Senior Digital Safety Research Associate
Duration: August 31, 2026
Reports To: Director of Research & Programs
Location: Washington, D.C. (Hybrid)
Position Type: Full-time
Salary: $75,000
About the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)
The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) is an international, non-profit organization that works to make the online world safer for kids and their families. FOSI convenes leaders across industry, government, academia, and civil society to collaborate on solutions, promote best practices, and inform balanced approaches to online safety. Through research, events, policy engagement, and public education, FOSI advances the conversation on digital citizenship, youth well-being, and technology’s role in society.
Position Summary
The Senior Digital Safety Research Associate will play a key role in supporting FOSI’s research agenda, publications, educational initiatives, and programmatic work. This full-time position is designed for an early- to mid-career research professional with strong experience in research coordination, literature reviews, writing, data analysis and synthesis, project management, and stakeholder support.
The Senior Digital Safety Research Associate will work closely with the Director of Research & Programs and relevant team members to help plan, organize, execute, and communicate FOSI’s research projects. This role will support reports, surveys, white papers, issue briefs, toolkits, internal memos, educational resources, and research-informed programming. The position requires strong judgment, excellent writing and editing skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
This is not a policy role. While the Senior Digital Safety Research Associate may track broad developments relevant to children’s online safety and digital well-being, the primary focus of the position is research, writing, project coordination, data organization and analysis, publication support, and program-related research execution.
This position reports to the Director of Research & Programs and will collaborate with the Public Affairs, Membership, Operations, and Programs teams as needed. The ideal candidate is highly organized, intellectually curious, detail-oriented, comfortable working with research and evidence, and motivated by FOSI’s mission to create a safer, more positive online world for children and families.
This is a hybrid position based in Washington, D.C., with occasional travel possible for FOSI events, conferences, and in-person meetings.
Key Responsibilities
Research Support
- Support the Director of Research & Programs in the planning, coordination, and execution of FOSI research projects, reports, surveys, white papers, toolkits, issue briefs, and educational resources.
- Conduct background research and literature reviews on topics related to children’s online safety, digital parenting, youth well-being, AI, privacy, platform responsibility, digital citizenship, emerging technology trends, and family digital life.
- Synthesize academic research, industry reports, survey findings, expert interviews, and other source materials into clear, accessible summaries for internal and external use.
- Assist with the development of research memos, topline findings, briefing documents, presentation materials, talking points, and publication drafts.
- Help organize research materials, citations, source documents, interview notes, survey findings, data summaries, and project files.
- Track relevant academic research, industry reports, public discourse, and emerging trends to help inform FOSI’s research agenda and publications.
- Support the preparation, review, and fact-checking of FOSI research outputs to ensure accuracy, consistency, accessibility, and alignment with FOSI’s voice and standards.
- Assist with survey research support, including questionnaire development, vendor coordination, topline review, data organization, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and findings synthesis.
- Help maintain research project timelines, deliverables, sponsor materials, publication calendars, and internal tracking documents.
- Support coordination with research vendors, consultants, fellows, academic partners, member companies, and external experts, including scheduling, note-taking, follow-up, and materials preparation.
Writing, Editing & Publication Support
- Draft and edit research summaries, literature reviews, issue summaries, educational materials, blog posts, newsletters, web copy, and other research-informed content.
- Translate complex research findings into clear, accessible language for families, educators, industry stakeholders, and broader public audiences.
- Support the development of family-facing and educational materials, including digital parenting resources, toolkits, guides, and related web content.
- Assist with proofreading, formatting, citation checks, source verification, and quality control for publications and external-facing materials.
- Work with the Public Affairs team to support publication launches, research promotion, blog content, newsletters, and social media materials related to FOSI’s research and programs.
- Speak publicly at events and with press about FOSI’s research and online safety topics.
Programmatic Research Support
- Support the Director of Research & Programs in planning and executing FOSI’s major programs, including the Annual Conference, European Forum, Online Safety Fellows Program, Digital Parenting Initiative, and Digital Citizens Program.
- Assist with research-informed content development for panels, convenings, webinars, roundtables, and educational initiatives.
