Strategist

Reason Foundation; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

6% 401(k) match

Health and dental plans

Wellness and mental health support

Job summary

Stand Together, a philanthropic community, seeks a Strategist for the Strategic Analysis team to turn questions into clear plans and materials for partners and stakeholders. You will conduct research, synthesize internal knowledge and expert input, and apply proven frameworks to produce actionable recommendations for Priority Initiatives.

You will write clearly for senior leaders, earn trust across teams, and help turn strategy into impact.

Qualifications

• 4–6 years of experience in strategy, consulting, policy analysis, research, or a similar advisory role.
• Ability to turn large amounts of qualitative and quantitative information into strategic recommendations.
• Strong writing and speaking skills, including the ability to explain complex ideas simply to senior leaders.
• Curiosity, sound judgment, and the ability to see complex social and organizational challenges as a system.
• Working knowledge of the social change, policy, and political landscape, and the ability to learn a new issue fast.
• A collaborative mindset: you support the team that owns the strategy and know when to respectfully challenge it.
• High standards of professionalism, integrity, and discretion.
• Preferred: consulting experience, ideally embedded with a client team, or a background in policy analysis, research, or philanthropy.
• Ability to build professional, polished products — decks, documents, and materials that meet a high bar for clarity and visual quality, not just analytical rigor.
• Proven ability to drive a project independently — setting clear goals and milestones, staying organized across multiple threads, and communicating progress clearly to stakeholders along the way.
• Enthusiasm to contribute to Stand Together’s vision and principled approach to solving problems, and a commitment to stewarding our culture, which champions values including transformation and innovation, entrepreneurialism, humility, and respect.

Responsibilities

• Support strategy development: Work with a Priority Initiative lead from start to finish: point of view, strategy, resource planning, performance checks, and materials for partners and stakeholders.
• Conduct and synthesize research: Gather internal knowledge, outside data, and expert input so strategy rests on facts.
• Apply proven frameworks: Use proven models, such as audience engagement strategy, point-of-view development, and marginal analysis, to turn knowledge into clear recommendations.
• Write to a shared standard: Draft clear analytic writing that meets our shared standard and uses lessons from other teams.
• Build trust: Earn the trust of issue leaders and colleagues outside your reporting line, and grow into a thought partner they rely on.
• Strengthen shared tools: Help improve the standards, tools, and frameworks our teams use to plan and assess their work.

Skills

Strategy development

Research synthesis

Policy analysis

Written communication

Public speaking

Collaboration

Professional integrity

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Stand Together is a philanthropic community that helps America’s boldest changemakers tackle the root causes of our country’s biggest problems, from education to the economy, broken communities, and toxic division, among dozens of other pressing issues. We provide our partners with access to resources including funding, thought leadership, a network of peers, and a playbook for applying proven principles to transform lives and society.

As a Strategist on Stand Together’s Strategic Analysis team, you will help our issue teams turn hard questions into clear plans. Our team builds the research, insights, and standards behind our Priority Initiatives. These are the teams that lead our work on issues like Transforming Education and Building Strong and Safe Communities. You will work side by side with one of them, from early strategy to finished materials.

You will use research, our internal knowledge, and experts across the organization to build points of view and strategies. Then you will write them up so our staff and stakeholders can act on them. You will bring rigor to the issue leader’s hardest questions. The issue leader stays accountable for the strategy.

This role fits someone who thinks like an advisor. You stay calm in ambiguity. You can turn a lot of data and information into one clear point of view. And you like helping other teams turn strategy into impact.

How You Will Contribute

• Support strategy development: Work with a Priority Initiative lead from start to finish: point of view, strategy, resource planning, performance checks, and materials for partners and stakeholders.
• Conduct and synthesize research: Gather internal knowledge, outside data, and expert input so strategy rests on facts.
• Apply proven frameworks: Use proven models, such as audience engagement strategy, point-of-view development, and marginal analysis, to turn knowledge into clear recommendations.
• Write to a shared standard: Draft clear analytic writing that meets our shared standard and uses lessons from other teams.
• Build trust: Earn the trust of issue leaders and colleagues outside your reporting line, and grow into a thought partner they rely on.
• Strengthen shared tools: Help improve the standards, tools, and frameworks our teams use to plan and assess their work.

What You Will Bring

• 4–6 years of experience in strategy, consulting, policy analysis, research, or a similar advisory role
• Skill at turning large amounts of qualitative and quantitative information into strategic recommendations
• Strong writing and speaking skills, including the ability to explain complex ideas simply to senior leaders
• Curiosity, sound judgment, and the ability to see complex social and organizational challenges as a system
• Working knowledge of the social change, policy, and political landscape, and the ability to learn a new issue fast
• A collaborative mindset: you support the team that owns the strategy and know when to respectfully challenge it
• High standards of professionalism, integrity, and discretion
• Preferred: consulting experience, ideally embedded with a client team, or a background in policy analysis, research, or philanthropy
• Ability to build professional, polished products — decks, documents, and materials that meet a high bar for clarity and visual quality, not just analytical rigor.
• Proven ability to drive a project independently — setting clear goals and milestones, staying organized across multiple threads, and communicating progress clearly to stakeholders along the way.
• Enthusiasm to contribute to Stand Together’s vision and principled approach to solving problems, and a commitment to stewarding our culture, which champions values including transformation and innovation, entrepreneurialism, humility, and respect.

What We Offer

• Competitive benefits: Enjoy a 6% 401(k) match with immediate vesting, flexible time off, comprehensive health and dental plans, plus wellness and mental health support through Peloton and Talkspace.
• A meaningful career: Join a passionate community of over 1,300 employees dedicated to improving lives and driving innovative solutions to complex social challenges.
• Commitment to growth: Thrive in a non-hierarchical environment that empowers employees to discover, develop and apply their unique talents.
• For this role, the anticipated base salary range is $110,000 – $140,000 per year. In addition to base salary, additional bonus earnings may represent a meaningful portion of total compensation. Total compensation will align with an employee’s overall contribution and the value created for the organization.
• Our Principles-Based Management™ (PBM) compensation philosophy is grounded in an individualized approach that rewards the long-term value each person creates for the organization. Compensation decisions are informed by a variety of factors, including relevant experience, capabilities, demonstrated skills, role responsibilities, and expected contribution. Consistent with this approach, base salary may vary within or outside of the anticipated range based on these considerations.

Our Values: Working at Stand Together is different from many other organizations. Our culture is deeply rooted in Principle Based Management® (PBM®), a framework guided by the principles that drive human progress, such as dignity, openness, and bottom-up empowerment. PBM® empowers our employees to be entrepreneurial, to innovate, and to continually drive transformation.

We believe diversity fuels creativity, broadens knowledge, and helps drive success, and that is why we’re proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and strive to treat all employees and applicants with honesty, dignity, respect and sensitivity.

Our Values: Working for an organization within the Stand Together philanthropic community is different from many other places. The culture is deeply rooted in Principle Based Management® (PBM®), a framework guided by the principles that drive human progress, such as dignity, openness, and bottom-up empowerment. PBM® empowers employees to be entrepreneurial, to innovate, and to continually drive transformation.

We believe diversity fuels creativity, broadens knowledge, and helps drive success. That is why we’re proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and strive to treat all employees and applicants with honesty, dignity, and respect.

110000 - 140000 USD a year