Join Rethink Priorities

Rethink Priorities often hires for research roles where we are relatively neutral about applicants’ seniority or experience. Because our research is interdisciplinary and relatively unique, we often don’t have specific background requirements. However, we want to recognize candidates’ past accomplishments, so we use the following title system for new research hires. When applying for a role that asks you to select a title, we strongly encourage you to choose based on these criteria. We will consider any candidate for any role, but more senior roles broadly require more research experience and knowledge.

While we use this system for external hires, staff can often move through our system without meeting these criteria — we tend to value experience at Rethink Priorities more highly than outside experience.

• Research Assistant / Associate Researcher: Less than two years of experience doing research similar to that required for the role.
• Research Analyst / Researcher: 2–4 years of research experience, and/or an advanced degree (such as a Master’s or PhD) in a relevant field. Graduate experience only counts toward the year requirement if your research was very similar to what you’ll do at Rethink Priorities.
• Senior Researcher / Senior Research Manager: 5–9 years conducting relevant research, and likely a terminal degree (such as a PhD) or equivalent additional experience.

For non-research roles, we will typically advertise jobs at particular levels, with salaries set on the same scale.

We use a transparent formula based on title level and experience. We do not negotiate salaries with any staff or applicants; this is by design to ensure fairness and consistency.

In most cases, yes, as long as you have local work authorization. However, we typically prefer candidates in American, European, or African time zones, since most of the team is based in these regions and some meetings occur during those working hours. Candidates outside these zones are still welcome to apply.

Current employees may apply for open roles. Internal candidates go through the same hiring process, and their applications are evaluated blindly alongside external candidates. To ensure fairness, we ask internal candidates not to share that they have applied with anyone outside the People and Culture team coordinating the hiring round.

We receive a large number of highly qualified applicants and can only advance a few people after each round due to time and budget constraints. We’re typically unable to provide individual feedback to candidates who are not selected to advance. For some roles, feedback is available upon request for those who reach the final stage. Roles at Rethink Priorities are competitive, even for highly qualified candidates. If you’re not selected, it usually reflects a very specific set of needs rather than a judgment on your ability. We encourage you to continue applying for other positions that suit your expertise, and we would certainly be happy to see your application for future openings at RP.

Our application forms request all the information we need. Unless explicitly requested, please do not include a cover letter, photograph, or personal information not relevant to the role (such as marital status, age, or identity traits). To ensure fairness, we ask that applicants not request meetings with hiring committee members during the process.

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