- Help prepare speaker briefing materials, discussion guides, session summaries, audience resources, and post-event research summaries.
- Support the organization and development of digital parenting, family-facing, and educational resources connected to FOSI programs.
- Track deliverables, timelines, materials, and follow-up items related to research-informed programming.
Cross-Team Coordination & Administration
- Serve as a reliable project support resource across teams, helping ensure deadlines, deliverables, and internal processes are well organized and consistently followed.
- Take notes during internal and external meetings, summarize action items, and help track follow-up responsibilities.
- Maintain shared folders, project management systems, contact databases, research trackers, and internal documentation in a clear and organized manner.
- Support the Director of Research & Programs with special projects, internal planning, annual reporting, board materials, sponsor updates, and other priority initiatives as needed.
- Assist with coordinating research-related meetings, partner communications, consultant support, and internal workflows.
Qualifications
- Master’s degree completed or in progress in Education, Communications, Sociology, Child Development, Psychology, Public Interest Technology, Information Science, Social Science Research, Human Development, Media Studies, or a related field strongly preferred.
- Approximately 2–4 years of relevant experience in research, nonprofit programs, academic research assistance, survey support, communications, education, child development, public interest technology, or a mission-driven organization.
- Strong research skills, including the ability to synthesize academic articles, industry reports, survey findings, and complex source material into clear summaries.
- Experience conducting literature reviews, research scans, survey research support (including quantitative data analysis), qualitative research support (including qualitative data analysis), or academic research assistance.
- Comfort reviewing survey data, topline findings, charts, and research reports for clarity, accuracy, and consistency.
- Excellent writing, editing, proofreading, and organizational skills.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple tasks, deadlines, documents, and stakeholders at once.
- Experience supporting research projects, publications, literature reviews, qualitative or quantitative research processes, or data-informed content development.
- Comfortable working with research materials, citations, survey findings, interview notes, reports, and external-facing publications.
- Interest in children’s online safety, digital parenting, youth well-being, AI, privacy, online platforms, digital citizenship, child development, media, technology, and family digital life.
- Ability to work collaboratively across teams while also taking initiative and completing assigned work independently.
- Professional judgment, discretion, and comfort supporting external-facing work with senior leaders, speakers, members, partners, and stakeholders.
- Proficiency with Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, Zoom, and virtual collaboration tools.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience drafting research summaries, briefing memos, educational materials, blog posts, newsletters, or publication content.
- Experience supporting events, conferences, panels, webinars, educational programs, or stakeholder convenings.
- Familiarity with citation management, research databases, project management tools, or CRM/contact management systems.
- Familiarity with current debates and research related to children’s online safety, digital well-being, AI, data privacy, social media, parental controls, digital parenting, or technology and youth development.
- Experience working in a nonprofit, think tank, university center, research organization, public interest technology organization, education organization, or mission-driven environment.
Benefits & Total Rewards at FOSI
At the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), we value our team as much as our mission. We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support the health, financial well-being, and professional growth of our employees and their families.
FOSI offers competitive compensation commensurate with experience and nonprofit leadership benchmarks.
Benefits include:
- 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents
- 4.5% employer retirement contribution (no match required)
- Short-term disability, life, and supplemental insurance options through Corestream
- Mental health and wellness resources
- 15 days of paid vacation plus all federal holidays
- Hybrid schedule: work remotely on Mondays and Fridays, with in-office collaboration midweek
- Additional paid time for personal or wellness needs
- Commuter benefits
- Mobile phone with hotspot provided
- Annual professional development budget
- Team-building and morale activities throughout the year
- Inclusive, mission-driven environment focused on collaboration, trust, and innovation
Why FOSI
FOSI offers the flexibility of a modern workplace with the stability and purpose of an established nonprofit. Our benefits reflect our belief that when our team thrives, so does our mission—creating a safer, more positive online world for children and families.
To Apply
Interested candidates should submit a resume, cover letter, and two writing samples (preferably research or policy-oriented) to careers@fosi.org with the subject line: “Senior Digital Safety Research Associate – [Your Name]”.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Early applications are strongly encouraged.