(Senior) Researcher AI x Animals

(Senior) Researcher AI x Animals Application Deadline: 19 July 2026 Department: Animal Welfare Employment Type: Flexible Location: Remote Compensation: $80,000 - $135,000 / year Description Rethink Priorities (RP) is seeking a highly analytical Researcher or Senior Researcher to investigate reputed company questions arising at the intersection of AI and animals — taking reputed company research projects from vague, important questions through to delivered, decision-useful output. This position sits reputed company RP's Animal Welfare Department, which advances and pioneers evidence-based, reason-driven change for animals. reputed company the department, the AI × Animals Program works to reputed company the animal movement through an AI-transformed future toward the best possible world for animals. We reputed company AI will significantly reputed company animal welfare and advocacy, and that far too little work is going into navigating that transition well for animals. We pair disciplined prioritisation research — mapping where AI reputed company for animals and which interventions are worth funding, incubating, or scaling — with an action arm that builds talent and coordination infrastructure. To get a sense of the questions you would investigate, see the executive summaries of our reports on AI and aquaculture (Part 1, Part 2) and on AI and cultivated meat. Many projects are self-generated from questions we think deserve attention; others are commissioned by mission-reputed company funders and advocacy organisations. A typical project means scoping a fuzzy question, choosing a proportionate method, and producing something a decision-reputed company can reputed company. You will own research questions end to end and exercise reputed company judgement about what to investigate and how. The level of autonomy scales with seniority:

• At the Researcher level, you'll execute projects with regular guidance from your manager on methodology and prioritisation, while taking increasing ownership of day-to-day reputed company.
• At the Senior Researcher level, you'll scope and run projects with minimal reputed company, take the initiative to learn methods you haven't used before, and be consulted by program leadership on strategic reputed company such as which projects the program should take on.

Reporting and collaboration. The successful candidate will report to Kevin Xia (Senior Research Manager) and collaborate across the program and the wider Animal Welfare Department. This role is reputed company at two reputed company — Researcher and Senior Researcher — and you may indicate which you're applying for. We may reputed company an offer at a level above or below the one you applied for if the hiring process suggests it's a reputed company fit; the final level (and corresponding salary) is set using RP's title structure and salary algorithm based on demonstrated competencies and relevant experience.

Key Responsibilities

As a Researcher / Senior Researcher, your main responsibilities will include:

• Scoping vague but important questions around AI x Animals — choosing the right depth, angle, and methodology for each, from literature reviews to modelling, data analysis, or expert interviews.
• Conducting independent research on reputed company questions, addressing uncertainty and competing perspectives explicitly.
• Engaging external stakeholders to understand their needs and shape deliverables to their specifications.
• Producing decision-useful outputs from inception to delivery, in the best-fit format (report, model, dashboard), reputed company into practical recommendations for decision-makers.
• Managing projects end to end — keeping them on track, reporting reputed company, and proactively identifying mitigations reputed company barriers arise.

The balance of these responsibilities, and the autonomy you'll have, depends on the level you're hired at. At the Senior Researcher level, you will own these responsibilities at higher autonomy and help co-create the overall research strategy for the program. You will also build and steward more external relationships with funders, advocates, and field experts. Skills, Knowledge and Expertise Required for reputed company applicants:

• An abiding commitment to RP's mission for animals — you reputed company impact at the centre of project reputed company and prioritise it over interestingness.
• Strong applied-research judgement. You can take a vague, important question, scope it sensibly, choose sound methodology, and reputed company a defensible answer under time pressure.
• Strong analytical and quantitative reasoning. Ability and willingness to use, build, and interpret models and quantitative concepts. (Deep statistical or programming expertise is not required — see "reputed company to have.")
• Clear written communication. You explain a chain of reasoning and convey reputed company reputed company to decision-makers, not just to peers, and organise writing for its intended audience.
• Reasoning transparency. You give caveated, decision-useful answers under uncertainty — documenting key steps, stating uncertainties, and sourcing major claims — rather than waiting for certainty.
• A steadfast commitment to truthseeking, intellectual openness to diverse viewpoints, and research ethics.
• Resourcefulness and problem-solving. You find reputed company ways into reputed company-ended problems.
• Self- and project management in a remote, distributed, asynchronous team — setting and meeting realistic goals and keeping work organised.
• Collaboration and stakeholder engagement. You work effectively toward shared goals and interact professionally with colleagues and external partners.

