Think Small Group
Website:
thinksmallgroup.in
Job details:
Political Research Associate
Research, writing and programme design in support of national political and policy work
Location New Delhi | Engagement Full-time | Experience Open
The role
This is a research and writing position supporting a national political office-bearer's public work — opinion writing, television debate preparation, a standing body of research on youth politics, technology policy and party organisation, and the design of public-facing research programmes for young audiences.
It is not a campaign job, a social media job, or an administrative role. The output is written argument and the intellectual architecture of programmes built on it. The person who does this well will spend most of their week reading, thinking and drafting.
What you would produce
Column briefs. For each opinion piece: the argument, the strongest case against it, the evidence that survives scrutiny, and what has already been written on the subject so the piece is not derivative. Roughly two per month.
Debate briefs. Ahead of a television appearance: what the issue actually is, the numbers, the likely lines of attack, and where the weak ground is. Often at short notice — the same day.
Standing files. Three or four themes maintained continuously rather than researched on demand — AI and employment, youth political participation, technology policy and the state, and the movement of political ideas: how narratives form and travel, how ideological positions are shifting among young Indians and internationally, and what is being argued online and by whom. These files are the foundation of everything else, and the last of them is what makes the rest timely rather than reactive.
Academic groundwork. Literature review and source work supporting doctoral research on party organisation and political socialisation. Comparative political science, largely European.
Research programmes. Designing and running the intellectual content of public-facing initiatives — currently a national seminar series on India's scientific inheritance, delivered through student ambassadors at colleges across several states. This means deciding what the series actually argues, building the material ambassadors work from, and holding a consistent standard across chapters. Logistics are separately staffed; this is the substance, not the scheduling.
What we are looking for
Prose. The binding constraint. You can be taught what a political party does in a month; nobody learns to write in a year. We read for whether you can construct an argument, not for polish.
Independence of mind. A researcher who confirms what the reader already believes is worse than no researcher, because the confirmation gets believed. You will be expected to say when an argument does not hold. This is the substance of the job, not a caveat on it.
Speed under compression. Some of this work is needed in four hours, not four days. Judgement about what to leave out matters more than completeness.
Comfort with academic material. Peer-reviewed political science, not only journalism and think tank output.
What we are not looking for
• Political alignment as a qualification. Sympathy with the broad project is expected; ideological enthusiasm is not a substitute for rigour, and tends to produce weaker work.
• Prior political employment. Useful, not required.
• A specific degree.
Confidentiality
The role involves access to unpublished writing, internal organisational matters and private discussions. A written confidentiality undertaking is a condition of employment and continues after it ends. No public commentary in your own name on matters connected to this work.
Process
1. Application: CV and two writing samples, at least one argumentative rather than descriptive.
2. A written research exercise, completed over 72 hours.
3. A discussion of your submission, including where it can be attacked.
4. Reference conversations.
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