Research Manager

Research Manager

LASR Labs is hiring a Research Manager to help LASR run smoothly, serve as the programme’s most technically-oriented staff member, and help participants get the most out of their time in the programme.

This role focuses on research management and technical enablement. You'll help teams set goals, stay on track, get feedback, and support participants throughout the programme. On the technical side, you'll advise on tooling and compute, and run workshops on researching and coding more efficiently with AI tools. You'll also help evaluate project proposals and applicants' technical skills. We want someone who brings their own ideas, from how we support research to the tools we use, and has the initiative to act on them.

Supervisors will lead on research direction: this role bridges the gap between that research and the day-to-day technical work of the participants.

Application Deadline: Rolling

Start date: July to September 2026

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About LASR Labs

LASR Labs is a researcher training programme for engineers and scientists transitioning into AI safety research. Participants work in teams, supervised by experienced researchers, to deliver an academic paper and accompanying blog post making progress on a key problem in AI safety. The programme lasts 13 weeks and is based in London, where we plan to run three cohorts with over 100 participants in total per year.

Participants from our previous cohorts have secured full-time roles at the UK AI Security Institute, the OpenAI Preparedness team, Apollo Research, and other high-profile organisations. Previous LASR groups have published on important areas in AI safety, with supervisors from Google Deepmind, UK AISI and top UK universities. A significant portion of our papers are accepted to top ML conferences including 50% of papers in our spring 2025 cohort accepted to NeurIPS and even an oral presentation at NeurIPS 2025.

LASR Labs is a part of Arcadia Impact, a charity working to reduce risks posed by advanced AI through training and research programmes. In addition to LASR Labs, Arcadia Impact runs the AI Governance Taskforce and recently secured a grant from the UK AI Security Institute’s Alignment Project to launch a year-long research programme working with their alignment team.

You’ll play a central role in a growing, mission-driven programme at the heart of London’s AI safety community. You’ll be working closely with researchers and fellows, shaping their experience and enabling high-quality work. LASR is growing quickly and there may be opportunities to take on more responsibility as the organisation develops.

Responsibilities

This list is illustrative, not exhaustive; some responsibilities may be reallocated depending on the Manager’s strengths and development.

Research management

• Helping teams set goals, stay accountable, track progress, and prepare reports for the Programme Manager.

• Supporting participants through one-on-one meetings and facilitating feedback between teams, supervisors, and staff.

• Providing career coaching and connections to help participants move into high-impact work.

• Helping evaluate and give feedback on project proposals from supervisors.

Technical enablement

• Hands-on technical support: advising on tooling and occasionally debugging participants' code to unblock experiments.

• Running technical workshops and skill-development sessions, including on using AI tools to research and code more efficiently.

• Assessing the technical abilities of applicants to the programme.

• Helping participants manage compute resources and GPU clusters.

You'll also pitch in on the things that keep the programme running well, including candidate recruitment and helping deliver events and sessions.

Who we are looking for

All successful candidates will have:

• Hands-on technical experience sufficient to debug participants’ code, identify implementation issues, and suggest practical approaches.

• Familiarity with recent trends and progress in AI safety research.

• A solid understanding of how to use AI tools to augment engineering and research capabilities of participants.

• Strong organisational and project management skills.

• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to understand and refine the experience of supervisors and participants.

• Motivation to contribute to core issues in AI safety.

You will be a great fit if you have some of:

• Participated in a programme like MATS, Astra, LASR Labs, Pivotal, ERA, etc.

• Experience in programme/project management

• Experience in some of the following:

  • Research

  • Research management

  • Recruitment & hiring

  • Events management

• Strong, reasonable, evidence-based takes on AI Safety research directions

• Experience in publishing research papers and submitting to conferences

We are open to a range of applicants, and we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all of the requirements mentioned here.

Benefits of the Role

• Enable high-quality research and support the development of AI safety researchers.

• Deepen your understanding of cutting-edge AI safety research, gaining insights into the methodologies and strategies that drive impactful outcomes.

• Hone your management skills through hands-on experience in guiding researchers and projects toward success.

• Build valuable connections with leading experts and practitioners in the AI safety and broader research communities.

• Enjoy a collaborative work environment at the LISA/Impact First offices (catering and refreshments available), surrounded by driven individuals working toward shared goals.

• 25 days paid holiday per year, plus bank holidays.

• We provide a £5k-per-year professional development and productivity budget to help you work at your best.

Compensation and Logistics

£60,000 - £90,000 per year, based on experience.

This is a full-time role with Arcadia Impact and will be based in London working out of the LISA and Impact First offices. We are able to provide visa sponsorship for this role subject to eligibility requirements. If you have any questions about work permission, please contact us at contact@lasrlabs.org.

Arcadia Impact is an equal opportunity employer. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or you have any other questions about applying, please contact joe@arcadiaimpact.org. We are committed to a culture of inclusion and we encourage anyone from diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply.

LASR Labs is a project by Arcadia Impact, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number: 1212323)

Apply now