Research Fellow, Sustainability and Resilience (focus on Social Issues)

About IMD

The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) has been pioneering leadership development for nearly 80 years. Founded by business for business, we are an independent university institute with Swiss roots and global reach. Operating from Lausanne with strategic hubs in Singapore, Shenzhen, and Cape Town, IMD works with 19,000+ executives from 120+ countries annually. Our 145,000+ alumni form a powerful global network. Consistently ranked among the world's top business schools, IMD bridges cutting-edge research with real-world application to help leaders solve problems, scale solutions, and drive impact. Real Learning for Real Impact.

To reinforce our team, we are looking for a

Research Fellow, Sustainability and Resilience (focus on social issues)

The Job’s mission

The research fellow will work for the Risk & Resilience Initiative. The initiative is led by Prof. Florian Hoos and based on strong collaborations with Prof. Sophie Bacq and Prof. Karl Schmedders as well as a network of researchers from around the world. The main goal of the initiative is to bring the sustainability conversation back to the boardroom thereby ensuring the resilience and long-term value creation of firms. Concretely, this means helping corporate boards and investors integrate scientific knowledge (e.g., planetary boundaries, IPCC reports) and social foundations (e.g. what is at the core of Doughnut Economics) into corporate governance, opportunity and risk management. The initiative leverages IMD’s strengths in applied and scientific research, innovative executive education learning format development, and global dissemination, all based on strong partnerships, to maximize impact and longevity of the initiative.

The Research Fellow will contribute to the initiative through developing and conducting novel and relevant research that fulfils the goals of the initiative, and is publishable in top-tier academic journals and relevant for practitioner outlets such that it can generate an impact beyond academia, particularly towards board members and investors. Publication formats therefore include academic- and practitioner-oriented articles, literature reviews, reports, and case studies. The research fellow should also ensure the successful completion of the publication process, and contribute to translating research results into materials for IMD teaching offerings, engagement platforms, and events.

Key deliverables

The aim of the Research Fellow’s work is to generate and disseminate impactful outcomes for both academic and practitioner audiences:

• Develop a clear research strategy in line with the initiative and publish in FT50 journals whereby we see value in both FT50-practitioner-oriented journals such as Harvard Business Review, and the more research oriented journals. We also see value in high impact journals such as Nature Sustainability or comparable journals.
• Distill key insights from the conducted research and publish white papers, cases, and other publication formats that reach a broader audience.
• Leverage various dissemination channels to communicate and translate the research insights into short communication formats.
• Engage stakeholders and gain partners for the initiative that support the research, and help disseminating the produced knowledge. Foster engagement with scholars across the globe for future impactful research dedicated to the objective of the initiative.
• Contribute to strategy development for the initiative that guarantees its long-term success

Ideal profile

• Academic background: PhD in management, sociology, political science, economics, sustainable finance or a related field, with a clear focus on social impact aspects of sustainability for business, and ideally the interaction of social and environmental dimensions. The quality of the PhD should be proven through high quality working papers, or ideally through RRs or publications in top-tier academic journals such as FT50 journals.
• Substantive expertise: Evidence of research or fieldwork in one or more of the following areas is essential: Social impact measurement, Sustainability reporting, Sustainability strategy, human rights, dough not economics or further sustainability topics that focus on the social dimensions of sustainability and that are relevant to top managers and boards. Knowledge of sustainability reporting standards (CSRD, ISSB, GRI etc.) and frameworks is a plus.
• Methods: Strong qualitative (interviews, process tracing, case study design) and/or quantitative skills (econometrics, panel/archival data, field experiments, text analytics). Mixed‑methods experience is a plus.
• Output orientation: Demonstrated capacity to publish in top-tier academic journals and ideally also in practitioner outlets and other high outreach formats.
• Professionalism: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, ideally proven in interactions with high- level audiences (managers, politicians, executive education settings)
• Stakeholder engagement: Comfort engaging top managers and board members with different backgrounds and from different cultures.
• Attitude: Ability to work independently and proactively with minimum supervision. Collaborative and capable of working in a multi-disciplinary environment.
• Deadline and results oriented
• Language: Full fluency in English (written and spoken) is a must. Proficiency in French and/or German is helpful but not a requirement.

Research Fellow

Location: Lausanne, Switzerland or remotely

Salary: Depending on experience and location

Hours: Full Time (40 hours) or Part Time (minimum 20 hours)

Contract Type: 3 years, Fixed-Term

Closes: 06.09.2026

Start Date: ASAP

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) before September 6th 2026 via the above '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.

A valid Swiss work permit or Swiss or EU-25EFTA citizenship is required for this position.