Blue Heron seeks project manager for new London HQ

Two years ago I wrote in The Baron about the research firm I have worked for since August 2014 - Blue Heron Research Partners - where several former Reuters colleagues also work, including Adrian Dickson, Mary Ellen Barker, Marcel Michelson and Tiziana Barghini. We do custom due diligence research on companies, executives and market sectors for institutional investors, such as hedge funds and private equity firms. Recently, other former Reuters colleagues have joined, including Stephanie Rogan and Stuart Grudgings (www.blueheronrp.com).

Now, Blue Heron is expanding its European operation with a London-based headquarters and is looking for an editor/project manager to work full-time in that office to help manage our European projects. Richard ten Wolde, our New York-based senior research director (formerly with the Wall Street Journal), has put together a job description outlining the project manager duties. The position seeks someone with five to 15 years’ experience in journalism, research or analyst roles but not limited to those areas. The salary is dependent on the candidate and would range $65k to $95K (plus health insurance, holiday and retirement benefits).

Role description and key experience required for the position:

• Oversee primary research due diligence projects - directing an investigative team as it gathers business intelligence for institutional investors and corporate clients.
• Manage project team, including associates, editors, researchers, client contact. Monitor researchers to ensure delivery on project goals and scope of work.
• Guide and assist associates as they gather background research and collect sources.
• Liaise with research and database teams to increase the depth of due diligence and adjust to changing client directions.
• Problem solve when a project has stalled to find creative solutions and remain on track.
• Must be assertive and proactively manage to project completion, rather than a passive approach responding to prompts.
• Review/edit researcher interviews and write executive summaries as a project demands. Deliver constructive feedback regarding lines of inquiry
• Serve as secondary client contact when necessary, including written and oral communication.
• Comfortable and effective when communicating with clients surrounding project launch, midstream and completion.
• Ability to enforce all compliance guidelines, including those specific to individual clients, throughout the process.
• Safeguard against poor source integrity and related research information.

If anyone is looking or knows others interested in a journo-friendly environment that has proven to be welcoming and challenging to former Reuters colleagues, please contact Richard directly at rtenwolde@blueheronrp.com or call him at +1 212-644-5116.

You can also feel free to contact me at pmindus@blueheronrp.com +1-510-984-1927 if you want more information about Blue Heron. ■