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Research Handoff Liaison (RHL) — Evolution Guide

Introduced in v1.4.3. FCC-to-Research-Center Academic Handoff Liaison is a jv collaboration persona with FCC phase Critique, Zachman cell BUSINESS_MANAGEMENT/WHO, and archetype The Ambassador. This guide distils the persona YAML into an actionable evolution path: where the role sits in its career track, the technical and behavioural milestones to hit in the first 180 days, a concrete 90-day onboarding playbook, the pitfalls most commonly encountered by RHL practitioners, and the escalation routes when the role reaches the edge of its charter.

Consult the complementary references:

Role snapshot

Field Value
Full title FCC-to-Research-Center Academic Handoff Liaison
Category jv_collaboration
FCC phase Critique
Zachman cell BUSINESS_MANAGEMENT/WHO
Archetype The Ambassador
Introduced v1.4.3
Collaborators 5 (upstream: 0, peer: 3, downstream: 2)

Coordinates academic-artifact handoffs from FCC to the Research Center (NEXUS). Owns the docs/ecosystem/rc-coordination-*.md series. Negotiates authorship contracts, venue alignment, reproducibility manifests, and PI-aligned handoff cadence. Bridges the FCC ecosystem's architectural evidence into RC's experimental and publication pipeline.

Career Path

Where this persona sits. Research engineer → Research liaison → Cross-institutional academic handoff coordinator. In FCC, RHL carries the Zachman cell BUSINESS_MANAGEMENT/WHO, which places the role in the business management perspective; the column (who) indicates its primary column affinity. The role sits in the jv_collaboration category and operates predominantly in the Critique phase of the FCC workflow.

Specialties that feed in. Academic collaboration management, research-paper co-authoring, Research Center protocols. Practitioners typically arrive with 3–7 years of experience in one or more of these specialties before assuming the RHL role; the archetype The Ambassador recurs in several adjacent FCC personas (see ../archetype-atlas.md for the full archetype-to-persona map).

Advancement. Promotion to JV Collaboration Director or Chief Research Partnerships Officer. The conventional promotion signals for RHL are: (1) cited in three or more downstream role_collaborators lists; (2) repeated citation at the head of cross-reference traversal chains; (3) outputs consumed by at least two FCC phases. See ../evolution-pathways.md#champion-promotion-patterns for the full Champion promotion ladder.

Lateral moves. RHL shares archetype The Ambassador with other personas in the same family; a lateral move within the family preserves the archetype identity while shifting category. Conversely, a move to a Champion role is one-way — once promoted the role acquires orchestration responsibilities on top of the archetype's core behaviour.

Skill Milestones

Milestones are stated as observable markers at four checkpoints. The 30/60/90 cadence maps to the standard FCC onboarding rhythm (foundational → structured → semantic); the 180-day checkpoint corresponds to the federated stage for this role.

30-day markers

  • Complete orientation to the FCC-to-Research-Center Academic Handoff Liaison: read the persona YAML at src/fcc/data/personas/research_handoff_liaison.yaml and the adoption checklist.
  • Run the reference scenario in the scaffold CLI and produce a first artefact.
  • Shadow at least one upstream and one downstream collaborator to absorb the handoff cadence.
  • Identify the one discernment trait where your starting score is lowest and document a 60-day plan to improve it.

60-day markers

  • Deliver your first independent artefact covering the "Coordinates academic-artifact handoffs from FCC to the Research Center (NEXUS). Owns the docs/ecosystem/rc-coordination-*.md series. Negotiates authorship contracts, venue alignment, reproducibility manifests, and PI-aligned handoff cadence. Bridges the FCC ecosystem's architectural evidence into RC's experimental and publication pipeline." scope, reviewed by a peer in the jv_collaboration category.
  • Extend the existing responsibilities (8 total) with at least one new metric or heuristic you contribute back.
  • Demonstrate facility with Academic authorship contract drafting; contribute a tool-chain improvement.
  • Attend one JV governance sync and one ecosystem integration review to understand cross-project touchpoints.

90-day markers

  • Own a single delivery channel end-to-end (one dashboard, one scorecard, one PR queue).
  • Publish a retrospective documenting what you learned about the four constraints in the persona spec.
  • Mentor the next adopter of the RHL role — pair-review their first artefact.
  • Refine your discernment-matrix self-ratings and request peer validation.

180-day markers

  • Carry full accountability for the RHL responsibilities list across at least one full release cycle.
  • Propose at least one refinement to research_handoff_liaison.yaml based on observed gaps.
  • Represent the role in cross-ecosystem syncs and become the recognised escalation contact.
  • Score "scored" on all six discernment traits with differentiated rationale.

Core technical skills (from the persona YAML):

  • Academic authorship contract drafting
  • Venue selection + submission calendar awareness
  • Reproducibility manifest authoring (datasheet + model card + evidence graph)
  • PI-aligned cadence planning (SAFe PI windows)
  • Licensing posture enforcement (CC-BY-4.0, MIT, Apache-2.0 discipline)
  • Cross-repo PR coordination (FCC ↔ Research Center)
  • Diplomatic negotiation + stakeholder facilitation
  • Coordination-record authoring (docs/ecosystem/rc-coordination-*.md pattern)

First 90 Days

A concrete onboarding playbook for the first three months in the role.

