About IMD
The Institute for Management Development (IMD) is an independent academic institution with Swiss roots and global reach, founded 75 years ago by business leaders for business leaders. Since its creation, IMD has been a pioneering force in developing leaders who transform organizations and contribute to society.
Based in Lausanne (Switzerland) and Singapore, IMD has been ranked in the Top 3 of the annual FT’s Executive Education Global Ranking for the last nine consecutive years and in the top five for 17 consecutive years. Our MBA and EMBA programs have repeatedly been singled out among the best in Europe and the world.
We believe that this consistency at the forefront of our industry is grounded in IMD’s unique approach to creating “Real Learning. Real Impact”. Led by an expert and diverse faculty, we strive to be the trusted learning partner of choice for ambitious individuals and organizations worldwide. Our purpose is “Challenging what is and inspiring what could be, we develop leaders who transform organizations and contribute to society.”
To reinforce our team, we are looking for a
Senior Research Writer – Governance (100%)
Under the direction of the Center Director and Founder Chaired Professor Didier Cossin, the postholder will research and write on key areas of development of governance, notably on how to improve governance practices towards stewardship and performance through engagement.
The IMD Global Board Center undertakes pioneering research into the diverse dimensions of governance challenges. We address real-world issues in ways that can be used by boards to improve their performance and play a strategic role in their company’s success. Our insights and thought leadership not only provide innovative material for our board education programs but help set the agenda for better board practices and governance at large. Most governance research and education focusses on executive control – but misses the active role of boards in contributing to company management and governance. The IMD
Global Board Center takes a different approach, with the express aim of developing boards into the competitive advantage that the complexity of today’s world requires.
In order to strengthen our content creation and delivery across platforms visible to current and aspiring board members, we are now recruiting a Senior Research Writer.
Key Activities
The primary responsibility of the position is to conduct and communicate research on the topic of governance including effective board work in all kinds of organizations and governance impact on performance for example in investments or engagement. A possible development of the role will involve interviewing board members, executives and key stakeholders about their practices and derive relevant and actionable governance insights from these interactions. This will involve analyzing the learnings and writing up the results.
An important responsibility will be to translate the research insights into outputs of various forms geared at both academic and practitioner audiences. The assignments could result in a variety of outputs, including practitioner papers, articles for managerial publications (such as Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review (case studies, toolkits, simulations, newspaper and magazine articles, reports, books, videos, podcasts and learning materials that IMD Faculty members will be able to use in IMD programs.
Candidates can present experience or expertise in more specific governance areas such as investments (ESG notably), stakeholder engagement, human capital, geopolitics, board practices, stewardship and others.
The Senior Research Writer has a high level of responsibility for driving projects and delivering high quality outputs. The Researcher will work the Center Director and other members of the Center. S/he will be involved in multiple concurrent projects.
The role includes the following key responsibilities:
- Delivering quality outputs in line with Director’s expectations and IMD’s standards with potential targets of FT50 practitioner oriented articles.
- Making sure that output is delivered on time.
- Writing case studies, articles, book chapters, reports, learning materials and other relevant types of outputs.
- Providing proactive ideas and suggestions that will lead to new ways of thinking or new ways of presenting research material.
- Building good working relationship with internal clients, primarily Faculty members, professional support departments, as well as external clients such as executives at senior levels of companies involved in a research project (for example, case companies).
- Managing expectations and driving the project throughout the research assignment.
Ideal profile
- Business experience ideally (5+ years) in a role requiring analytical, writing, and conceptual skills
- Full fluency in English (written and spoken) at a native level or equivalent. Additional language an asset, especially French.
- Excellent writing, communication and interpersonal skills.
- At ease conducting interviews with senior executives.
- Experience writing for senior audiences and/or experience in business journalism.
- Strong research skills (data gathering, interviewing, hypothesis building, analysis, use of online sources such as ProQuest, Factiva, etc.)
- Managerial experience, experience in management consulting, international exposure are assets.
- Ability to work independently and proactively with minimum supervision.
- Strong organizational skills – multiple projects will be running concurrently.
- A graduate degree in economics, management, law, finance or a related discipline incorporating elements of qualitative and quantitative research.
- Demonstrable experience and knowledge in the field of governance (broadly conceived). Experience in engagement or in investments a plus.
- Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research.
- Deadline and results oriented.
- Ability to work well under pressure.
- Ability to combine theoretical knowledge with practical relevance.
How to apply
If you have the above skills and would like to work in our stimulating environment, please send your complete application file (letter of motivation and resume in English, copies of your work certificates and diplomas) by clicking the ‘Apply’ button.
If you’re a qualified candidate with a disability (such as dyslexia, sight and/or hearing disabilities, etc) and you need a reasonable accommodation in order to apply for this position, please specify it in your application.