Reasonable path or not?

I would like to hear some opinions whether my plan is realistic or not:

I am interviewing with a quant hedge fund for a role that is part of their research team. The role is newly created and not directly connected to the investment research(at least in the beginning). It is more to work on idea creation and research for thought leadership/marketing.  In the interview, the interviewers stated that they don't want the role to be a static one and the fund has a very flat structure (interned there before). 

There are a few things to consider:

- I really want to switch to hedge fund industry (systematic macro is really interesting to me) 

- I am currently in the US(on visa), the position is in London(will be on visa) and might come with a pay cut.  

Although I believe I can advance in this role and become closer to the investment research side over time, in case it doesn't work out, do you think that starting in this role could give me a chance for other hedge funds in London?