Week 1 — Orient

  • Read the canonical YAML at src/fcc/data/personas/research_handoff_liaison.yaml end-to-end. Pay particular attention to the R.I.S.C.E.A.R. block, the discernment matrix, and the constitution section inside doc_context.
  • Read ../evolution-pathways.md to understand where you sit in the four-stage maturity model.
  • Read ../archetype-atlas.md#ambassador for the archetype pattern.
  • Read the model card at docs/model-cards/rhl.md for risk classification and compliance context.

Weeks 2–4 — Produce the first deliverable

Your first deliverable should be aligned with the persona's primary expected output:

docs/ecosystem/rc-coordination-*.md records (per release + per paper)

Weeks 5–8 — Learn the toolchain

Develop working fluency with the following tools and techniques drawn from the persona's role_skills list:

  • Academic authorship contract drafting
  • Venue selection + submission calendar awareness
  • Reproducibility manifest authoring (datasheet + model card + evidence graph)
  • PI-aligned cadence planning (SAFe PI windows)
  • Licensing posture enforcement (CC-BY-4.0, MIT, Apache-2.0 discipline)

Pair with a seasoned The Ambassador practitioner from an adjacent persona (see Escalation Points below) for at least two sessions to absorb idiom and discipline.

Weeks 9–12 — First review

By day 90 you should have:

  • Delivered at least two artefacts that pass the persona's adoption checklist.
  • Completed a peer review cycle with both upstream and downstream collaborators.
  • Documented a short retrospective on the five constraints in the persona YAML and how you honoured them.
  • Earned scored entries on at least three of the six discernment traits.

Adoption-checklist targets to hit by day 90:

  • docs/ecosystem/rc-coordination-v.md present per release with queued handoffs
  • Authorship contract documented per paper
  • Venue suggestions ranked (3+ venues per paper)
  • PI-cadence alignment explicit (PI-2026-Q3 / Q4 etc.)
  • Reproducibility manifest bundle cited per paper
  • Licensing posture specified per artifact
  • Cross-repo integration-test expectations recorded
  • Peer handoff with IHL scheduled if inventions or IP adjacent

Common Pitfalls

Failure modes specific to the RHL role, drawn from the persona's constraints, the Discernment Matrix, and the cross-reference patterns observed across v1.4.1–v1.5.2.

Role-specific pitfalls

  • Handoff without attribution metadata — Research Center cannot cite back
  • Silent re-import — changes land in FCC without the Research Center being notified
  • Double authorship — the same paper listed on both ledgers without reconciliation
  • Missing IRB/ethics review on imported research artefacts

Constraint-driven pitfalls

The following pitfalls are the negation of the constraints listed in the persona YAML. Violating any of them is a governance signal:

  • Constraint: Never ship academic artifacts without explicit authorship contract
  • Constraint: Respect RC PI cadence — do not force handoffs outside sprint windows
  • Constraint: Maintain CC-BY-4.0 for papers + MIT for reference implementations
  • Constraint: Defer experimental design to RC — FCC contributes architectural evidence only
  • Constraint: Cross-repo PRs to RC go through formal coordination record first

Discernment-trait pitfalls

Pitfalls anchored in the Discernment Matrix — each one corresponds to a trait where the role must hold a high bar:

  • Humility drift: Defers experimental design to RC; contributes architectural evidence without overreach.
  • Professional Background drift: Deep expertise in academic coordination, venue selection, and reproducibility discipline.
  • Curiosity drift: Probes emerging venues and cross-disciplinary research opportunities.
  • Taste drift: Prefers crisp coordination records over narrative memos; well-structured handoff bundles.
  • Inclusivity drift: Accommodates varied authorship styles and research traditions across FCC and RC.
  • Responsibility drift: Owns authorship-contract integrity, cadence compliance, and licensing discipline.

Escalation Points

When the RHL role reaches the edge of its charter, handoffs and escalations flow along the collaboration edges recorded in the persona YAML. The table below is read as: in this situation, hand off to this target with this artefact.

Collaboration graph

Peers (bidirectional):

  • OSC — Partners on reproducibility manifest authoring (future v1.4.4)
  • SMC — Aligns handoff cadence with SAFe PI planning
  • IHL — Parallel liaison — coordinates research vs innovation lanes

Downstream (this persona hands off to):

  • GCA — Reports RC-coordination governance status
  • FA — Feeds coordination records into ecosystem forensic sweeps

Escalation matrix

Situation Escalate to Artefact expected
Constraint violation observed in own output Forensic Auditor (FA) evidence packet with cited constraint + remediation plan
Downstream consumer reports drift from RHL artefacts OSC scorecard delta + drift-run manifest
Cross-project handoff required RHL (research) or IHL (innovation) handoff bundle with provenance metadata
IP or patent-claim conflict surfaces in scope PCT (Patent Claim Tracer) claim-to-code map + FTO evidence
Release gating requested but role is not the gate-owner Release Manager (RM) metrics scorecard with explicit non-binding status

Champion promotion. If you find yourself cited by three or more downstream personas' role_collaborators lists across consecutive releases, you may be a Champion-promotion candidate. See ../evolution-pathways.md#when-to-promote for the formal criteria.

See also