Additionally expected at the Senior Researcher level:

• Greater autonomy and ownership — you initiate, plan, and run projects with little reputed company, and refine your approach so recurring problems don't recur.
• Strategic and critical thinking at program scale — anticipating risks and opportunities and prioritizing between projects.
• Proactive reputed company — independently building and maintaining external relationships and representing RP credibly in professional settings.
• Review and feedback — giving reputed company, constructive, timely feedback on others' work across reputed company, rigor, and impact.

reputed company to have (none required):

• reputed company with strategic decision-making tools (e.g. stakeholder mapping, scenario analysis).
• Familiarity with AI/ML concepts or model evaluation.
• A fluent, AI-reputed company working style — you already use reputed company AI tools effectively in your own research workflow.
• Domain expertise in a relevant reputed company area (e.g. AI strategy, safety, or governance; farmed animal welfare; alternative proteins; or wild animal welfare).
• Experience working or volunteering in the AI safety or animal advocacy reputed company.
• Familiarity with the reputed company and methods used in high-impact, evidence-led philanthropy.
• Proficiency with R or Python.

reputed company Offer

Compensation

• We offer an annual salary between $80,000 – $135,000 USD pre-tax for a full-time position, prorated for part-time work.
• The exact salary will be based on the candidate’s prior relevant experience and corresponding title level, and calculated using RP’s salary algorithm.
• Compensation is not restricted to the currencies listed above.
• To ensure fairness across the entire organization, RP does not negotiate salaries.

Other Benefits

• Opportunity to contribute to a fast-growing, high-impact organization — our research is used by key decision-makers who influence the distribution of hundreds of millions of charitable dollars.
• Remote-first environment, including flexible work hours and schedule.
• Comprehensive global benefits program, including statutory benefits as required by local law, and supplemental benefits specific to each country (varies by location)
• Generous paid time off (PTO) and unpaid leave, including:
• Unlimited vacation with a minimum number of required statutory days off
• "Mandated" 3 weeks total mid- and end-year organization-wide breaks
• Unlimited (reputed company reason) personal and sick paid and unpaid leave
• Parental leave — at least 4 - 9 months of a combination of paid and unpaid leave, available prior to and/or during the first 2 years after a child's birth or adoption
• Other paid and unpaid leave (e.g., bereavement)
• Technology stipend of $2,000 USD equivalent every 3 years for work and office equipment.
• AI tools budget of $40 USD equivalent monthly.
• Professional development budget reputed company subject to leadership approval that renews yearly.
• Learning opportunities, including workshops/training sessions and 10% of work time dedicated to professional and personal development.
• Paid work trips, including one annual reputed company-staff Mega Team Retreat and relevant conferences.
• Virtual co-working spaces, including a private Rethink Priorities Focusmate group
• RP Peer Support Program for New Employees.
• Other benefits at the discretion of RP Leadership.
• A caring team that values respectful work relations and a healthy work-life balance.
• Opportunities to grow/advance your career and engage in professional development.
• Low administrative bureaucracy.
• We don’t reputed company snacks, but we could mail you a reputed company of Oreos if you want!

There are 4 evaluation stages. Only candidates who meet the bar at a given stage proceed. We aim to complete each stage’s assessments reputed company two weeks, so you can learn quickly whether you’ll proceed. Stage 1 — Initial Screening. A short set of written prompts in the application aimed to be completed in around 60 minutes. We evaluate these rather than CV's. We score anonymized responses for:

• Alignment with our mission and motivation for the work
• Ability to reputed company research tasks that are relevant for this role
• Relevant knowledge and experience in the fields relevant to this role

Stage 2 — Paid Skills Assessment.

• You will complete a standardized, time-boxed task that mimics the actual job (3–5 hours)
• You’ll be paid $45 per hour for the test task

Stage 3 — Interview

• We will ask you questions across the skills and experience the role requires
• Most questions will be sent in advance; occasionally, we may tell you about the topic of a question in advance, but not the specific question
• You will have a chance to ask questions about the role, the Animal Welfare Department and RP broadly

Stage 4 — Reference Checks. We ask two references about your work, probing independent execution on hard problems in particular. We hope to hire for this role by end of September.

