Senior Director, Research & Insights

Senior Director, Research Insights

At DonorsChoose, we believe every student deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive. We also know that too many public school classrooms lack the resources students need to reach their full potential.

Since 2000, DonorsChoose has connected teachers who know exactly what their students need with generous supporters who want to help. Together, more than 6 million people and partners have contributed nearly $2 billion to fund classroom resources and experiences for students across the country. Today, teachers at more than 90% of U.S. public schools have used DonorsChoose to bring learning to life for their students.

Our impact extends beyond delivering classroom resources. Every teacher request gives us a unique window into what's happening in America's classrooms: from emerging learning trends to the evolving needs of students and educators. These insights help inform our own strategy and equip partners across philanthropy, business, and education with a deeper understanding of where opportunity exists and where support can make the greatest difference. By combining the expertise of teachers with the generosity of supporters, we're helping unlock the potential of every student while building a stronger future for public education.

DonorsChoose has been recognized as a best place to work by GOOD Magazine and the Nonprofit Times, while Fast Company named DonorsChoose one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World —the first time a charity has made this list. Our dedicated team works from across the United States to bring classroom dreams to life.

About the Impact Insights Team

The Impact Insights team exists to help DonorsChoose become the most trusted source of insights about America's classrooms. We believe teachers are among the first to see emerging needs, changing student experiences, and new opportunities—and that those closest to classrooms should help shape the conversations happening far beyond them.

By combining educator perspectives, research, data, and organizational intelligence, we produce insights that inform strategy, strengthen fundraising, shape partnerships, and help leaders across education, philanthropy, and business better understand where opportunity exists for students.

About the Role

DonorsChoose is seeking a Senior Director of Research Insights. Reporting to the Chief Impact Insights Officer, this role is not a traditional research leadership role. While research rigor and methodological expertise matter, the primary value of this position is helping DonorsChoose build an organizational intelligence capability rooted in classroom resource needs that informs strategy, influences decisions, strengthens fundraising, shapes partnerships, and advances student opportunity.

This context matters for a K–12 organization like ours, as we are not seeking someone whose primary orientation is academic research, publication, or evaluation for its own sake. We are seeking a strategic thinker and translator who can identify meaningful signals, connect disparate sources of information, generate relevant intelligence, identify where classroom realities intersect with broader opportunities, and help leaders act on what we learn.

Our point of view

We believe one of DonorsChoose's greatest strategic advantages is our proximity to America's classrooms. Teachers are often the first to see emerging student needs, changing classroom experiences, and new opportunities. The successful candidate will share our belief that these perspectives are not simply stories to collect: they are strategic signals to investigate, synthesize, and translate into intelligence that helps others make better decisions.

We're looking for someone with informed perspectives and a deep curiosity about K–12 education, but also the intellectual humility to let evidence shape (and sometimes change) their thinking.

This role sits at the intersection of education, research, data, strategy, and organizational learning. The ideal candidate is a builder, combining strong analytical instincts with exceptional communication skills. This role may be for you if you’re equally comfortable discussing survey methodology, collaborating with data scientists, briefing a wide range of internal and external stakeholders on insights, shaping a funder narrative, and speaking externally about what educators are experiencing.

What You’ll Lead

Intelligence capability development

Partner closely with Data Science to co-design and scale DonorsChoose's organizational intelligence capability. Help define the questions the organization should be answering through data, intelligence, and emerging signals

Collaborate on initiatives that uncover patterns, trends, and opportunities within DonorsChoose's unique classroom dataset

Partner on the continued evolution of currently in-flight organizational intelligence products

Ensure the organization's intelligence capabilities are both analytically rigo…