Expression of interest: writer/researcher

80,000 Hours’ mission and impact

80,000 Hours’ mission is to get talented people working on the world’s most pressing problems.

We currently focus on explaining why and how our audience can help society safely navigate a transition to a world with transformative AI.

With more writers, we can help more people find careers aimed at making AGI go well, and have a big positive impact in those roles. For example, you might write an article on what it takes to be a successful nonprofit founder, or on the pros and cons of trying to work on AI safety from within an AI company. We think these pieces could help people make better decisions about their careers, but we don’t yet have the capacity to create them.

Over four million people visit our website each year, and thousands of people have told us that they’ve significantly changed their career plans due to our work. Surveys conducted by Coefficient Giving show that 80,000 Hours is the biggest driver of talent moving into work related to reducing global catastrophic risks. And thanks to its wide reach, the web programme is among our most cost-effective programmes.

The role

We’re looking for people who could excel in either or both of two overlapping profiles:

• Combining strong writing skills with research, with a greater focus on investigating more complex topics and articles.
• Managing other writers or other team members alongside the normal duties of a writer/researcher (or growing into a management position over the first year or so, depending on your initial experience)

In both cases, you’d do things like:

• Research and write new articles, to explain particular issues within AI risk reduction for a popular audience (like digital minds or AI-enabled human power grabs) or guides for succeeding in specific careers (like AI policy or pandemic prevention).
  • Our research involves a blend of diving into dense academic work, interviewing people with experience in relevant fields, and reading first-person accounts of what it’s like to work in a particular role.
• Provide comments and suggestions to improve pieces by teammates or external contributors; you’ll also manage external contributors during the writing process.
• Update and rewrite articles with new information, or to reach new audiences.
• Write and edit email newsletters for an audience of over 500,000 people.
• Write and update popular “landing pages” like our AGI or pressing problems pages, which receive 10,000+ visitors/month.

Who we’re looking for

In short, we’re looking for strong writers who understand the AI risk landscape and who can create excellent content that will help people have a bigger positive impact with their careers.

In slightly more words, you might be a great fit if you have:

• Strong knowledge of catastrophic risks from AI, and ideally other concepts within effective altruism.
• At least some experience in writing, research, or communications focused on AI or EA.
• A track record of compelling and informed writing on any topic:
  • You can turn research notes or a bare-bones brief into prose that is simultaneously interesting, easy to read, accurate, and clear — and maybe even funny.
  • You can zero in on the most important information for career decisions, despite the complex and changing situation around our top priority problems. When experts disagree, you can provide a nuanced take that helps readers understand both sides.
• Interest in adopting whatever tools and resources are helpful, including LLMs, to create more and better content (while maintaining a high bar for quality and accuracy).
• The flexibility to work on whatever projects are the highest priority in a fast-paced and collaborative environment, including smaller projects with quick turnarounds (e.g. newsletters or Substack posts about recent events)
• A good fit with our cultural values.
  • For example, because we are a small team with ambitious goals, we often pitch in to help each other with major projects; we really value teamwork, kindness, cooperation, and good communication!

The role’s responsibilities are highly varied, particularly in how much research they require. We’re especially excited about candidates who can do both excellent writing and excellent research, or who can manage other writers even as they carry out their own projects.

Helpful backgrounds include AI-related research and communication, UX writing, EA nonprofits, think tanks, academic or nonprofit research, frequent personal writing (Substack, Twitter, etc.), journalism, nonfiction writing, podcasting, and social science research.

We’re aware that factors like gender, race, and socioeconomic background can affect people’s willingness to apply for roles. We’d like to especially encourage people from underrepresented backgrounds to apply!

Salary, hours, location, and benefits

The salary will vary based on experience, location, and the responsibilities you take on, and will be calculated using a formula that is transparent to all primary staff at 80,000 Hours. UK candidates would likely start at £91,196–£122,056 per year, and US candidates at $130,961–$197,868/year.

Staff can work flexible hours. We encourage staff to work whatever schedule will allow them to be most personally effective (consistent with full time status).

We’re especially interested in people who can work in the US, and especially from Berkeley, CA (where several staff are located), but do not have a strict location requirement. We are a remote-friendly team, and have a London office as well as access to a shared office in Berkeley. We can’t guarantee US visas. For Canadian, Mexican, or Australian nationals, we have a very strong chance of being able to sponsor a visa; for others, it’s less likely. We can sponsor a UK visa for candidates who prefer to work from the UK.

Our US benefits package is:

• 25 days of paid holiday, plus US public holidays
• Up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year, in addition to holiday
• Private medical insurance with substantial coverage for your dependents (including your partner)
• Long-term disability insurance
• Business travel insurance
• Retirement plan with employer contributions
• Up to 14 weeks of fully paid parental leave and childcare allowance for children under five
• $6,000 annual mental health support allowance
• $6,000 annual self-development budget
• The option to use 10% of your time for self-development

Our UK benefits package is similar.