Vice President, Research & Evidence

FHI 360

Vice President providing strategic leadership for FHI 360’s research initiatives. Overseeing global research practices to align with organizational priorities and ethical standards.

Posted 5/16/2026full-timeRemote • District of Columbia, North Carolina • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $185,000 - $210,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead the enterprise research strategy, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, market opportunities, and emerging global research needs.
Champion innovation, adaptive research models, and new methodologies that expand relevance, quality, and impact.
Set and uphold high standards for research rigor, ethics, integrity, and compliance across all portfolios.
Provide oversight of complex, global research initiatives to ensure strong technical quality, ethical compliance, and financial stewardship.
Serve as the escalation point for risks, including safeguarding and protocol violations, ensuring timely mitigation and resolution.
Ensure research decisions reflect local contexts and ethical considerations in diverse implementation environments.
Lead high-level relationships with funders, sponsors, and partners, shaping positioning and investment decisions in partnership with Strategy and Resource Mobilization (SRM).
Identify priority research opportunities and strategic partnerships to support growth and market leadership.
Cultivate collaborative relationships with academic institutions, NGOs, and other stakeholders to advance research utilization.
Build and sustain a strong leadership culture that emphasizes empowerment, accountability, innovation, and cross‑portfolio collaboration.
Lead and support Senior Directors in growing research portfolios, leaders, and emerging technical areas.
Foster continuous learning, professional development, and performance excellence across the Research & Evidence workforce.
Partner across Programs and Research Group (PRG), Global Operations and Services (GOS), Strategy and Resource Mobilization (SRM), enterprise services, and regional teams to advance organizational objectives.
Support consistent standards, governance, and collaboration with global research operations and services teams.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Master’s degree (or international equivalent) in International Development, Public Health, Research, Education, Economics, Environment, Nutrition, Technology, or a related field.
Minimum of 15 years of relevant experience leading complex national or international research portfolios with at least 9 years of senior leadership and line management experience overseeing complex research or program portfolios.
Demonstrated expertise in research design, ethical standards, compliance, and risk management.
Strong strategic leadership, change management, and relationship‑building skills.
Significant experience working within nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Benefits

Comp & perks

FHI 360 contributes 7% of monthly base pay to a money purchase pension plan account.
18 days of paid vacation per year.
12 sick days per year.
11 holidays per year.
Paid time off is reduced pro rata for employees working less than a full-time schedule.

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

research designethical standardscompliancerisk managementstrategic leadershipchange managementportfolio management

Soft Skills

relationship buildingcollaborationempowermentaccountabilityinnovationcontinuous learningperformance excellence

Certifications

Master’s degreeinternational equivalent