Principal, Research & Impact

Principal, Research and Impact

Research for Action (RFA) | Philadelphia, PA

Location:

• Hybrid in Philadelphia and the surrounding region
• Remote in PA (outside of the Philadelphia region)
• Remote in NJ (outside of the Philadelphia region)
• Remote in MD
• Remote positions outside these areas will be considered on a case-by-case basis

About RFA

Research for Action (RFA) is an independent, nonprofit education research organization based in Philadelphia. We use rigorous, community-informed, and equity-centered research to support the people and systems working to make education more just. Our work spans early childhood through postsecondary education, with a focus on the policies, programs, and practices that shape outcomes for students who have been historically underserved.

At RFA, research is not an end in itself — it's a tool for action. We work alongside educators, advocates, funders, and policymakers as true learning partners, co-creating evidence and insight that people can actually use. We are a collaborative, mission-driven team that values continual learning, honest reflection, and doing work that matters.

The Opportunity

RFA is seeking a Principal, Research and Impact to join our Impact team at a pivotal moment in the organization's evolution. This is a role for someone who thinks of research as a relational practice — someone who is as energized by helping a partner clarify the right question as they are by answering it well.

The Principal will lead complex, multi-stakeholder research and evaluation projects from start to finish, serve as a trusted thought partner to clients and funders, and contribute meaningfully to RFA's external presence and business development. You will work in a lean, high-agency environment where senior staff take real ownership — of projects, of relationships, and of the organization's continued growth and impact.

This is not a traditional research-and-report role. RFA is deepening its commitment to learning partnerships, rapid sensemaking, and decision-grade evidence. The Principal will help shape what that looks like in practice.

What You'll Do

Lead Research and Learning Partnerships

• Direct or co-direct multiple applied research and evaluation projects, managing scope, quality, timelines, budgets, and team contributions
• Work alongside partners as a genuine learning collaborator — co-developing partnership agreements, facilitating sensemaking conversations, and embedding feedback loops throughout the work
• Help partners clarify the problems they're actually trying to solve; push back constructively when a proposed design is unlikely to serve their real needs
• Design projects around use, timing, and decision points — not just methodological rigor

Communicate for Action

• Produce high-clarity briefs, decision decks, visual summaries, toolkits, and other products that help partners act — not just understand
• Present findings live with confidence; facilitate working sessions and interpretation conversations that land decisions and next steps
• Adapt communication for funders, practitioners, policymakers, and community partners, distilling complexity without flattening nuance

Drive Business Development

• Cultivate and steward long-term relationships with partners, funders, and networks, with an eye toward multi-year engagement
• Identify opportunities for next engagements within current work; communicate RFA's value with ease and conviction
• Lead proposal development efforts and contribute to RFA's strategic positioning in the field

Contribute Thought Leadership

• Develop and share a clear external point of view on issues at the intersection of research, practice, and equity
• Write blogs, briefs, op-eds, and other field-facing pieces that translate project learning into public insight
• Represent RFA at conferences, convenings, funder conversations, and other external venues

Strengthen Equity-Centered Practice

• Design research that accounts for power, representation, and community relevance — treating equity as a feature of how work is structured and used, not just a value statement
• Facilitate community advisory processes, co-design sessions, and participatory feedback loops with care and intentionality
• Build positionality reflection and bias mitigation practices into project design and team process

Support Organizational Health

• Orchestrate and lead flexible project teams, including internal staff and external consultants
• Model and support disciplined use of shared project management systems and operational workflows
• Contribute to a collaborative, equitable internal culture; mentor and coach junior staff

