Head of Research & Editorial

About FirstworkLabour markets are broken. Millions of people are ready to work and can't start. Screening, right-to-work checks, contracts, onboarding and scheduling still run across disconnected systems, with hundreds of manual decisions in between.

Firstwork builds AI agents that run frontline workforce operations end to end. We activate hundreds of thousands of workers a month globally for some of the world's largest employers and staffing firms, working forward-deployed inside the customer's operation. Backed by Y Combinator and Gradient (Google’s AI fund), with offices in New York, and London and Dubai opening this year.Why this roleFrontline labour markets are badly measured.

Governments publish unemployment and vacancy statistics. Nobody publishes a credible number for how long it takes to get a qualified person from application to first shift, what that delay costs, or how much of it is regulatory rather than operational.We see activation at scale, across sectors and jurisdictions, so we can measure what nobody else can. Publishing it sets the terms of the debate, gives policymakers something real to work with, and gives our commercial teams something better than a pitch deck.

The standard we are aiming at is work a member of government or tier one investor forwards along to their colleagues.What you'll doSet the research agendaWrite and publish flagship reports and white papersOwn editorial standards across everything Firstwork publishesBuild data stories with our data and engineering teamsLead policy engagement on European labour and employment regulationProduce the CEO's long-form writing and speaking materialBuild partnerships with academics, institutions and industry bodiesManage a Content Producer who turns the research into video, graphics, podcasts and report design

What We're Looking For

Seven or more years in research, journalism, think tanks, policy, or a strategy function producing original published workA portfolio with at least one piece that changed how someone thought about a subjectQuantitative comfort. You can interrogate a dataset and recognise when it won't support the claim you want to makeReal interest in labour markets, migration, regulation or the economics of workThe spine to hold a line on accuracy when there is commercial pressure not toEditorial judgement. You can commission, edit and improve other people's workUse of AI across the research process, on the understanding that it raises the verification bar rather than lowering itThis is a rare opportunity for a serious writer and content creator to help shape the future of work at a high-growth, well-funded company with strong opinions about what the world should look like in the age of AI.

If the idea of running a research desk on a dataset nobody else has access to excites you, send us your best work.Firstwork is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected status.Find Jobs in United Kingdom on Arbeitnow