Investigative researcher needed for contact research

We’re looking for an exceptionally detail-oriented researcher to help identify the correct contacts responsible for specific university housing/resource webpages across ~295 .edu sites. This is NOT a basic lead scraping or data entry project. The work requires: - tracing webpage ownership through university organizational structures - understanding subdomains, departments, and institutional hierarchies - identifying who likely manages or has authority over a specific page - making thoughtful judgment calls when no obvious contact exists (In many cases, the correct contact is NOT: the footer email, admissions@, info@, webmaster@, or a general university contact form) The goal is to determine the most contextually appropriate contact for each page. You’ll need to: - investigate URL structures and breadcrumbs - navigate departmental/team pages - identify page ownership - locate the most appropriate operational contact - occasionally use external searches when universities intentionally obscure contact information Deliverables We will provide you with a spreadsheet of URLs and detailed written instructions + examples You will return: - a completed spreadsheet with contact information + reasoning Important note: We care far more about correctness and reasoning than speed. A lower-volume, highly accurate researcher is preferred over someone attempting to move quickly with generic contacts. This project is probably a fit for you if you have experience with: investigative research institutional research executive assistant work journalism grant/foundation research university administration research legal or academic research Hiring process We will begin with a small paid test batch before awarding the full project. To apply: - Briefly explain why you’d be good at this type of work - Describe a difficult research task you’ve handled before - Include the phrase “organizational ownership” somewhere in your response so we know you read the instructions carefully - Explain why generic university emails are often the wrong answer for projects like this