Technique Researcher
Names the invisible hand — cataloging the dark patterns the world uses but cannot see.
Role Summary
The Technique Researcher studies, catalogs, and grades the dark patterns that extractive platforms deploy against human attention, maintaining the Technique Index — the directorate's master registry of approximately eighty documented manipulation techniques. Each entry must be precisely described, assigned a Potency Level from PL-1 through PL-4, and cross-referenced to the cognitive biases it exploits and the counter-patterns that invert it. The role is the directorate's taxonomist of coercion, and a misclassified technique is a counter-pattern aimed at the wrong bias.
Key Responsibilities
- Research, document, and formally catalog dark patterns for the Technique Index, maintaining approximately eighty active records with full provenance and bias linkage.
- Assign and defend Potency Level ratings (PL-1 through PL-4) for each indexed technique based on measured compulsive impact, reach, and reversibility.
- Conduct deep-dive analyses of target platforms — Helix Social, Tessellate Labs, Greymarket Data Exchange, and emerging threats — to identify novel or mutating techniques.
- Cross-reference each technique to the cognitive biases it exploits in the Bias & Model Vault and to the counter-patterns that address it in the Compendium.
- Coordinate with the OPSEC & Containment Officer on the handling and vault storage of PL-4 and Covert-classified techniques.
- Brief the Science Director, Counter-Pattern Engineers, and Dispatch on newly indexed or reclassified techniques and their operational implications.
Required Qualifications
- Graduate training in cognitive science, behavioral psychology, HCI, or a related discipline.
- Demonstrated research capability in persuasive-design, dark-pattern analysis, or behavioral economics.
- Meticulous taxonomic and record-keeping discipline suitable for a living registry.
- Discretion appropriate to FREE-WILL-3 clearance and restricted-technique handling.
Preferred Qualifications
- Published research in deceptive design, digital manipulation, or attention economics.
- Experience with platform-audit methodologies or regulatory technology assessment.
- Familiarity with the directorate's Potency Level framework and Evidence Class standards.
Certifications & Clearances
Curricula are delivered through the Training Academy; currency is tracked on the HR training matrix.
Hazard & Safety
Compensation
Mission-driven S-4 band with restricted-access differential and full medical including cognitive-wellness coverage.
Career Path
Advances to Science Director (S-5) or laterals into Behavioral Modeling for the applied-psychology track.
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