About the PRI

The PRI is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. It works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. The PRI acts in the long-term interests of its signatories, of the financial markets and economies in which they operate and ultimately of the environment and society as a whole. The PRI is truly independent. It encourages investors to use responsible investment to enhance returns and better manage risks but does not operate for its own profit; it engages with global policymakers but is not associated with any government; it is supported by, but not part of, the United Nations.

Working at the PRI provides an opportunity to engage with highly motivated, culturally diverse professionals on a wide range of cutting-edge issues, such as health through the lens of sustainable finance, corporate purpose, and achieving sustainability outcomes. The PRI provides scope for development at all levels with opportunities for project leadership and management working alongside some of the most influential signatories and leaders across financial markets and economies. In combination with a supportive culture that encourages continuous learning and flexible working policies, PRI is a highly engaging place to work on truly transformative issues.

Job Description

The PRI's research programme supports and develops innovative responsible investment research, showcases research findings for an investor audience and convenes a vibrant, global community of or 12,000 academics and investors through the Academic Network. This is an exciting opportunity to join an ambitious and successful team working on a wide and far-reaching agenda. 

The successful candidate will support the development and day-to-day management of the PRI’s global Academic Network, related resources and their communication. The role will be the first point of contact and support the development of a new major initiative that will provide a substantial grant to an academic institution, after a competitive process, for the purpose of funding primary research that would benefit investment practices, behaviours and systems; support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, or to increase the spread of RI research with collaborations with universities from emerging markets. More information about the Academic Research Programme can be found on our website.

The role reports to the Head of Research. 

Core Responsibilities:

• Supporting the development and initiation of a new major PRI grant funding initiative on responsible investment for applied research by academia

• Supporting the dissemination of the initiative and the competitive process to select a university from applications from around the world

• Supporting the governance groups and stakeholders of the initiative, e.g., thought leaders, previous PRI CEOs, the Head of Research and other staff members such as Communications, university research offices, contract and legal departments as well as faculty, and other academic networks

• Maintaining and developing the Academic Network in terms of understanding its composition and segmentation, strategies for growth, engagement and communication

• Supporting research knowledge transfer

• Coordinating the delivery of newsletters and blogs, e.g. liaising with authors, Communications and Design, seeking signoffs and inputting into digital marketing platforms

• Drafting communications, e.g. briefings of academic research papers that accurately and succinctly distil the findings, implications and relevance for investors; summary text to accompany newsletters, webinars, blogs

• Supporting the delivery of Academic Network events in terms of event logistics

• Marketing the resources of the programme to relevant internal and external stakeholders

• Monitoring and collecting usage of resources, e.g. website hit rates via Google Analytics

• Day-to-day management of CRM systems, Salesforce in particular

• Maintaining good working relationships academics and investors

• The role may also involve ad-hoc administrative and project support to broader Academic Research priorities

• Regular reporting to the Head of Research as required.

Core Competencies:

PRI expects roles at a ‘Associate level’ within the organisation to demonstrate skills across the following core competencies:

Analytical

• Incorporates the fullest range of information available into analysis and decision making​

• Uses appropriate technical processes/systems to develop and evaluate options in an effective and time-efficient manner ​

• Assimilates data to draws out relevant insights and findings from analyses​

• Identifies opportunities and risks to feed into decision making ​

• Presents analyses in an appropriate format providing clear and concise recommendations

Business Awareness

• Understands, and always works towards, the mission and the aims of the PRI​

• Is curious about what is happening in other parts of the PRI​

• Is Signatory centric – seeks to understand, listen, and respond to Signatory needs​

• Understands own teams’ objectives and seeks to internalise them in own activities ​

• Understands who does what at the PRI and uses the knowledge to complete activities

Collaborative

• Approachable, credible, and willing whenever engaging with colleagues​

• Actively and appropriately seeks input from others ​

• Focuses on interacting with colleagues in a positive and open manner​

• Listens to what colleagues are saying, considers from different perspectives and tailor’s responses accordingly

Communicative

• Writes succinctly and clearly tailoring level of detail to the requirements of the end user​

• Communicates clearly and precisely and able to convey thinking comprehensively​

• Provides regular, clear, and concise communications to manager, colleagues, or other relevant people to keep updated on activities​

• Structures and prepares well-written, logical outputs with limited guidance and editing​

Developmental

• Demonstrates self-awareness actively seeks feedback from others and acts upon it​

• Explores new ideas with an inquisitive mind ​

• Questions the status quo and suggests new ideas ​

• Seeks out opportunities to drive continuous improvements in ways of working​

• Open-minded attitude which welcomes change and new ideas

Structured

• Prioritises and organises time effectively, focussing on the key organisational priorities​

• Develops ways of working and processes to execute and improve efficiency across the PRI​

• Methodically tackles problems, working with colleagues where necessary​

• Takes account of the needs of other colleagues and/or Signatories when considering how to execute a piece of work​

Technical Competencies and Experience:

• The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with proven experience to extract and understand technical reports

• Community-building experience, ideally in academia and/or the financial sector

• Excellent coordination skills working across multiple stakeholders, priorities, deadlines and levels of seniority

• Excellent database and knowledge management skills

• Good marketing skills and experience of tools and platforms, including Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, Google Analytics

• Good people skills, with the ability to get on well as part of a small team and have a proactive attitude

• A collaborative and flexible approach to working with others

We particularly welcome candidates from under-represented groups, including Black, Asian, and other people of colour, those with visible or non-visible disabilities, LGBTQ+ candidates and those who are neurodivergent.