Current Positions

Research Associate or Manager

ABOUT MORE IN COMMON 

More in Common’s mission is to understand the forces driving us apart, find common ground, and help bring Americans together to tackle our shared challenges. We work with leaders across fields and across the ideological spectrum to support effective problem-solving, strengthen democratic institutions, and better navigate the dynamics of a polarized society. More in Common US works alongside teams in other major democracies. Globally, More in Common is comprised of a team of more than 70 people working in national offices in the US, UK, Germany, France, Poland, Spain, and Brazil. 

Our work is built on More in Common’s unique audience and opinion research, grounded in social psychology and political science. We promote a better understanding of Americans’ perspectives, providing fresh insights about not just what Americans think, but why. We find Americans’ views are more complex and varied than is often assumed, and while the most divisive are often the loudest, they rarely represent most Americans. Our work cuts through ‘perception gaps’—the false impressions that Americans hold about each other—to highlight common ground, identify the areas of genuine difference, and reveal ways Americans can come together to tackle our shared challenges. 

Deploying our people-centered insights, we engage with hundreds of organizations and leaders across sectors—including community groups, government, media, business, philanthropy, corporations and faith communities—on a range of public issues. We partner with leaders and institutions to help them navigate the challenges of polarization, communicate in ways that reach new audiences, understand how their work is driving impact, and execute strategies that bring Americans together across differences.  

In taking on the challenge of uniting a divided America, More in Common is grappling with a daunting problem that has many dimensions. We believe that we have a better chance at success if our team reflects a broad range of disciplines, social and cultural backgrounds, beliefs, political persuasions, and life experiences. For this reason, we strongly encourage people with backgrounds from across the political spectrum (including conservative, libertarian, centrist, liberal, progressive, and Independents), those with disabilities, as well as candidates from all genders, races, ages, religious, ethnic, socio-economic backgrounds and of all sexual orientations to apply for this role. 

For more information on More in Common, please visit our global website and U.S. website. 

THE OPPORTUNITY 

More in Common US is hiring for 1-2 Research Associate and Research Manager positions. The level will be determined based on the candidate’s experience and demonstrated skills. 

We are looking for candidates who can take a complicated question or project, bring structure to it, work effectively with evidence and people, and help move it from idea to useful output. Both roles will contribute to the same core work across research, analysis, project management, stakeholder engagement, and communication. 

The difference will primarily be in scope, independence, and level of responsibility. Associates will independently own substantial pieces of projects with guidance on overall direction, while Managers will lead complex projects end-to-end, make strategic and methodological judgments, and take greater responsibility for external relationships and guiding others’ work. Candidates will be considered at the level that best matches their experience. We are interested in applicants at both levels.  

Strong candidates may bring different strengths. Some may have deeper experience in research and data analysis. Others may be particularly strong in project management, program evaluation, stakeholder engagement, qualitative research, or translating evidence into practical insights. We do not expect one person to be expert in every methodology listed below. 

However, there are several things we do expect every successful candidate to bring. 

THIS ROLE IS LIKELY A GOOD FIT IF YOU: 

• Have owned substantial, complex work. You can take responsibility for a meaningful project or workstream, keep track of many moving pieces, make judgment calls, and get work across the finish line. 
• Are comfortable working with research and evidence. You do not need to be an advanced statistician, but you should be able to analyze and interpret data, think critically about what evidence does and does not show, and use it to inform decisions. 
• Can turn complexity into clarity. You are a strong writer and communicator who can synthesize a lot of information and identify the most important insight, implication, or next step and communicate them clearly to non-academic audiences. 
• Are strong with people as well as ideas. You can build trust, work across different perspectives, and move projects forward when success depends on colleagues or partners you do not directly manage. 
• Are genuinely motivated by More in Common’s mission. You are curious about why Americans think as they do, comfortable engaging across political and social differences, and interested in practical ways to strengthen trust, connection, and communities. 

WHAT THIS ROLE IS NOT 

This is not a purely academic research position. While research rigor matters, the role also requires someone who enjoys managing projects, working with partners, solving practical problems, and translating evidence for people outside academia. It is also not a traditional operations or project management role. The strongest candidates will be curious about research questions, comfortable engaging with data and evidence, and interested in understanding why people and communities behave as they do. The best fit is someone who enjoys moving between evidence, ideas, people, and execution. The role will contribute to work spanning democracy, polarization, social connection, social trust, and efforts to strengthen relationships across difference. 

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ROLE: 

The exact mix will depend on your strengths, seniority, and the projects underway, but would entail a combination of the below. 

Lead complex projects 

• Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, and priorities. 
• Coordinate colleagues, consultants, community organizations, research participants, and other stakeholders. 
• Lead partner meetings and maintain strong external relationships. 
• Identify risks and bottlenecks before they become problems. 
• Adapt project plans when circumstances change. 
• Turn broad goals into clear decisions, deliverables, and next steps. 

Design and conduct research 

• Turn broad questions into researchable questions and appropriate research designs. 
• Develop surveys, interview guides, focus groups, and other data collection tools. 
• Familiarity with longitudinal or pre/post evaluation designs and with managing data collected across multiple sites or stakeholders. 
• Conduct or contribute to quantitative and qualitative analysis. 
• Review and synthesize existing research. 
• Identify important patterns and insights across multiple sources of evidence. 
• Support longitudinal and multi-site research. 

