Research Assistant - Global Catastrophic Risks

ABOUT US:

At Founders Pledge, our mission is to empower entrepreneurs to do immense good. Since launching in 2015, we’ve raised over $10 billion for the most impactful social causes. We offer the simplest path to impact for successful entrepreneurs, providing end-to-end giving infrastructure, pioneering research, and access to a worldwide network of experts. In other words, we help tech leaders become strategic philanthropists. Our 1800+ members include the people behind industry-leading companies such as Airbnb, UiPath, Dropbox, Skype, Spotify, and Uber.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

We’re looking for aResearch Assistant - Global Catastrophic Risks (up to 30 hours per week) to help us identify and evaluate high-impact funding opportunities to enable our members (HNW entrepreneurs) to give as effectively as possible. You’ll join our Research Team, who provide recommendations across a range of cause areas as follows: (1) the long-term future of humanity, (2) helping the current generation & people living today, (3) animal welfare. 

Our aim is to provide the highest-impact funding opportunities across these areas. Reporting to a Researcher, you’ll have an active interest in effective giving and you’ll be ‘cause neutral’, with a focus on impact maximization. This is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that the most funds possible are donated to the most high-impact causes globally. 

YOU’LL ASSIST WITH:

• Cause area investigations: Investigations into the most pressing problem areas that seek to identify the most cost-effective approaches of tackling them, and to recommend funding opportunities that implement those approaches, sometimes leading to a cause area report that we publish on our website.

• Funding opportunity investigations: Individual investigations into promising funding opportunities to see if they meet our bar for recommendation, feeding into a report or other internal or external materials.

• Shallow investigations: Internal investigations of less than a week into a particular problem area or methodological question relevant to our research.

• Other team support tasks, including:

  • Quantifying the amount of funding in particular cause areas.

  • Creating models and theories of change to assist researchers.

  • Literature reviews and summaries.

  • Copy-editing.

• Finally (and importantly) you will be helping to shape our Global Catastrophic Risks Fund, through aiding with key tasks in grantmaking decisions.

ABOUT YOU: 

Although we’re open to candidates from a variety of different backgrounds, we’re especially keen to speak to those with experience in research relevant to global catastrophic risks, such as a background in international security, US-China relations, biosecurity, nuclear issues, AI governance, and more.

You’re likely to have:

• A commitment to social impact with a strong understanding of impact maximization and the nuances of charity evaluation. 

• Excellent analytical skills: Comfort working with quantitative tools and concepts.

• Good calibration: Knowledge of the extent of your own knowledge, and a good sense of how confident you should be in your beliefs.

• Intellectual curiosity and openness: A willingness to consider alternative points of view, to follow good arguments wherever they lead, and an openness to changing your mind.

• Clear writing: The ability to express nuanced evidence and complex concepts in a clear way.

• Conscientiousness and prioritization: A willingness to work hard and to focus time on top priorities.

• Good judgment: For example, the ability to decide how long to spend on a project, or on what sections to include in a report.

• The ability to work well with others, to communicate honestly and directly, and to be open to feedback.

• Willingness to work in a high-growth, dynamic startup environment and comfortable with ambiguity.

• An interest in global catastrophic risks. 

WHY WORK WITH US?

You can find more about the benefits we offer here, but what makes us truly special is both our mission and our people. We’re a diverse team, from both charitable and commercial backgrounds, who believe that amazing things can happen when we tackle problems together. We offer a flat structure and an opportunity to help shape the future of philanthropy.

We bring the global team together once per year for a global offsite. This is a week of collaborative learning, ideas generation and socializing. In addition to this, each team has the opportunity to meet together at least once per year. 

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at Founders Pledge. We seek people with different strengths, experiences and backgrounds, who share our drive to understand and solve complex social challenges. 

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Finding solutions to the world’s most pressing problems requires different perspectives and unique ways of thinking and we are committed to building an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone can do their best work.