Cultural Psychologist - Ropes & Gray LLP

About Ropes & Gray:

Ropes & Gray is a preeminent, global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top-three on The American Lawyer's prestigious "A-List" for seven years and is ranked #1 on Law.com International's "A-List" in the U.K. - rankings that honor the "Best of the Best" firms.

The firm has approximately 2,500 lawyers and professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.

The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring.

Ropes & Gray is an equal opportunity employer.

Overview:

The Ropes & Gray Insights Lab is a differentiated solution for corporate governance and risk in complex business environments. Combining legal talent and subject matter experts in compliance, data, culture, and behavioral science, we help clients assess risk, map organizational culture impacting that risk, design and retool compliance programs, and implement actionable insights from qualitative and quantitative data. Our work recently saw us named Most Innovative Lawyers in Private Capital by the Financial Times.

 

The Ropes & Gray Insights Lab is part of Ropes & Gray, a preeminent global law firm with 1,500+ lawyers and legal professionals in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, London, Dublin, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Seoul.

Responsibilities:

Culture is at the heart of everything we do. You don’t need to convince us that it impacts everything from how we contextualize misconduct to understanding risk.  Here’s one of the ways in which we are integrating culture into the legal world: https://globalinvestigationsreview.com/guide/the-guide-compliance/third-edition/article/understanding-and-shaping-organisational-culture-disrupt-the-cycle-of-misconduct

 

We need you to bring in new perspectives, marrying academic research with practical experience, to help solve client challenges. There’s a reason we’re looking for a cultural psychologist rather than a straight up organizational psychologist (but welcome to state your credentials in this space too!). We’re expecting you to: 

• map organizational culture, using qualitative and quantitative methods, in order to understand the complex interplay of factors that impact the employee experience;

• deliver culture assessments that help diagnose risk and give companies a chance to shift patterns of behavior;

• design and advise on the implementation of robust diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that take into account the latest findings from academic research;

• help our client organizations develop their approach to culture, including through re-imagining their compliance programs;

• lead on and contribute to thought leadership initiatives from podcasts to articles to help our clients and the wider legal community see how viewing challenges from a cultural lens can open up a whole world of possibilities for change; and

• design training sessions that help bring concepts from cultural psychology into the corporate world for our clients.

We come from a place that embraces the science of complex adaptive systems and believes in the use of mixed methods to tackle some of the biggest challenges. We use the power of storytelling and narrative to help surface patterns in culture. You’ll work with lawyers, behavioral scientists, data and visualization experts, and a dedicated team of analysts to surface insights and assist clients in their decision making.

 

You will also play a substantial role in the development of innovative Lab products and services, finding new ways to bring insights from cultural psychology into our client-facing offering.

 

THE PERSON:

You’ll need strong academic credentials but you need not have much experience in the corporate or legal space (although that would be a bonus!). We’re looking for energy and creativity, and someone who can really translate research into practical outputs for our clients. You’ll need to show that you can facilitate sessions (e.g., focus groups), engage with stakeholders, and work with different sources of data (qualitative and quantitative) to surface insights. You must also be comfortable translating complex methods and insights into language that is easily consumable to audiences not as well-versed in the social sciences—including attorneys and clients.

You’ll be writing regularly – so we’d like to see a track record of articles, blogs or other thought leadership. Any prior knowledge or experience in working with the science of complex adaptive systems is a bonus (but you’ll have time to embed yourself in this world if you aren’t already familiar). We work as part of a dynamic team, so you’ll need to be comfortable leading initiatives as well as slotting into part of a broader multi-functional team, but confident enough to express your perspectives to shape an engagement.

Qualifications:

• Someone who is immersed in understanding culture and complexity, and who is familiar with data collection methods besides Likert scales.
• A PhD degree (preferred) or substantial professional experience (with a Master’s) in cultural psychology or associated fields.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: ethical decision-making (compliance, ethics, risk management); diversity, equity, and inclusion; organizational culture; corporate social responsibility.
• Experience facilitating workshops and focus groups, and running stakeholder interviews.
• Experience in utilizing insights from academic research to address business challenges.
• Creative, strategic, and business-minded problem-solving abilities.

• Excellent communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills.
• Ideal but not necessary: proven experience in a similar role with a track record of growth and development.

Compensation and Total Rewards Package:

The Ropes & Gray Insights Lab is proud to offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package to employees. The firm also offers comprehensive health and well-being benefits, personal and professional development, career growth opportunities, and a collegial and supportive culture. The anticipated pay range for this role is $125,000 - $200,000 which represents our good faith and reasonable estimate of the starting salary range at the time of posting. In addition, this role is eligible for a discretionary bonus based on performance. The actual offered rate for this position will be determined based on job-related, non-discriminatory factors, including qualifications and experience, geographic location, education, external market data, and consideration of internal equity.

 

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

To be considered for this position, candidates are required to submit the following:

• CV
• Sample of work product (e.g., article, blog post, research note, literature review), including explanation of contribution(s)

Once application materials are reviewed, candidates may be asked to submit an audio file to be considered as part of the application.  Instructions will be shared via email, if applicable.

Working Conditions:

This position requires hybrid on-site presence as an essential function of the role. Consistent and predictable on-site presence is required for ongoing business continuity, professional development, and effective collaboration with colleagues and management. Occasional travel to other Ropes & Gray offices and client sites may be required.