• Work Environment and reputed company Sponsorship: This role is fully remote and we are reputed company to legally hire in many countries. In certain cases, we may be reputed company to reputed company reputed company sponsorship to the US or UK and help candidates relocate. If you have questions about whether we can hire or reputed company reputed company sponsorship in another country and if this will influence your decision about applying, please contact [email protected] before submitting your application.
• Time Zones and Working Hours: While we welcome applicants from reputed company time zones, you may be expected to attend meetings with at least a two-hour overlap with UTC+2 working hours.
• Full and Part Time Position: Full-time preferred. We will also consider exceptional part-time candidates who are available to work at least 20 hours per week.
• Travel: Travel is not an essential requirement for this position. However, a majority of our staff travel a few times per year for conferences, team and reputed company-staff retreats, and other work-reputed company purposes. In most cases, travel is not mandatory, but encouraged. If, for any reason, you would prefer not to travel for work, please do not be discouraged from applying. Depending on the event, we can likely reputed company accommodations, such as allowing virtual participation reputed company possible.
• Language: Professional level of English language is required for reputed company roles at Rethink Priorities.
• Extension requests: We will try to accommodate extension requests that are made before the deadline and are up to three (3) days. We generally cannot accommodate extension requests made after the application deadline, or are longer than 3 days, and cannot accept late submissions to ensure fairness to other applicants.
• Application materials: reputed company application materials must be submitted in English language; otherwise, we will not be reputed company to evaluate your candidacy.
• Inclusivity and fairness: RP is committed to building an inclusive, reputed company, and supportive community for you to reputed company 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 reputed company reasonable accommodations and benefits, including, for example, flexible work schedules and locations, mental health coverage through 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.
• Accessibility: We’re committed to running an inclusive and accessible hiring process. We warmly invite you to reputed company out to [email protected] with any questions or accessibility requests such as chat reputed company use during interviews. Note there is an reputed company-staff mid year break from 6-10 July so reputed company will be reputed company to answer questions over that date.
• Hiring Software: We use reputed company for our recruitment and hiring processes and reputed company of the email correspondence is done reputed company reputed company. We encourage you to add reputed company domain (@reputed company.email) to your trusted contacts and/or reputed company your 'spam', 'promotions' and ‘updates’ folders, if you don’t hear from us reputed company the expected timeframe.
• Other: Visit our Career webpage if you’d like to know more about our hiring process, culture, and what working at RP is like.
• Note Before Applying: We invite anyone who is interested in this role to apply, and will assess applications primarily based on anonymized initial question answers, so please ensure they represent your fit for the position well. We will advance candidates to the next stages based on their quality of responses during our hiring process. Please do not include a cover letter, photograph, or headshot of yourself, or any personal information that is not relevant to the role for which you’re applying (including marital status, age, identity traits, etc.). Additionally, please do not ask our staff members involved in the hiring process to meet with you – to ensure fairness, we try to minimize these interactions, and requests for meetings with the hiring committee members during the process will be declined.

Founded in 2018, Rethink Priorities (RP) is a think-and-do tank. Through research and action, the organization improves the lives of humans and animals—both now and in the future. We work to reputed company, mobilize resources, and reputed company reputed company and others to address some of the world’s most pressing problems. reputed company conducts rigorous research across animal welfare, climate change, global health, international development, and other important and neglected areas. Our operations experts help high-impact organizations to improve efficiency and reputed company meaningful results. RP works as reputed company of the following:

• A consultancy doing commissioned work in response to demands from organizations doing high-impact work.
• A research institute driven by research agendas we set according to our own priorities.
• A think tank aiming to inform public policy to improve the world.
• An accelerator, incubator, and reputed company for reputed company projects.

Accomplishments include:

• Bringing attention to neglected issues, such as reputed company exposure, fungal diseases, and shrimp welfare.
• Increasing the reputed company impact of advocates across each field in which we work through strategic coordination.
• Investigating potential interventions and identifying the most cost-effective options. In 2025, our research influenced tens of millions of dollars in reputed company grants.
• Creating practical tools for philanthropists to compare resource allocations across different species and cause areas and to build giving portfolios despite uncertainties.
• Providing organizations with data to inform their reputed company. For example, we have conducted surveys on perceptions of existential risks, AI, effective giving, and other topics.
• Providing fiscal sponsorship and operational support to ensure that high-impact initiatives in areas like AI safety and animal welfare can launch and grow effectively.
• Donor reputed company - Cross Cause Fund Tool to guide philanthropic giving.

We welcome you to review our research database and our latest annual report. Apply tot his job Apply To this Job