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Head of Research, reporting to the CEO. The lab already has depth in individual researchers; the work is building a research portfolio across them, hiring against it, and holding the timeline when product pressure arrives.
A frontier model lab building general-purpose foundation models. Series-A funded, run with a research-institute culture. Around 120 staff, of which roughly 70 are research or applied research. Reports a current training run in the high tens of millions of dollars range. The CEO is a published researcher and sets the research agenda directly.
We name a client on the mandate page only where the firm has approved publication. Where not named, the description above is intended to be enough for a senior candidate to recognise whether their pattern fits the brief.
Head of Research, reporting to the CEO. Newly created seat — the CEO has held this remit personally since founding and is now stepping back into a strategic role. The Head of Research will own the research agenda end-to-end: hiring, prioritisation, publication strategy, and the relationship between research and applied teams.
Direct line management of four research area leads (alignment, capabilities, evaluations, training infra). Indirect oversight of around 50 research and applied-research staff. Sits on the executive committee.
Strategic moment: the lab is moving from a single-stream training cadence to a portfolio of bets across capability and safety. The Head of Research needs to set the portfolio, defend it internally and externally, and run the research org with the patience that defence demands.
Location: London or San Francisco. The CEO is in London but the research org is split. Either base is workable; structured travel to the other is expected.
The lab already has depth in individual researchers; the work is building a research portfolio across them, hiring against it, and holding the timeline when product pressure arrives. The work is shaping and protecting other people's research rather than producing your own. The question is whether that is the work you want.
— Peter Wood, Partner & Chief Strategy Officer
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