I am hiring an Executive Research Assistant - improve RP while receiving mentorship

By Peter Wildeford @ 2023-08-29T12:31 (+59)

This is a linkpost to https://careers.rethinkpriorities.org/en/postings/8588ecc5-3e26-4086-bdb2-fe9a2eb43252

I’m Peter Wildeford, co-CEO at Rethink Priorities (RP). RP is a research and implementation group that identifies pressing opportunities to make the world better. We act upon these opportunities by developing and implementing strategies, projects and solutions to key issues. We do this work in close partnership with foundations and impact-focused non-profits.

I’m excited to be hiring a new Executive Research Assistant (ERA) role to work directly with me to help fill important gaps in RP’s needs, and keep me and my fellow co-CEO Marcus consistently informed and prepared. See more detail + apply here.

The work is incredibly varied and will give you a diversity of experience. Past ERA projects have included varied tasks such as creating a risk management framework for RP, summarizing relevant research papers, interviewing different relevant experts about how to tackle a particular problem, producing EA Forum summaries, responding to co-CEO inbound email correspondence in a timely and organized manner, and ensuring meetings with co-CEOs and others are scheduled.

Project selection is adaptable to the candidate’s interests and can fit more junior candidates (eg. more scheduling) and more senior candidates (eg. more research, project management, or stakeholder outreach).
 

The role also comes with significant career mentoring. In fact, the reason we are hiring for this role is that past people in this position have already moved on to significant more senior roles at RP. As your manager I will meet with you regularly to understand your career goals, help you test fit for various roles, and put you on a path to success. The work itself will also build varied skills and connections within the organization and potentially some of our external stakeholders. 

Some fast facts about the role:

• Deadline to apply - September 17
• Role is permanent, full or part time with a minimum of 20hrs/week
• The role is remote and we are able to hire in most countries
• The compensation is $69,000 - $87,000 USD/year depending on experience (the amount is calculated using RP’s salary algorithm and is dependent on prior relevant experience and corresponding title level)
• See more detail + apply here.
   

A pitch for applying:

• You could make an immediate impact on a large organization at the CEO level
• Work at RP influences the decision-making of major foundations spending hundreds of millions of dollars
• You will receive useful career mentorship and the opportunity to test fit and build skills for a variety of future roles based on your interests
• Good work-life balance, generous paid time off leave, and generous benefits including parental leave of up to 6 months during the first 2 years after, or split before and after post a child’s birth or adoption for parents of all genders
   

Prior people holding this role have said:

• “I can say from first-hand experience that this is a great job—You get to do important, interdisciplinary work, and the Co-CEOs are super supportive of you finding and developing your own strengths”
• "This role was fantastic for helping me build up relevant subject matter expertise and test fit for roles that would have been difficult to enter directly. There's also a lot of chances for direct impact - your ideas are listened to, and there's lots of autonomy such that the way you approach things and the specific skills you bring will make a real difference to outcomes of the projects you take on."
   

This role would be ideal for candidates who demonstrate:

• Strong writing skills, especially the ability to write concisely yet accurately
• Ability to accurately and quickly interpret research from a wide variety of fields, including fields you are not initially familiar with
• Strong organizational skills
• Comfort with statistical reasoning
• Ability to give upward feedback
• Reliability
• Flexibility to work across a wide variety of areas and tasks
• Comfort with ambiguity
• Ability to represent RP and the co-CEOs well in internal and external meetings

RP is committed to building an inclusive, equitable, and supportive community for you to thrive and do your best work. Please don’t hesitate to apply for a role regardless of your age, gender identity/expression, political identity, personal preferences, physical abilities, veteran status, neurodiversity or any other background. We provide reasonable accommodations and benefits, including flexible work schedules and locations, mental health coverage in medical benefits (as available), as well as technology budgets and professional development time that can be used, for example, to purchase assistive technology or engage in job coaching. 
 

You can apply here.
 

Also, I am hosting a webinar to answer questions about the role on September 8 at 11am EST. If you’d like, you can register here and pre-submit questions via Slido here. The webinar will be recorded and made available here afterwards.