Research & operations-linked roles & projects

We are again considering application for the 'evaluation metrics/meta-science' role. We will also consider all applicants for our field specialist positions, and for roles that may come up in the future.

The potential roles discussed below combine research-linked work with operations and administrative responsibilities. Overall, this may include some combination of:

• Assisting and guiding the process of identifying strong and potentially impactful work in key areas, explaining its relevance, its strengths, and areas warranting particular evaluation and scrutiny

• Interacting with authors, recruiting, and overseeing evaluators

• Synthesizing and disseminating the results of evaluations and ratings

• Aggregating and benchmarking these results

• Helping build and improve our tools, incentives, and processes

• Curating outputs relevant to other researchers and policymakers

• Doing "meta-science" work

See also our field specialist team pool and evaluator pool. Most of these roles involve compensation/honorariums. See Advisory/team roles (research, management)

Possible role: Research and Evaluation Specialist (RES)

Possible role details

Potential focus areas include global health; development economics; markets for products with large externalities (particularly animal agriculture); attitudes and behaviors (altruism, moral circles, animal consumption, effectiveness, political attitudes, etc.); economic and quantitative analysis of catastrophic risks; the economics of AI safety and governance; aggregation of expert forecasts and opinion; international conflict, cooperation, and governance; etc.

Work (likely to include a combination of):

• Identify and characterize research (in the area of focus) that is most relevant for The Unjournal to evaluate

• Summarize the importance of this work, its relevance to global priorities and connections to other research, and its potential limitations (needing evaluation)

• Help build and organize the pool of evaluators in this area

• Assist evaluation managers or serve as evaluation manager (with additional compensation) for relevant papers and projects

• Synthesize and communicate the progress of research in this area and insights coming from Unjournal evaluations and author responses; for technical, academic, policy, and intelligent lay audiences

• Participate in Unjournal meetings and help inform strategic direction

• Liaise and communicate with relevant researchers and policymakers

• Help identify and evaluate prize winners

• Meta-research and direct quantitative meta-analysis (see "Project" below)

Desirable skills and experience:

Note: No single skill or experience is necessary independently. If in doubt, we encourage you to express your interest or apply.

• Understanding of the relevant literature and methodology (to an upper-postgraduate level) in this field or a related field and technical areas, i.e., knowledge of the literature, methodology, and policy implications

• Research and policy background and experience

• Strong communication skills

• Ability to work independently, as well as to build coalitions and cooperation

• Statistics, data science and "aggregation of expert beliefs"

Proposed terms:

• 300 hours (flexible, extendable) at $25–$55/hour USD (TBD, depending on experience and skills)

• This is a contract role, open to remote and international applicants. However, the ability to attend approximately weekly meetings and check-ins at times compatible with the New York timezone is essential.

Length and timing:

• Flexible; to be specified and agreed with the contractor.

• We are likely to hire one role starting in Summer 2023, and another starting in Autumn 2023.

• Extensions, growth, and promotions are possible, depending on performance, fit, and our future funding.

Express your interest here. (Nov. 2023: Note, we can not guarantee that we will be hiring for this role, because of changes in our approach.)