Help organizations understand what works 

• Develop and refine theories of change, logic models, evaluation frameworks, measures, and indicators. 
• Design pre/post and other program evaluation approaches. 
• Develop practical data collection tools and protocols for partner organizations. 
• Help partners improve data quality and understand what their evidence can and cannot tell them. 
• Translate evaluation findings into practical recommendations. 
• Explore how organizations and communities build trust, belonging, social connection, and meaningful relationships across differences. 

Turn evidence into insight 

• Write clear and compelling memos, reports, presentations, and other research products. 
• Create or contribute to compelling data visualizations. 
• Translate quantitative and qualitative findings for non-academic audiences. 
• Present findings to partners, practitioners, funders, and other audiences. 
• Help design workshops and webinars that turn research into practical guidance. 

Help shape what comes next 

• Identify emerging research questions and opportunities. 
• Contribute ideas for new projects, partnerships, and research. 
• Support concept notes and grant proposals. 
• Stay curious about developments in American politics, civil society, communities, social psychology, and public opinion. 
• Look for opportunities to connect what we are learning across projects and turn individual findings into broader insights. 

WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING 

We expect strong candidates to demonstrate: 

• A broad range of interests and a record of impact in relevant areas such as democracy, monitoring and evaluation, social connection and social cohesion, politics, social psychology, political science, polling, or other settings where research was conducted and applied outside of solely academic settings.   
• Experience independently owning substantial projects, workstreams, or pieces of complex work. 
• Strong project management and organizational skills. 
• Comfort working with quantitative, qualitative, evaluation, or other forms of evidence. 
• The ability to synthesize information and draw thoughtful conclusions from it. 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. 
• Experience working collaboratively with colleagues, partners, or stakeholders. 
• Intellectual curiosity and comfort with complexity. 
• Strong judgment, follow-through, and attention to detail. 
• An ability to work constructively with people whose backgrounds, experiences, or perspectives differ from your own. 
• Genuine interest in More in Common’s mission and substantive areas of work. 
• Know how to use AI tools to power your research analyses but also understand AI’s limitations 
• Skills of a mixed methods social science researcher and evaluator. While we do not require candidates to have experience in all of these areas, some prior combination of the below experiences are valuable: 
• Public opinion or survey research 
• Survey design and programming 
• Quantitative analysis using Excel, R, Python, or similar tools 
• Qualitative interviews and focus groups 
• Program evaluation or monitoring, evaluation, and learning 
• Theories of change, logic models, indicators, or measurement frameworks 
• Longitudinal or pre/post research designs 
• Measuring outcomes such as trust, belonging, social connection, or social cohesion 
• Data visualization 
• Dashboards or data reporting tools 
• Social listening or social media research 
• Message testing 
• Community-based or multi-site research 
• Translating research findings for practitioner audiences 

JOINING MORE IN COMMON 

Each member of our team makes a vital contribution to our work, and we put a strong emphasis on character, culture, and values in hiring. We look for people who: 

• Are strategic, rigorous, restless, energetic, and creative 
• Are able to think ahead and get big stuff done 
• Are committed to a process of ongoing learning and experience of a ‘test and learn’ approach 
• Act with humility, generosity, and integrity towards others 
• Are excited to work with heart as well as head 
• Feel comfortable and excited to dwell on the edge but not on the margins 
• Want to be part of an effort to turn despair into hope 
• An agile and entrepreneurial mindset 
• A drive to make a measurable difference to society and a track record to prove it 
• Curiosity and creativity 
• Demonstrable empathy and great listening skills 
• Strong collaboration and field-building skills 
• The capacity to embrace complexity and find a way through it, taking others with you along the way 
• Able to set priorities, meet goals, and evaluate both process and results 
• Resilience under pressure 
• A strong familiarity with a diverse range of communities in the US 
• Belief in the power of a good sense of humor 
• Believe they can contribute to making America less divided while bringing humility about how difficult and complex that work is. 
• Big ideas and low ego. 

Because our mission requires us to understand and engage a wide range of Americans, we believe our team is stronger when it includes people with varied disciplines, social and cultural backgrounds, beliefs, political perspectives, and life experiences. We strongly encourage applications from people across the political spectrum and from a wide range of communities and backgrounds. 

HOW WE WORK  

More in Common US is collaborative team of about 20 people working across the United States. We primarily work together virtually, but with several in-person opportunities to collaborate around the country. The pace is fast and the work is varied. Team members regularly wear many hats and move quickly across projects. We stay connected through Slack, weekly all-team and research team meetings, regular project-specific check-ins, and one-on-ones with supervisors. Most day-to-day work is US focused, though some projects involve collaboration with our international teams. We come together as a full team a couple times a year and regularly cross paths at conferences and in-person partner meetings. Our research portfolio spans three types of work: externally facing projects developed in partnership with mission-aligned organizations, internally generated research initiatives, and grant-funded projects we develop and pursue proactively. 

LOCATION 

This is a full time position. The position is flexible in terms of location, with a preference for candidates based in Washington, D.C., where team members work together in person approximately three days per week. Remote candidates will also be considered. The role will involve some travel within the United States. 

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS 

The salary range for this role is $70,000–$115,000, with compensation and level determined based on skills and experience. 

More in Common offers a competitive benefits package, including medical insurance, matching 401(k), and a generous leave policy. 
 

HOW TO APPLY 

Please use this application to submit: 

• A resume. 
• Brief responses (150 words or fewer) to the questions asked. We are interested in what you have done and how you think, rather than AI. Specific examples are much more useful to us than highly polished or generic application language. 
• ​​​​​​​Job posting will close on Sept. 21st.

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