About Autonomy
What is The Autonomy Institute?
The Autonomy Institute is an independent UK think tank that "creates data-driven tools and policy to strengthen democracy and build the future economy" (homepage verbatim). Founded in 2017 by co-Directors Kyle Lewis and Will Stronge, Autonomy has become one of the most-cited research voices on the four-day week, post-work futures, and labour-market analysis — its work has been profiled in The Washington Post ("After Testing Four-Day Week Companies Say They Don't Want To Stop") and The Guardian ("Four-day week: major breakthrough as most UK firms in trial extend changes"). Autonomy holds 501(c) equivalency in the United States, making it accessible to US-based donors and partners.
Research is organised into three labs:
- Work Futures Lab — examines the changing world of work and labour, with strands on Shorter Working Weeks, Feminist Futures, and EDI
- Public Futures Lab — explores bold, progressive visions for the future of public life, services, and infrastructure (Climate, Welfare, UBS Hub, Digital, Urban, Migration)
- Insights and Solutions Lab — provides data-driven analysis and bespoke policy design for organisations, governments, and civic actors (Democracy and Transparency)
Flagship projects include ASPECTT (unprecedented insights into the UK labour market delivered through detailed, multidimensional portraits of all occupations) and Autonomy_Urban (collaborating with local authorities, unions, grassroots organisations, and universities to build the future urban fabric). The institute also runs the Autonomy Data Unit (ADU), which produces cutting-edge data analysis and visualisation on the present and future of the economy, and the Culture, Power, Politics live podcast.
Where will I work?
Hybrid in London (per DB). The institute operates from Fonthill Road in north London, with the team distributed across UK and European researchers and a wide network of partnership researchers, doctoral training programmes, and research affiliates worldwide.
What is the Autonomy team like?
The core team (per /our-team/) includes:
- Will Stronge — Chief Executive (PhD in Politics and Philosophy from University of Brighton; co-author with Helen Hester of Post-work, Bloomsbury 2025)
- Kyle Lewis — co-founder (2017) and Director (PhD from University of West London; co-author with Will Stronge of Overtime, Verso 2021)
- India Burgess — Associate Director and Head of Advocacy & Funding
- Julian Siravo — Director, heads Autonomy_Urban and the Night Time Consultancy team (Architect and Urbanist from Rome)
- Tatiana Pignon — Associate Director and Head of Workplace Consultancy & Research (PhD in Politics from University of Cambridge)
- Grace Western — Head of Community and Partnerships (Masters of Public Policy from LSE)
- Lukas Kikuchi — Director, Autonomy Data Unit (PhD from Cambridge University; specialist in stochastic processes, large deviations theory, and statistical physics)
- Phil Jones — Senior Researcher, Autonomy Digital hub (PhD from University of Sussex; author of Work Without the Worker, Verso 2021)
- Jack Kellam — Head of Communications
The Advisory Board includes Helen Hester (Professor of Media and Communication, UWL; co-author of After Work, Verso 2022), Nick Srnicek (Lecturer in Digital Economy, King's College London; author of Platform Capitalism), Kathi Weeks (Duke University; author of The Problem with Work), Alice Martin (Head of Research at The Work Foundation), Maria Dada (UAL), and Ellie Mae O'Hagan (former Director of CLASS, now UK energy team lead at E3G).
Work-Life Balance
Autonomy is itself an accredited 4 Day Week and Living Wage employer. Verbatim from /our-team/: "Autonomy is an accredited 4 Day Week and Living Wage employer. As a nonprofit, we have 501(c) equivalency in the United States." The schedule is 32 hours / four days at 100% pay, in line with the model Autonomy actively researches and advocates for across the UK and global economy.
Perks and Benefits
Accredited Living Wage employer means salaries meet or exceed the real Living Wage (set by the Living Wage Foundation). Beyond the 4DW + Living Wage framing, the live site doesn't publish a specific benefits inventory — Autonomy is a small nonprofit (~10 staff) whose strength is its intellectual culture and policy-research reputation. Job openings and partnership opportunities are listed via the Forum 2029 / Press / Collaboration sections of the main site.