User Research and Strategy Intern

Job Description

Job Description About ImpactCollab

ImpactCollab is AVPN’s platform that connects philanthropists, investors, and social-purpose organizations across Asia to accelerate collaboration and unlock scalable impact. We leverage private bank engagements, data, technology, and design to make giving and partnership-building more transparent, efficient, and meaningful.

About the Role

We are seeking a User Research and Strategy Intern to join our growing ImpactCollab Product team. This role is ideal for someone passionate about understanding human behavior, social innovation, and the intersection of technology and impact. You will help us deepen our understanding of user needs across the social investment ecosystem — from foundations and family offices to nonprofits and social enterprises — and translate insights into actionable design recommendations.

Responsibilities

• User Research & Discovery: Conduct user interviews, surveys, and usability tests to understand pain points, motivations, and behaviors of ImpactCollab users. Support user segmentation and persona development across key stakeholder types (e.g., funders, SPOs, intermediaries). Observe and analyze how users interact with our platform to identify friction points and opportunities for improvement.
• Strategy and Insights: Support market and ecosystem mapping to understand trends across philanthropy, impact investing, and social innovation in Asia. Synthesize insights into strategic recommendations for platform positioning, user engagement, and product features.
• Data Collection & Analysis: Synthesize qualitative and quantitative data into clear insights that inform product and design decisions. Help maintain and organize research documentation and feedback in our internal database. Work with the Product team to develop hypotheses and test prototypes.
• Collaboration & Communication: Collaborate closely with the Product Manager team to translate insights into product features and UX enhancements. Assist in preparing presentation materials, journey maps, and reports for stakeholders and leadership.

Requirements

• Current undergraduate or graduate student in Psychology, Sociology, Human-Computer Interaction, Design, Communications, or related field.
• Passion for social impact and technology for good, and curiosity about how digital tools can drive systems change.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; able to synthesize complex ideas clearly.
• Familiarity with basic research methods (interviews, surveys, usability testing).
• Preferred: Experience with tools such as Salesforce, Miro, Notion, Figma, Airtable, or survey platforms (Typeform, Google Forms).
• Detail-oriented, proactive, and comfortable working in a collaborative, startup-like environment.

Learning Outcomes

• Gain hands-on experience in user-centered research and design thinking.
• Learn how to turn qualitative insights into strategic product decisions in a real social-impact context.
• Understand how platforms like ImpactCollab facilitate philanthropic collaboration and capacity building across Asia.
• Build a portfolio of research artifacts (personas, reports, journey maps) that demonstrate your research and analytical skills.

NOTE: This job has no deadline and is open until filled.