Gravity Research is hiring a Social Impact and Reputational Risk Research Associate.

Gravity Research, born of National Journal, is a premier custom research and insights organization supporting corporate, association, and nonprofit clients. Our mission is to empower organizations to anticipate risk, spot opportunities, and rationalize reputational concerns against a backdrop of evolving public pressures. 

What is Gravity Research's Societal and Reputational Intelligence Service?

Gravity Research’s newest product is a research service that helps Fortune 500 companies make informed decisions about when and how to engage on societal issues, such as racial equity, LGBTQ+ rights, climate, and human rights. We support clients by monitoring the current conversation around these issues, benchmarking our clients’ actions compared to their peers, and analyzing the advantages and risks of engaging on specific issues.

We are looking for curious and innovative researchers interested in helping corporations smartly navigate society’s most important and challenging issues.

The Role:

Social Impact and Reputational Risk Research Associates are responsible for leading all societal issue monitoring research. Associates on the social issues benchmarking team use our media monitoring tools and a range of qualitative research methods to identify and track trending issues, feeding their insights to analysts to help produce custom insights and recommendations for our clients.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Managing research on a range of topics including climate change, racial equity, health equity, and equity and equality issues, tracking policymaker and regulatory actions, state legislation, media coverage, and activist conversations.
• Collaborating with team members to develop research methodologies and approaches to answer client questions.
• Developing smart, nuanced analysis on how societal issues may impact corporations, their workforces, and their consumers, and working closely with analysts to synthesize findings into strategic recommendations for clients.
• Regularly consuming news about a range of societal issues and their impact on the business community to incorporate current trends into research and analysis.
• Contributing to product development by crafting new and innovative approaches to producing the analytic work, optimizing operations, and perfecting the research product.

• To perform this job successfully, each essential competency and responsibility must be performed satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an individual with disabilities to perform essential functions. Other duties may be assigned to meet organizational goals.

Qualifications of the Ideal candidate:

The ideal candidate will have strong familiarity with the range of contentious societal issues currently at play, a solid understanding of the media and political environment, a comfort with using advanced analytic software, and excellent qualitative research and analysis skills. The candidate will have the ability to execute against tight deadlines and to highlight the key elements of their research that will be most impactful for a range of Fortune 500 companies.

Specific qualifications include:

• A highly analytic, natural problem solver.
• The ability to highlight key insights within a complex set of data, synthesize large amounts of information, and then clearly explain these insights to analysts and team leadership.
• A skilled project manager, able to independently manage competing priorities and adhere to timelines.
• A strong writer able to clearly frame issues for a variety of audiences, some experience with PowerPoint or other visual presentation formats highly preferred.
• Up to 2 years of experience, through internships or post-graduate work, in the following domains: strategy consulting, policy analysis, risk analysis, Capitol Hill or executive agency experience, or political science research.
• Earned Bachelor's degree required
• Entrepreneurial spirit; Track record of building new initiatives from conception to execution.
• Creative thinking and resourcefulness in problem-solving.
• Prodigious work ethic and spirit of generosity.
• A full course of the COVID-19 vaccination is required for employment at National Journal.
• Active contributor to a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Employment Type: Full-time.

Compensation: The salary range for this role is $43,000 - $46,000.

Location: This job is based in Washington, DC. Gravity Research operates on a hybrid schedule, with employees required to be in the office every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. During the month of August 2023, Gravity Research teams will be fully remote.

About Us

Across Gravity Research, generally, the firm looks for three “pillar gifts” in you, and everyone else.  In all of us, these are more aspirational than actual, but they are central in our intentions –

• Force of Ideas: At the center of Gravity Research’s work are the ideas within our work. We believe that ideas—the good and not—have consequences. Our ultimate objective is to bring rigor, insight, and intellectual honesty to the goal of separating the bad from the good, and giving voice, argument, and flight to maintaining the latter.

• Spirit of Generosity:  Gravity Research seeks in its ranks a spirit of generosity: a natural disposition in each colleague toward service and selfless conduct. Our writing should be cut from the same cloth—critical on the merits, but informed by charity and forbearance in measuring motive and personal character.

• Radical Responsibility: We give our people a lot of responsibility early on, and our top performers embrace it. We believe in holding ourselves and our colleagues accountable, taking ownership over big things, striving for excellence, and celebrating success.

Gravity Research is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate against our applicants because of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable law.