How to apply for Cause Prioritization Lead

About GiveWell

GiveWell is a nonprofit that researches the most cost-effective ways to save and improve lives, then directs donations to the programs it believes will do the most good. It has grown from directing $1.5 million in 2010 to more than $400 million in 2025, and it anticipates total grantmaking may approach or exceed $1 billion this year. Its research is funded by tens of thousands of donors who rely on it to inform their giving.

About the role

The Cause Prioritization Lead owns and improves GiveWell's cause prioritization process, develops a portfolio of early-stage grants across emerging cause areas, and responds quickly to promising new opportunities that do not fit existing grantmaking teams. This role sits on a lean research team, so it has an outsized influence on funding decisions and on how GiveWell directs large amounts of money toward global health and well-being.

A typical day

A typical day might involve reviewing an emerging cause area, assessing an early-stage grant opportunity, and drafting a recommendation for GiveWell's research team. Because the role is remote and the team is lean, much of the work is self-directed research and writing. Ask the hiring team how they divide time between process improvement, new cause areas, and rapid-response investigations.

Who GiveWell is looking for

• Has experience designing and leading ambitious research agendas, including answering complex, open-ended questions with limited prior work to build on.
• Can evaluate cost-effectiveness and grantmaking opportunities across cause areas, including early-stage or unusual opportunities that do not fit existing teams.
• Is comfortable working on a lean team with high autonomy and can move quickly from investigation to funding recommendation.
• Can communicate research findings and funding recommendations clearly to inform high-impact grantmaking decisions.

Tips for this application

• Read GiveWell's published research on cause prioritization and cost-effectiveness, then refer to specific examples in your application to show you understand how its process works.
• Explain how you would improve GiveWell's cause prioritization process, not just that you can run one. Give a concrete example of a process change you would consider.
• Describe a time you investigated an early-stage or unusual opportunity and made a funding or resource recommendation under uncertainty.
• Show familiarity with GiveWell's scale: it directed more than $400 million in 2025 and expects grantmaking to approach or exceed $1 billion this year. Explain how your work would hold up at that scale.
• Because the role is remote in the US and on a lean team, give evidence that you can set your own research agenda and work independently without close daily supervision.

What to cover in your cover letter

['Your experience owning or improving a prioritization or research process, with a specific example of what you changed and why.', 'Your ability to evaluate early-stage grants across emerging cause areas and to recommend funding under uncertainty.', 'A concrete example of responding rapidly to a promising new opportunity that did not fit an existing team or process.', "Why GiveWell's specific approach to cost-effectiveness and open research fits how you work, referencing its global health and well-being focus."]

Research before applying

• GiveWell's published research on cause prioritization and its criteria for cost-effective giving opportunities.
• GiveWell's grantmaking growth, including the jump from $1.5 million in 2010 to more than $400 million in 2025 and the expectation of approaching or exceeding $1 billion this year.
• GiveWell's current grantmaking teams and scope, so you can explain how this role differs and where it adds capacity.
• The disclaimer that 80,000 Hours' largest funder, Coefficient Giving, works closely with GiveWell, and what that means for how the role is described.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How you would assess and improve GiveWell's current cause prioritization process.
• How you would build a portfolio of early-stage grants across emerging cause areas, including criteria for inclusion.
• A walkthrough of a time you rapidly investigated a promising but unusual opportunity and what you recommended.
• How you weigh cost-effectiveness evidence when data is limited or the cause area is new to GiveWell.
• How you would work with existing grantmaking teams when an opportunity does not fit their scope.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating this as a general research role and not addressing cause prioritization, early-stage grants, or unusual opportunities specifically.
• Proposing vague process improvements without saying what data, criteria, or tradeoffs you would use.
• Ignoring GiveWell's scale and existing grantmaking teams, which makes it unclear how this role would fit into its current work.