Incubation Research Specialist II

As an Incubation Research Specialist II, you'll join a newly established research and incubation capability within Global Program, helping transform emerging ideas into evidence-based solutions that improve outcomes for children, youth, families, and churches around the world. Incubation is how Compassion explores unmet needs, develops promising concepts, rigorously tests them in real-world settings, and determines whether they should be expanded for greater impact.

This is not a traditional research role. You'll work at the intersection of innovation, strategy, and practical ministry application, partnering with diverse stakeholders across the globe to explore complex questions, facilitate meaningful conversations, and evaluate new approaches that could shape the future of child development programming. 

If you are curious, collaborative, energized by ambiguity, and passionate about using research to drive meaningful change, this role offers a unique opportunity to influence Compassion's future while advancing its mission to release children from poverty in Jesus' name.

This position may be filled at either the Level II or Level III based on the selected candidate's experience, skills, and demonstrated competencies.

What will you do?

• Maintain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Is a consistent witness for Jesus Christ, maintains a courteous, Christ-like attitude in dealing with people within and outside of Compassion, and faithfully upholds Compassion's ministry in prayer.
• Act as an advocate to raise the awareness of the needs of children. Understand Christ's mandate to protect children. Commit to and prioritize child protection considerations in all decision-making, tasks and activities across the ministry. Abide by all behavioral expectations in Compassion's Statement of Commitment to Child Protection and Code of Conduct. Report any concerns of abuse, neglect or exploitation of children through Compassion's internal reporting process and appropriately support responses to incidents if they occur.
• Support the design, development, and implementation of incubation and research initiatives that address complex challenges facing children, youth, families, churches, and field offices.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to identify unmet needs, generate new ideas, and evaluate their potential effectiveness, sustainability, and scalability.
• Explore and apply appropriate research methods to answer key learning questions and assess the impact of pilot initiatives.
• Facilitate workshops, discussions, and stakeholder engagement sessions that bring together diverse perspectives and foster collaborative problem-solving.
• Analyze and synthesize research findings, translating complex concepts into clear, actionable insights for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Support projects from concept development through testing and evaluation, helping determine whether an approach should be refined, expanded, or concluded.
• Contribute to learning agendas that strengthen Compassion's ability to innovate responsibly and effectively.
• Balance and integrate feedback from multiple stakeholders, including children, youth, church partners, field leaders, researchers, and organizational leadership.
• Stay informed on emerging research, development trends, and innovative practices relevant to child development and poverty alleviation.
• Travel globally (up to 30%) to support project implementation, stakeholder engagement, and learning activities as needed.
• Foster a culture of curiosity, learning, collaboration, and continuous improvement across teams.

What do you bring?

• Master’s degree preferred or Bachelor's degree and approximately five years of relevant experience.
• Familiarity with research processes and methodologies, with a willingness to learn and apply new approaches.
• Demonstrated curiosity and a passion for exploring complex questions without predetermined answers.
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity, adapt to evolving priorities, and contribute within a newly established capability.
• Strong collaboration skills and experience working effectively across teams, disciplines, cultures, and organizational levels.
• Excellent verbal and written English communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts in clear and engaging ways.
• Experience engaging diverse stakeholders, from subject-matter experts to community-based practitioners.
• Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and facilitation capabilities.
• Experience conducting or supporting research, monitoring, evaluation, learning, or related activities is preferred.
• Exposure to human-centered design, innovation, design thinking, or incubation approaches is desirable.
• Experience working in cross-cultural is highly valued.
• Familiarity with data analysis tools such as R, Stata, or similar platforms is beneficial.
• Spanish or Kiswahili language skills are a plus.

Why work here?

• The mission: Join a team that is motivated to release children from poverty in Jesus' name.
• Our benefits: Receive generous paid time off, 10% contribution to a 403(b) retirement fund on top of your salary, excellent healthcare coverage, free short-term professional counseling, and more.
• Spiritual growth: Participate in regular chapel services, prayer groups, and department devotionals.