Senior Research Associate (Strategic Philanthropy Portfolio)
Company Background:
Established in 2015, Voyage is a mission-driven non-profit that actively manages a portfolio of long-term, strategic initiatives to achieve impact at scale. Their portfolio has shaped >800 million USD in strategic philanthropy in Asia targeting systems change in philanthropic sector building, poverty alleviation and livelihoods, youth and education, aging, disability inclusion, and mental health.
We work with leading partners to design, build and scale initiatives that represent the most strategic bets to achieve impact at scale. Our approach is to partner long-term to build initiatives tailored to the problem based on first principles. See four different examples below:
- Rigorous evidence-based interventions: Voyage is a partner to JC PROJECT LIFT (created and funded by HKJC Charities Trust) adapting an “Urban Graduation Approach” to enhance employability, family capacity and financial literacy for 4,200 underprivileged households, across 25 transitional housing sites in 11 districts. The impact of JC PROJECT LIFT will be rigorously evaluated with a longitudinal randomized control trial (RCT) to assess poverty alleviation outcomes over 6 years. The evidence generated aims to inform “targeted poverty alleviation” strategies in Hong Kong SAR, and urban poverty alleviation strategies globally;
- Large-scale last-mile social delivery systems: Since 2018, Voyage has been a partner with a grassroots collaborative which has now facilitated access to social protection for over 4 million migrant families. The collaborative works across 5 countries in South Asia and South East Asia and aims to facilitate social protection for 15m by 2028, whilst supporting Governments to improve social protection systems to sustainably deliver a safety net at scale;
- Impact investment venture fund and technical assistance facility: 900m people in low-middle-income-countries lack access to life-changing assistive technology (e.g. hearing aids, prosthetics, orthotics, wheelchairs). Government and charities are unable to sustainably meet demand with existing products that are unaffordable, so ATX focuses on deploying patient capital to revolutionise AT access in low and middle-income countries. Voyage has been a partner since 2019;
- Multi-year research-to-action: The Commission on Asian Philanthropy aims to accelerate the change in the trajectory of Asian philanthropy toward its full potential for social good. The big opportunity to increase the quantum and quality of Asian philanthropy is domestic; e.g. China’s philanthropic market is 29bn USD a year and India’s is 15bn USD a year (growing at 7% and 10% CAGR respectively). The Commission will drive the research to enable Asian countries to learn from one another to advance the growth and professionalization of their domestic philanthropy ecosystems. Voyage is the co-secretariat overseeing planning, research and implementation of collaborative projects.
The Role:
Voyage is looking to hire a proven Senior Research Associate to work on the Strategic Philanthropy Sector Building portfolio (with the potential to work across portfolios in the longer term).
The major initiative in this portfolio is the Commission on Asian Philanthropy. Alongside co-convenors the Asia Philanthropy Congress and the Institute of Philanthropy, the Commission comprises influential philanthropic organizations, including China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, IDEAS Dompet Dhuafa Republika, King Khalid Foundation, The Nippon Foundation, Piramal Foundation, Rainmatter Foundation, Tanoto Foundation, Tata Consultancy Services and Tencent Charity Foundation, who are all founding commissioners.
Click to view the press release
The Senior Research Associate is a blend of four roles:
- Strategist: Conduct comprehensive research and analysis to quantify baseline and targets of philanthropy in terms of both outcomes and capital, conceptualise growth models of Asian philanthropy and, identify highest leverage opportunities within each market(s) and/or issue area(s) for policy, program, or ecosystem infrastructure investments that could achieve impact at scale;
- Builder: Entrepreneurially design and lead implementation of 6-12 months pilots to validate hypotheses for priority infrastructure investments;
- Collaborator: Facilitate collaboration and partnership with trusted partners, including leading foundations, scholars, and local research teams and sector practitioners in Asia;
- Learner: Constantly dive into new content areas and evaluate research progress to drive continuous improvement towards impact at scale.
Experience required:
- Possesses a PhD in economics, public policy, development or related social science field and a minimum of 2 years of professional working experience OR has 5+ years of professional experience in strategy and research work (strategy consulting, thinktank / research institutes, in-house strategy development);
- Demonstrated success in managing and executing initiatives, preferably with a focus on social impact with scale and sustainability;
- Proven ability to collaborate across multiple-stakeholders, preferably with governments, foundations and non-profits;
- Full working proficiency in English and Cantonese or Mandarin;
- Prior experience in key markets including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, UAE, Saudi Arabia.
Character traits required (these are essential to fit for this role):
- Your own, internal bar for the quality and impact of your work is substantially higher than external parties’ expectations of you;
- You are highly self-reflective and believe growth is multi-dimensional at the intersection of emotional maturity, psychological health and professional development;
- You enjoy proactive problem solving from first principles, and don’t need “recipes to follow” to feel comfortable in ambiguity;
- You measure impact by external real-world outcomes achieved, not by “satisfaction” of internal or external parties, or by internal organisational markers like size or growth.
Why join Voyage:
- See ideas all the way through to impact at scale: We focus on the most strategic bets and we commit long-term to see ideas through to implementation at scale. Your work will be highly intellectually stimulating and deeply fulfilling as you witness the tangible results;
- Deep commitment to your personal and professional development: We offer an accelerated career trajectory in the impact sector and invest heavily in your future through on-the-job training and feedback, internal learning programs, frequent 1-1 coaching sessions;
- Push the boundaries of the sector with industry leaders: Voyage is at the forefront of the sector, trusted by influential philanthropies across the region. Initiatives like the Commission on Asian Philanthropy aim to shape the sector for decades to come.
Recruiting Timeline:
- Please send your cover letter and resume (English and Chinese in one PDF document) to jennifer.chan@voyage.org (or to reach out with any questions about the role);
- Applications are processed on a rolling basis, so it is beneficial to apply as early as possible.
Apply now
