How to apply for Senior Livelihoods Researcher

About GiveWell

GiveWell is a nonprofit that researches the most cost-effective ways to save and improve lives, then directs donor money to those programs. It has grown from directing $1.5 million in 2010 to more than $400 million in 2025, with grantmaking likely to approach or exceed $1 billion this year. Working there means your research directly shapes where large amounts of funding go.

About the role

As a Senior Livelihoods Researcher, you will identify and recommend the most cost-effective ways to improve living standards among the global poor. You will work across thematic verticals including cash transfers, broader social protection programs, education programs, and support for small and medium sized businesses in low-income countries. Your analysis will have an outsized influence on GiveWell's funding decisions.

A typical day

A typical day might involve reviewing evidence on a cash transfer or education program, running or updating cost-effectiveness models, and writing up findings for the livelihoods team. You would also meet with colleagues across verticals to compare social returns and decide which programs to recommend for funding. Because the role is remote, most collaboration happens through written documents and video calls.

Who GiveWell is looking for

• Experience conducting quantitative research or cost-effectiveness analysis in development economics, social protection, education, or small business support.
• Familiarity with measuring increases in relative consumption per dollar and comparing social returns across different program types.
• Ability to work remotely and independently while collaborating with a research team organized around thematic verticals.
• Strong written communication skills to share research openly and inform donor giving decisions.

Tips for this application

• Show you understand GiveWell's core metric for livelihoods: increase in relative consumption per dollar. Use this framing in your materials.
• Reference specific verticals from the job description (cash transfers, social protection, education, small and medium business support) and explain which you have worked on.
• Demonstrate familiarity with GiveWell's public research and cost-effectiveness models, since the role requires improving funding decisions at scale.
• Quantify your past research impact where possible, such as how your analysis influenced a program or funding choice.
• Acknowledge the disclaimer that 80,000 Hours' largest funder is Coefficient Giving, which works closely with GiveWell, and avoid treating that as a conflict without addressing it directly if asked.

What to cover in your cover letter

Explain why you want to research livelihoods specifically at GiveWell, not just any development research role. Describe your experience with cost-effectiveness analysis or consumption-based metrics. Name which of the four verticals you are strongest in and give a concrete example. State how you would handle the scale of directing hundreds of millions to over a billion dollars in grants.

Research before applying

• Read GiveWell's published research on livelihoods, including any cost-effectiveness analyses for cash transfers, social protection, education, or small business programs.
• Review GiveWell's annual giving recommendations and grantmaking totals from 2010 to 2025 to understand the scale and growth of their funding.
• Look into the relationship between GiveWell and Coefficient Giving (which funds 80,000 Hours) to understand the funding ecosystem.
• Find any public write-ups or blog posts from GiveWell's livelihoods team about how they choose verticals and measure social return.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How you would measure the increase in relative consumption per dollar for a cash transfer program versus an education program.
• Your approach to comparing cost-effectiveness across GiveWell's livelihoods verticals: cash transfers, social protection, education, and small/medium business support.
• A time you changed a funding or program decision based on your research, and what data you used.
• How you would handle uncertainty or limited evidence when recommending a program for large-scale funding.
• Your understanding of GiveWell's mission and how this role fits into directing more than $400 million (and potentially $1 billion) in annual grantmaking.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Writing a generic cover letter that does not mention GiveWell's specific cost-effectiveness metric (increase in relative consumption per dollar).
• Focusing only on global health or general development without connecting to the four livelihoods verticals listed in the job description.
• Ignoring the scale of GiveWell's grantmaking (over $400 million in 2025, potentially $1 billion this year) and treating the role like a standard research position.