Research Director

Help shape the questions that matter in AI safety—and the research needed to answer them.

Syntony works across AI evaluation, security, and governance, connecting technical evidence to decisions about how AI systems are developed, deployed, and governed. We’re hiring a Research Director to lead our research agenda alongside the founder, develop researchers, and bring ambitious projects through to publication.

This is a role with substantial intellectual ownership. Your judgment will shape which questions we pursue, how we investigate them, and the standards our work must meet.

What you’ll do

• Set research priorities with the founder and translate them into focused projects with clear methods and milestones.
• Review proposals, study designs, analyses, and manuscripts, ensuring that claims are supported and limitations are explicit.
• Guide researchers in our Engineering and Humanitas fellowships and Research Affiliates Program.
• Mentor technical and interdisciplinary researchers, providing substantive feedback and bringing in specialist reviewers where needed.
• Oversee papers, reports, and conference submissions, including authorship discussions and responses to peer review.
• Work with engineers and our Trusted Red Team to turn evaluation findings into research questions and improvements to methods and tools.
• Establish sound practices for research ethics, data handling, documentation, and reproducibility.

What you’ll bring

• A substantial research record in AI safety, evaluation, security, governance, or a closely related field.
• A master’s degree in a field relevant to AI safety, security, evaluation, or governance is required. Candidates must have at least 5 years of relevant research experience, including experience leading research projects and/or mentoring researchers.
• Experience leading projects, mentoring researchers, and helping work reach completion.
• Strong judgment about research design, evidence, uncertainty, and methodological limits.
• Experience reviewing or editing research for publication or practical use.
• Clear writing, constructive feedback, and the ability to work across disciplines.

A PhD is not required. We value the quality of your research and your ability to guide others. Deep expertise in one or more relevant areas is welcome.

Arrangement

We’re considering part-time and full-time appointments, with scope matched to the agreed commitment. Compensation, schedule, location requirements, and responsibilities will be agreed in writing before acceptance.

Apply

Share your research, selected work, leadership experience, preferred arrangement, and availability through our Research Director application.

Questions: View email address on click.appcast.io