Dissertation Coach

Are you an entrepreneurial academic, passionate about helping postgraduate students produce meaningful research?

Grad Coach, an award-winning provider of ethical research support, is seeking talented individuals to help students with their dissertations, theses, and research projects.

About Grad Coach

At Grad Coach, we empower students across the US, UK, Europe, and Australia to navigate the research journey—from topic selection and proposal development to the final draft. Our clients are typically adult learners balancing postgraduate research alongside demanding careers and family responsibilities. We help them fast-track their research, avoid common pitfalls, and develop their best work.

About the Role

As a Dissertation Coach, you’ll empower students to develop high-quality work, guiding them through each stage of the research process. This includes hosting one-on-one coaching sessions, reviewing their writing, and providing plain-language, actionable feedback to help them optimise their approach and avoid common pitfalls. Importantly, we adhere to a strict code of ethics and do not offer writing services—clients are required to produce their own written work.

In simple terms, we provide the client flow and digital infrastructure, while you help clients achieve their academic goals—optimally and ethically. You’ll need a reliable, high-speed internet connection, along with a quality webcam and a quiet place to work. Working hours are flexible, but you need to have at least 15 hours of weekly availability, spread relatively evenly throughout the week. Being available on evenings and weekends is highly beneficial.

Prerequisites

To be considered for this role, you must:

• Be a self-directed, entrepreneurial individual who thrives in a performance-focused environment.
• Hold a doctoral-level degree from a well-regarded university.
• Have experience with both qualitative and quantitative research projects.
• Possess prior sales and customer service experience.
• Be based in the US and able to commit at least 15 hours per week.

Nature of the Opportunity

At Grad Coach, we believe coaches do their best work when given autonomy, flexibility, and ownership. Our partnership-based model focuses on outcomes (clearly defined success metrics) rather than inputs (rigid working hours, extensive procedures, admin, etc.). In essence, we focus on the "what" (results) and give you as much control over the "how" as possible.

This is a contract-based role, allowing you to decide when, where, and how you work. It’s ideal for entrepreneurially inclined academics who excel in a competitive environment with clearly defined success metrics. Coaches earn $50 for each billable hour (i.e., time spent directly engaged with clients). As a ballpark, high-performing coaches typically bill 60–100 hours per month, earning $3,000–$5,000 monthly.

If autonomy, flexibility, and ownership resonate with you—and you meet the prerequisites outlined above—we’d love to hear from you.