Research Manager

Open Position: Research Manager

CLR is looking for a Research Manager (RM) to support our Research Affiliates. Research Affiliates work on s-risk-relevant conceptual research without a line manager, and the RM is their main source of regular support. The RM also runs events to support the community of Affiliates as a whole. More details on the Research Affiliates program are here.

Please apply here by Sunday 9th August 23:59 Pacific Time. We will evaluate applications on a rolling basis, and may close applications early.

Note that we expect the top candidates to have a strong interest in s-risk reduction and conceptual research, and enough prior exposure (e.g. through our Fundamentals Program) to usefully engage with Affiliates' work. Deep prior engagement is not a requirement.

Location: Remote welcome, with preference for Oxford, UK.
Role type: part-time, zero-hours role (no guaranteed minimum hours) typically 10-20 hours per week.
Reports to: Tristan Cook (Managing Director)
Compensation: £44 per hour.

Contents

• The role
  • Key responsibilities
    • Individual support
    • Research community building
    • Program design and evaluation
  • Non-responsibilities
• Who this suits
• Evaluation
• Logistics
  • Location
  • Hours and workload
  • Start date
  • Compensation
  • Benefits
• Application process
  • Trial

The role

Key responsibilities

Individual support

Regular (~weekly) 1:1 meetings with each affiliate by default, with opt-out, supplemented by asynchronous interaction such as written comments on drafts. The meetings are the default; what happens within them is opt-in. Affiliates choose which kinds of support they want, and the RM is proactive in offering support.

We'd like the RM to be able to provide:

• Feedback on research: object-level feedback on outputs, plans and project structure, and, where requested, direct critical feedback on work quality.
• Feedback on writing and communication: feedback on the clarity, structure and audience of a writeup; red-teaming or mock feedback before work is shared more widely.
• Direction and planning: a thinking partner for bouncing ideas; help scoping a vague interest into a tractable project; prioritising across threads; periodic step-back reviews of whether a direction is working. Affiliates own their research direction; the RM is a thinking partner on it, not a decision-maker.
• Unblocking: diagnosing difficulties an Affiliate is having (e.g. conceptual, technical, motivational) and helping form and follow through on a plan.
• Accountability and goals: help setting and calibrating goals to achievable levels, and check-ins with follow-through where an affiliate finds that motivating.
• Career and development: coaching on skills and career direction.
• Connection: suggesting external people to talk to and helping broker introductions where the RM can; a regular point of contact against the isolation that can come with unmanaged independent research.
• Work habits: support with time management, work structure and sustainable pace.

Research community building

Organising internal events to support affiliates and staff: discussion groups, internal and external talks, lightning talks, blog post days.

We expect there will be demand for 1-2 events per week, mostly lightweight formats (round-table discussions, lightning talks, update sharing) with occasional larger events.

Program design and evaluation

Input on how the Affiliates program runs. The overall responsibility for the program sits with the MD, though the RM is expected to be proactive in proposing ideas without being accountable for the program’s success.

Learning and development

Up to 10% of time in the role on general learning and development.

Non-responsibilities

The following would not be responsibilities:

• Line management of any researcher.
• Setting the research direction for affiliates.
• Running the Affiliates program. (Though the role could grow in this direction).
• Co-authoring research. (Though this would be considered).

Further, the RM is not responsible for any researcher’s performance, and won’t be asked to share with line managers or the MD anything they wouldn’t share with the researcher themselves. The RM’s function is to support Research Affiliates and research staff.

Who this suits

We think that this role would best suit someone who:

• Has enough research judgement to ask sharp questions and gauge whether a project is making progress. You do not need to be a senior researcher, or to be actively producing research yourself.
• Is proactive about making clear what they can offer, and self-aware about where they’re most useful.
• Is willing to be firm, and calibrated, in encouraging affiliates to take up what the RM offers rather than waiting to be asked. Follows through reliably on anything agreed with an affiliate.

Evaluation

Evaluation will partially consist of basic checks:

• 1:1 meetings happening at the agreed cadence with researchers
• Community events delivered roughly on the agreed cadence
• Feedback to researchers is given in a timely manner (typically within one working week)
• There is follow-through on any mutual agreed accountability with researchers

A major component of the evaluation will be via survey responses from the research affiliates, asking them how useful they find the RM’s input.

Finally, the MD’s judgement will be used:

• Is the feedback provided relevant and good quality?
• Is the RM steering affiliates in a productive direction?

Logistics

Location

Remote welcome. Long-run we’d prefer in-person presence in Oxford where we aim to locate UK-based conceptual researchers.

Hours and workload

Total hours scale with cohort size and are likely dominated by individual support.

We guess:

• Roughly 2-3 hours per week (meeting plus preparation and asynchronous communication) per opted-in researcher.
• Roughly 2-3 hours each per week for event planning and attendance (aiming for 1 to 2 events per week).
• 0.5 hour meeting every 2 weeks with the MD
• Plus up to 10% of your time for learning & development.

With four Affiliates, this would be 11 to 17 hours per week.

If demand from affiliates and staff is insufficient to justify the hours, we’d reduce hours or end the engagement.

Start date

Soon after the trial completes.

Compensation

£44/hour, including rolled-up holiday pay.

This rate accounts for the lighter benefits package associated with zero-hours engagement. If the workload becomes stable, we’re open to a part-time fixed-term contract with CLR’s standard benefits package. The salary would be determined in accordance with our compensation policy, for which London-based staff (absent any adjustments) have a salary £73,600 per year.

Benefits

• Access to CLR’s London or Oxford office space, with food and drinks provided.
• Pension contributions per UK auto-enrolment rules.
• Work-related travel reimbursed (e.g. travel to Oxford if based in London, or vice-versa)
• Office expenses
• Learning & development spending agreed ad hoc with the MD.

Application process

Please apply here by Sunday 9th August 23:59 Pacific Time. We will evaluate applications on a rolling basis, and may close applications early. The application process will likely consist of an interview followed by a trial.

Trial

The trial would span across two calendar weeks. In the trial you would:

• Meet at least two researchers at least twice.
• Provide written feedback on a research affiliate’s piece of research work and a project plan/proposal.

We’d expect the trial to take around 8-12 hours total work.

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