Director of Research

Georgetown University comprises two unique campuses in the nation’s capital. With the Hilltop Campus located in the heart of the historic Georgetown neighborhood, and the Capitol Campus, just minutes from the U.S. Capitol and U.S. Supreme Court, Georgetown University offers rigorous academic programs, a global perspective, and unparalleled opportunities to engage with Washington, D.C. Our community is a close-knit group of remarkable individuals driven by intellectual inquiry, a commitment to social justice, and a shared dedication to making a difference in the world.

Job Overview

The Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University is dedicated to improving how people experience government by strengthening the design and delivery of public services. As a nonprofit, nonpartisan center, we catalyze cross-sector collaboration to advance people-first, digitally-enabled approaches through applied research, peer learning, and hands-on support—helping government deliver better outcomes for communities.

The Beeck Center is seeking a Director of Research to lead, scale, and mature the Center’s expanding research offering. The Director will refine the strategic direction, operational systems, and methodologies that define how the Beeck Center conducts and disseminates high-quality, practical, and ethical applied research driven by the real-world challenges governments face today. The research offering focuses on critical topics related to digital transformation of government service delivery, including human-centered design, product management, data governance, artificial intelligence, public benefits, and institutional capacity building. The Beeck Center’s research focuses on sensemaking that informs action, and the Networks team often identifies research topics using our flywheel working model.

This is a senior leadership role that combines strategic research design, systems thinking, and program execution, with a heavy emphasis on cross-functional collaboration, ethical research frameworks, and impact assessment. The Director will be responsible for translating field-level practitioner insights into scalable research initiatives, establishing robust quality control standards, including participant protections and data management standards, and defining and delivering on the distinctive applied research approaches that position the Beeck Center as a trusted authority in the public interest technology ecosystem.

Work Interactions

The Director of Research reports directly to the Beeck Center’s Executive Director. The Director collaborates extensively with other members of the Leadership Team, Fellows, and staff across the organization. The Director directly manages a portfolio team of research staff, contractors, and Student Analysts. The research team works cross-functionally across all central Beeck Center teams, including Networks, Training + Technical Assistance, Operations, Business Development, and Communications, to co-create insights and align program deliverables. The Director will serve as a primary spokesperson for the Center's research portfolio and represent the Beeck Center and Georgetown University publicly, including at conferences, with philanthropic funders, and in media or academic engagements.

The Beeck Center has two office spaces in Washington, D.C.: one on Georgetown University’s Main Campus and a second downtown on Georgetown’s Capitol Campus. We prioritize spending time in person with our student analysts for collaboration and career development as well as building relations across the various other centers on campus. Remote employees will have the opportunity to, and are expected to, travel up to 10% for team retreats, conferences, and in-person workweeks.

The Beeck Center operates as a distributed team, with some team members working remotely and others working in-person in our Washington, DC offices. A distributed team means there will be heavy reliance on asynchronous communication channels such as Slack, Asana, and Gmail, while also having many meetings fully virtual or hybrid to include remote employees, using Zoom.

Requirements and Qualifications

• Education + Experience: Bachelor's degree and 8 or more years of relevant professional experience OR equivalent experience
• Applied Research Expertise: Proven track record designing and directing applied research initiatives within policy, public administration, data science, civic technology, or related social impact fields.
• Methodological Framework Design: Deep knowledge of research design principles, qualitative/quantitative methodologies, ethical and equitable research practices, human-subject protection, and Institutional Review Board (IRB) regulations.
• Strategic Program Leadership: Proven ability to build operational infrastructure from the ground up, manage multi-stakeholder portfolios, coordinate across matrixed functions, and navigate organizational ambiguity.
• Advanced Communication + Synthesis: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to translate technical or academic concepts into clear, actionable prose tailored for policymakers, public sector executives, and general audiences.
• Management & Mentorship: Experience supervising professional staff and contractors, creating effective environments for collaboration and review, and providing dedicated mentorship to students.
• Values + Approach: Strong commitment to centering equity, serving the public interest, and building public trust in government through rigorous, evidence-driven insights.
• Tools + Technology: Proficiency utilizing collaborative project management software, asynchronous communication systems, and modern digital publishing or analytics platforms (e.g., Asana, Slack, Zoom, Google Workspace).

Preferred Experience

• Graduate degree in public policy, public administration, human-centered design, or a related technology and society discipline.
• Experience working with or within federal, state, or local government agencies, or deep familiarity with service delivery, technology modernization, and procurement in public-sector contexts.
• Extensive public speaking, publishing, advocacy, and/or academic citation track record within the public interest technology ecosystem.
• Experience applying accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) and universal design principles to digital publications and interactive data assets.
• Experience supervising and developing a team.

Work Mode Designation

This position has been designated as Remote. Please note that work mode designations are regularly reviewed in order to meet the evolving needs of the University. Such review may necessitate a change to a position’s mode of work designation. Complete details about Georgetown University’s mode of work designations for staff and AAP positions can be found on the Department of Human Resources website: https://hr.georgetown.edu/mode-of-work-designation.

Pay Range

The projected salary or hourly pay range for this position which represents the full range of anticipated compensation is: $80,429.00 - $157,238.93. Compensation is determined by a number of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s individual qualifications, experience, education, skills, and certifications, as well as the University’s business needs and external factors.

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Submission Guidelines

Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at Georgetown University you must submit a resume for each position of interest for which you believe you are qualified. Documents are not kept on file for future positions.

Need Assistance

If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodations for any part of the application and hiring process, please visit the Office for Equal Opportunity Compliance website for general information about requesting accommodations, as well as information about requesting accommodations specifically for applicants. You also can also contact the Office for Equal Opportunity Compliance at (202) 687-4798 or oeoc@georgetown.edu.

Need some assistance with the application process? Please call 202-687-2500. For more information about the suite of benefits, professional development and community involvement opportunities that make up Georgetown's commitment to its employees, please visit the Georgetown Works website.

EEO Statement

GU is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply, and will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, citizenship, color, disability, family responsibilities, gender identity and expression, genetic information, marital status, matriculation, national origin, race, religion, personal appearance, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Benefits

Georgetown University offers a comprehensive and competitive benefit package that includes medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance, retirement savings, tuition assistance, work-life balance benefits, employee discounts and an array of voluntary insurance options. You can learn more about benefits and eligibility on the Department of Human Resources website.