This topic looks really interesting to me as a mid-career person who would prefer to work on something that improves the world rather than something that is in the end driven by profit. The post gives me the impression that there are lots of interesting research-y jobs out there that actually try to improve the world without requiring a big financial sacrifice and for which people without the exact skills needed for the job might still have a chance.

This raises a big "too good to be true" red flag for me. There are lots of people who would prefer to do research rather than some random commercial job, especially if it was on a topic relevant to improving the world. That is witnessed by the armies of people who would want to do a research job in academia despite the high pressure and mediocre pay. If these jobs are really as good as this post describes I would expect there to be lots of people trying to get in and thus it not being worth the effort for me to try to apply without exactly the right skills.

So, what's the catch? Or what am I missing here?