and strict "do no harm" principles across all projects:

Participatory research: Oversee production of longer-term research that engages those impacted by political violence (including both state and non-state violence), involving local communities in knowledge production and identifying actionable solutions. The primary active project under this function is currently the Understanding Threats and Harassment project survey and qualitative interview work.

Data and Tools: Ensure trusted data relevant to state and non-state political violence is readily translatable and accessible. Oversee internal work to create, clean, or build tools that accelerate analysis for the BDI team and close partners. Key deliverables include overseeing the continued rollout of the internal and public-facing versions of the Political Violence Dashboard, producing discrete or short-term datasets, and maintaining the BDI Violence Risk Index.

Establish rigorous research design standards, data integrity protocols, and standardization audits in close collaboration with directors across BDI.

Work with project managers to refine research methodologies and improve the sensitivity of BDI's county-level risk index alongside ESOC faculty and campus experts.

Directly manage, mentor, and build cohesive pathways for direct reports (Project Managers and Senior Research Specialists) and provide indirect leadership for broader research staff across BDI.

Define clear roles and responsibilities, facilitate cross-team coordination, and foster opportunities for professional growth and skill development for the team.

Provide ad-hoc advising to students, graduate researchers, or faculty utilizing BDI data.

Lead the "data and tool literacy" initiative across BDI, empowering all staff members to flag emerging trends, navigate tools, and engage effectively with BDI's data products.

Partner with senior leadership and cross-functional directors to establish the annual product roadmap. Adjust timelines and coordinate workflows with the Early Warning/Early Response (EWER) and External Engagement teams throughout the year, reinforcing seamless collaboration on operational products requiring research team contributions.

Direct the research team's ability to provide custom, real-time analysis for community partners and the internal Early Warning team via an established process.

Design and participate in the executive review and approval process for high-stakes analytical outputs, including issue briefs, blog posts, and memos, ensuring all publications meet BDI's standards for non-partisan rigor, clarity, and accessibility.

Qualifications

Required:

• 8-10+ years of progressive experience in research leadership, applied social science, conflict analysis, public policy, or related fields, including significant experience managing research teams and/or programs.
• Demonstrated expertise in conducting and managing both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, with a proven track record of maintaining data and research integrity across complex portfolios.
• Substantial experience directly managing, mentoring, and developing multidisciplinary teams of researchers, data specialists, or project managers in a high-performance environment.
• Experience working in or with conflict, peacebuilding, democracy, and/or political violence mitigation/prevention or closely related fields.
• Professional experience managing data-driven projects that utilize R and Tableau for analysis and visualization.
• Proven ability to manage multiple complex, multi-stakeholder research workstreams simultaneously under high-pressure, time-sensitive conditions.
• Exceptional editing, writing, and presentation skills, with a demonstrated ability to translate highly technical data into accessible narratives for policy, media, and grassroots audiences.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional experience required.

Preferred:

• PhD or advanced Master's degree in a relevant field, such as Political Science, Public Policy, International Affairs, Sociology, or Data Science.
• Prior experience leading research operations or strategic engagement within an academic institution or research-intensive nonprofit (e.g., working alongside university faculty or research centers).
• Direct experience designing or overseeing participatory research models that actively engage impacted communities in knowledge production.
• Experience coordinating and/or working in mixed collaboration teams, including academic, policy maker, and civil society actors, and navigating between competing priorities of stakeholders invested in shared research outputs.
• Experience working with spatial data, mapping tools, or public-facing interactive data dashboards.
• Proven success in leading and maintaining team cohesion within a fully remote workspace, including experience with operational tools like Asana, Slack, and G-Suite.