About PERC

The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) is the national leader in market solutions for conservation, with over 45 years of research and a network of respected scholars, practitioners, and partners. Through research, law and policy, and innovative field conservation programs, PERC explores how aligning incentives for environmental stewardship produces sustainable outcomes for land, water, and wildlife.

Founded in 1980, PERC is at the forefront of inspiring the next era of conservation, one grounded in markets, incentives, and the belief that lasting change happens when people and nature thrive together. To PERC, “how” you do conservation matters. Its research department is the cornerstone of the organization. PERC is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and proudly based in Bozeman, Montana.

About the Role

The Vice President of Research leads PERC’s intellectual engine—setting a research vision and strategy that executes the organizational agenda, while conducting research and leading a program that moves ideas from concept to real-world conservation impact. PERC research operates on two horizons: translating rigorous scholarship into tangible shifts in policy and practice, and investing in the foundational ideas and emerging scholars whose work will open the next frontier of market-based conservation. The Vice President will ensure our research is rigorous, relevant, and aligned with PERC’s mission of advancing conservation through markets, incentives, property rights, and partnerships.

This role oversees the research department, including management of a core in-house research and publications team (4), senior fellows, and external collaborators. The Vice President will have the opportunity to expand the research team’s footprint, including additional in-house roles and leadership over a growing external network. This role oversees more than $750,000 (and growing) in annual research budgets that are deployed to expand PERC’s network of world-class researchers and seed bold ideas market conservation.

Since this is a senior leadership position, the ideal candidate is someone who is visionary, strategic, and has the ability to inspire a growing team of researchers. The person should also be committed to PERC’s vision of a world with healthy land, water, and wildlife sustained by voluntary, cooperative conservation and incentives for environmental stewardship. They also bring a strategic instinct and rigorous research background and will work closely with organizational leadership to shape PERC’s research direction and long-term impact. In that role, they will partner with the law and policy team to identify where research can shape the law, influence regulatory practice, and advance systemic change. They will collaborate with the innovation lab team to ensure ideas move from concept to field-tested application, and that field experience loops back to inform and sharpen the research agenda. Working with the communications team, they will translate research into narratives that reach and move key audiences.

We seek a proven research leader who will help shape our future trajectory in market-based conservation, has the network and relationships in research and academia to build and elevate the team to get there, and can maintain the relentless focus on results that PERC’s model demands. This is a leadership role for someone who can inspire, conduct, and shape research as a tool for building the next era of conservation—one grounded in markets, partnerships, and results. The Vice President of Research will partner closely with PERC’s leadership team and report to the CEO.

Responsibilities

Research Leadership

• Shape and execute PERC’s organizational research vision, agenda, and strategy, ensuring the work is rigorous, relevant, and aligned with PERC’s market-based conservation mission
• Build, oversee, and mentor a core in-house research and publications team, as well as external collaborators, fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and impact
• Set the vision and direction for PERC’s Senior Fellows and Visiting Fellows programs, ensuring their work advances and complements the broader research agenda
• Serve on PERC’s leadership team to help shape organizational strategy and decision-making, bringing the research department’s perspective to bear on institution-wide priorities.

Cross-team Collaboration

• Partner with organizational leadership to shape PERC’s long-term research direction and focus
• Work closely with the law and policy team to identify and pursue opportunities where research can shape legislation, influence regulatory practice, and advance systemic change
• Collaborate with the innovation lab team to ensure research informs field-tested application, and that field experience loops back to sharpen the research agenda
• Partner with the communications team to translate research into narratives that reach and move key audiences

External Engagement & Representation

• Serve as a leading public voice for PERC’s research, presenting at major conferences, leading workshops and convenings, and authoring opinion pieces and commentary that advance PERC’s ideas
• Engage with donors, partners, and policymakers as needed to support PERC’s development, partnership, and policy work.
• Build and maintain relationships with scholars, practitioners, and peer organizations

Evaluation & Impact

• Define and track metrics that measure research impact
• Ensure research products are accessible, actionable, and positioned to influence decision-makers

Qualifications

The ideal candidate is an experienced research leader with demonstrated expertise in using markets and incentives to drive lasting conservation outcomes—and brings the credentials, experience, and real-world results to prove it. They will bring:

• Deep alignment with PERC’s mission of advancing conservation through markets, incentives, property rights, and partnerships
• An advanced degree in a relevant field, with a strong preference for economics, political science, or law, paired with 10+ years of research experience and at least 3–5 years in a leadership or senior supervisory role
• A demonstrated record of research publications that have shaped policy or applied conservation practice
• Thorough familiarity with market-based and incentive-driven approaches to conservation, PERC’s existing research efforts, and a sophisticated understanding of how their design and implementation delivers lasting outcomes
• Working knowledge of U.S. environmental policy, federal land management, and regulatory frameworks, with an understanding of where research can move the needle
• Experience with private land conservation tools such as habitat markets, water markets, easements, payments for ecosystem services, or similar mechanisms is a plus
• Proven ability to lead, develop, and retain a high-performing team, including management of external contractors and consultants
• A track record of translating rigorous research for policy, legal, practitioner, and public audiences
• Comfort engaging externally with partners, policymakers, donors, and media
• An entrepreneurial mindset and the adaptability to thrive in a lean, mission-driven organization with high expectations for impact and the ability to respond effectively to evolving priorities and changing needs.

The ideal candidate brings genuine alignment with PERC’s mission and a deeply held belief that research earns its value through real-world adoption and results.

Not sure you meet all the qualifications? Let us decide. Research shows that women and members of other underrepresented groups tend not to apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification when, in fact, they often do. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive working environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

How to Apply

To apply, qualified individuals should submit the following to employment@perc.org

• Resume
• Cover letter detailing: 1) your alignment with PERC’s mission and approach to conservation, 2) a specific example of research you have moved to real-world impact, and 3) your vision for what comes next in conservation research and where you see the greatest opportunity to advance PERC’s mission
• Salary requirements

Travel Requirements

This role requires moderate but consistent travel—approximately 15-20% on average—including attendance at relevant academic, policy, and conservation conferences, federal and state hearings, as well as participation in and occasional hosting of workshops and convenings, as well as partner, donor, or field visits in support of PERC’s research mission and external presence.

Working Conditions

• Business office environment with moderate noise
• Travel by car and plane is possible
• Will sit or stand at a desk
• Work on a computer, use a telephone, and other general office equipment
• Lift and carry up to 25 pounds

Location

This is a full-time, exempt position with preference for the role to be based in Bozeman, Montana. We will also consider outstanding candidates based elsewhere in the United States who can work virtually.

Perks of Working at PERC

• Great health (platinum, gold, and silver plans), vision, and dental benefit choices for employees and family with majority covered by PERC for employee + spouse or children
• Flex/FSA or HSA offered
• 5% 401(k) PERC contribution with no match requirement
• PERC contributed life insurance
• Voluntary additional life insurance
• Voluntary accident insurance
• Paid parental leave (up to 12 weeks)
• Paid vacation and sick days
• 12 paid holidays
• 12 week paid sabbatical after 10 years of service
• Opportunity to work with an impactful conservation organization, dedicated to positive environmental outcomes