Analyst - Assessment and Advisory Services

Analyst

Cambridge, MA or San Francisco, CA

As an Analyst, you will work closely with CEP’s energetic and diverse staff to provide philanthropic foundation executives, boards, and staff with data-driven insights to enhance the effectiveness of their work. The core function of the Analyst role is to create reports and share recommendations based on the results of standardized surveys of grantees, staff, and donors that CEP conducts on behalf of philanthropic foundations. Analysts also work with individual foundations or groups of foundations on customized engagements focused on approaches to philanthropy, performance assessment, and organizational effectiveness. If you want to help grant-making organizations to understand how they’re doing in creating social impact, this is the role for you. The analyst will be a member of CEP’s fast-paced Cambridge or San Francisco office.

The Ideal Candidate:

• You understand that CEP’s work depends on the high quality of our analysis and, likewise, have high standards for quality control, task management, efficiency, and attention to detail
• You are detail-oriented, organized, and adaptable, with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously
• You are tolerant of ambiguity and recognize that a client-centered environment is dynamic – work levels and schedules are likely to change in response to client needs – sometimes on short notice
• You enjoy a mix of working independently as well as on teams, and you bring a hard-working, empathetic, and reliable approach to both situations
• You are confident in your work, but are humble in the knowledge that you are always learning and improving
• You are curious and ask questions; you thrive in an environment that encourages diversity of opinion

Key Responsibilities:

• Analyzing quantitative and qualitative datasets, often using basic inferential statistics and qualitative coding techniques
• Creating clear and compelling written memos that identify and highlight synthesized findings and recommendations drawn from analysis
• Co-managing survey processes, question design, and innovation in CEP’s assessment tools
• Creating and presenting the results of assessment and advisory engagements to foundation executives and staff alongside client managers
• Actively participating in team discussions and helping develop CEP’s internal knowledge base and operations

Requirements:

• College degree (B.S., B.A.), or equivalent, and some work experience required
• Demonstrated ability to conduct high quality quantitative analysis and synthesize findings into persuasive recommendations. Comfort with running and interpreting basic statistical analyses such as T-Tests, ANOVA, and Chi Squares is required.
• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Excel required
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience with computer programming languages, such as SQL and Python, a plus: these languages form the basis of CEP’s Online Reporting System, and all Analysts will receive some training on these systems

We believe diversity and inclusion are key drivers of creativity and innovation, and we actively seek out candidates with diversity of backgrounds, skills, experiences, and perspectives for this exciting role.

While all CEP staff are at-will employees, due to an in-depth training period at the start of every Analyst’s tenure, our expectation is that analysts will stay in the role for at least a couple years, assuming satisfactory performance.

About CEP:

For over 20 years, CEP has led the movement to improve philanthropy through a powerful combination of dispassionate analysis and a passionate commitment to improving lives. CEOs and trustees of grantmaking institutions as well as individual donors have come to rely on our research for insights on a wide range of topics, from assessing performance to developing strategy to managing stakeholder relationships. More than 350 grantmakers around the world have used CEP’s assessment tools to gather honest feedback from their stakeholders in an effort to learn how to be even more effective. Our highly regarded programming—including our biennial conference—gives philanthropic leaders an exclusive and unprecedented opportunity to connect with their peers. Through custom workshops and peer learning cohorts, our new Learning Institute supports funders in driving changes in their philanthropic practice. CEP is based in Cambridge Massachusetts, with a second office in San Francisco, California. Strengths of CEP’s work culture are entrepreneurialism, accountability, teamwork, collegiality, diversity, and mutual respect.

Our Process:

CEP seeks an Analyst for a start in January 2025. Our rolling process includes three interview rounds: an initial phone conversation, a skills assessment, and a team interview round. Our process also includes the checking of references in final stages. Check out CEP’s careers page to learn more about how we hire.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Our nonprofit model is central to our identity: our bottom line is impact, not profit. Yet even as a nonprofit, we successfully compete for top talent across both the public and private sectors and offer competitive compensation and benefits including:

• A commitment to pay parity and salary equity. The 2025 annual base salary for this position is $$84,962 (Cambridge)/ $93,479 (SF). In addition, this role is eligible for a competitive Performance Based Incentive Compensation.
• Comprehensive health, vision, and dental insurance plans.
• Generous paid time off plan, including up to 15 holidays, three weeks of accrued vacation, and two personal days per year.
• 401(k) plan with a 1:1 Employer Match up to 5% of total compensation.
• Generous annual personal professional development allowance.
• Flexible spending and dependent care tax free savings plans.
• Life insurance covered 100% by the organization.

We strive to balance in-person time with flexibility and the needs of each person, their team, and the larger organization. We believe culture, collaboration, communication, trust- and relationship-building, training, and certain kinds of creative work benefit from in-office interactions – and we believe that the flexibility of remote work also has many advantages. We expect staff to be in the office at least one to two days per week, and more frequently during new staff introduction periods to support a robust orientation. Everyone will enjoy the option to work fully remotely from anywhere four weeks per year.