What We're Looking For

Competencies — the ways of working that define this role

• Learning partnership mindset. You work alongside clients, not at arm's length. You build trust iteratively and stay genuinely curious about partners' contexts and constraints.
• Actionable communication. You frame findings around what a partner should decide, do, or revisit. You help people leave meetings clearer — not just more informed.
• Consultative problem framing. You help shape the question, not just execute a predefined scope. You push back when a design is unlikely to be useful.
• Business development sensibility. You see potential for next engagements within current work. You're comfortable talking about RFA's value and cultivating referrals.
• Facilitation and partner process design. You run strong working sessions, structure feedback loops, and manage live interpretation conversations with skill.
• Strategic thought leadership. You have a point of view. You translate project learning into field-facing insight and use external visibility to advance RFA's positioning.
• Equity-centered design and power-sharing practice. You make design decisions that account for power, harm, representation, and community relevance — and you know the difference between meaningful participation and tokenism.
• Self-directed work style. You don't need heavy oversight to navigate ambiguity. You take initiative, find answers independently, and bring others along.
• Generalist confidence / learning agility. You can become a "good enough" expert in new content areas quickly. You're energized by breadth, not intimidated by it.
• Relationship stewardship. You attend to partnerships beyond the deliverable, with an eye toward long-term trust and mutual value.

Skills — what you'll bring and apply

• Rapid synthesis and sensemaking; comfort with "good enough" evidence on tight timelines
• Strong qualitative methods (interviews, focus groups, document analysis) and solid quantitative fluency (survey analysis, descriptive statistics, outcome data)
• Implementation research methods: formative evaluation, fidelity measurement, logic models, learning agendas
• Product and tool design: briefs, decks, dashboards, toolkits — outputs shaped for adoption and use
• End-to-end client leadership: managing project health, team contributions, budgets, and partner trust simultaneously
• Policy landscape literacy: understanding the environments clients operate in and connecting research to implementation and adoption realities
• AI tool fluency: using AI to work more efficiently across synthesis, drafting, and analysis
• Thought leadership writing and external presentation

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience leading applied education research or evaluation projects in complex, multi-stakeholder settings
• Strong methodological range across qualitative and quantitative approaches, with the ability to design and execute mixed-method studies
• Proven ability to communicate research to diverse audiences — funders, practitioners, policymakers, and community partners — in ways that support decision-making and action
• Track record of cultivating and sustaining partnerships and contributing to business development
• Deep commitment to racial equity and social justice in education, with demonstrated experience designing and leading equity-centered research
• Experience managing or mentoring research team members
• Comfort and effectiveness in a self-directed, fast-paced, lean-team environment
• Willingness to travel locally, regionally, and nationally for fieldwork, partner engagement, and dissemination

Other Requirements

• This position is a full-time position. This position requires episodic travel.
• Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.
• Physical work environment: RFA operates in a remote-first work model. Remote-first work is primarily completed remotely in a home office setting with at least one day per week in an office setting for proximal staff, defined as individuals residing within a 50-mile radius of Philadelphia and whose positions are not designated as remote.
• While performing the duties of this position, walking, sitting, standing, climbing stairs, and lifting and/or moving objects up to 10 pounds is required.
• Virtual work environment: While performing the duties of this position in the virtual setting, the ability to use verbal and non-verbal communication skills to foster and maintain engagement, including listening, speaking, and appearing on camera, is required.
• This position may occasionally require nights and weekends (e.g., client meetings, conference or client travel, deadlines, and organizational events).

Compensation & Benefits

This is a full-time, exempt position. The salary range for the Principal, Research and Impact is $107,500 – $120,000. Base pay may vary with experience, skills, market location, and geography. RFA offers a comprehensive benefits package. RFA’s total compensation package includes a low-cost to the employee health, dental, and vision insurance program, flex spending plans, an employer funded retirement plan after two years of service, and a generous paid holidays and time off program for all benefits-eligible staff.

How to apply:

Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis with initial interviews scheduled as of early May until the position is filled, with an anticipated start date on or after July 1, 2026.

Complete an application online with the following documents:

• A resume or CV
• A cover letter explaining your interest in the position that answers the following questions:

• What specific skills and experiences have you gained that make you a fit for this position?
• How does your approach to research reflect partnership, equity, and usefulness for decision-making, rather than research as an end in itself?

All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, domestic violence victim status, veteran status, disability, history of disability or perceived disability, or other status protected by law. For questions about this position, please contact Alison Murawski at [email protected].