The AI Governance and Policy grantmaking program sits under our broader focus area of Navigating Transformative AI, and works to improve society’s preparedness for transformative AI, particularly by mitigating global catastrophic risks. Our 11-person (and growing!) team aims to distribute hundreds of millions of dollars in grants annually over the coming years. You can read more about our priorities in our current Request for Proposals.

We are seeking a highly organized Associate Program Officer to report to Alex Lawsen and support his output and strategy. Alex focuses primarily on topics like information security, model evaluations, and frontier AI safety frameworks. Depending on fit and interest, this role could focus primarily on supporting team management and growth (including hiring and supporting Alex's direct reports), or lean more toward grantmaking development (mapping the grantee ecosystem, identifying gaps, and helping establish new organizations or projects to address them).

Unique responsibilities

Compared to the other roles in this round, this opportunity will particularly emphasize working closely with Alex to boost his efficacy and output. You will serve as both a thought partner and an execution accelerator, helping Alex structure his thinking on complex problems, conduct daily prioritization, and manage correspondence with teammates, external advisors, and potential grantees.

Example projects:

• Based on a discussion with Alex, draft a document outlining a new grantmaking workstream within our AI Governance & Policy team, including the case for the workstream, the scope of work, and concrete grantmaking opportunities we would like to pursue.
• Help Alex identify the 15 best experts to advise on a new subject area, set up meetings with them, join Alex in the meetings, own organization of any follow-ups, and help him synthesize takeaways from across the calls.
• Serve as a sounding board for Alex on people-related topics, help him improve his management, directly meet with his reports, or spot gaps in the team for potential new hires.

Unique candidate criteria

You might be a particularly great fit for this role if you:

• Are very well-organized. You will be responsible for handling a lot of small, time-sensitive tasks while keeping track of many details in larger projects. Excellent organizational skills are required to flourish in this role.
• Are particularly interested in working closely with a principal in a supporting role, and would be happy to remain in a supporting role for at least a couple of years.
• Are highly self-directed and proactive. You'll need to identify what needs doing before being asked, pull tasks toward yourself, and independently manage your priorities.
• Are service-minded and comfortable with a support role that involves some repetition; you are motivated by the idea of contributing to what Open Philanthropy needs most, even if it’s not high-profile.

Other details

Location: Alex is based in London, U.K., and would prefer candidates based in (or willing to relocate to) the U.K., and ideally those who can co-work in person in London. Candidates will need to be available for most of a working day in either the U.S. East Coast or U.K. time zones.

We are open to considering visa sponsorship for work authorization in the U.S. or U.K. However, we don’t control who is and isn’t eligible for a visa and can’t guarantee visa approval.

Compensation: This is a full-time, permanent position. The starting compensation for this role will be $172,388.73 per year, which would include a base salary of $149,903.24 and an unconditional 401(k) grant of $22,485.49.

These compensation figures assume a London, U.K. location; all compensation will be distributed in the form of take-home salary for hires based outside the U.S.

Start date: We would ideally like a candidate to begin as soon as possible after receiving an offer, but we are willing to wait if the best candidate can only start later.

• Support Alex Lawsen in output and strategy, focusing on information security, model evaluations, and frontier AI safety frameworks.
• Boost Alex's efficacy and output by serving as a thought partner and execution accelerator.
• Help structure Alex's thinking on complex problems and conduct daily prioritization.
• Manage correspondence with teammates, external advisors, and potential grantees.
• Draft documents outlining new grantmaking workstreams, including scope and opportunities.
• Identify and engage with experts in new subject areas, organize meetings, and synthesize takeaways.
• Assist in team management, including hiring and supporting direct reports.
• Spot gaps in the team and suggest potential new hires.

• Excellent organizational skills.
• Ability to work closely with a principal in a supporting role.
• Highly self-directed and proactive.
• Service-minded and comfortable with repetitive tasks.

• Interest in working closely with a principal in a supporting role for at least a couple of years.
• Ability to handle time-sensitive tasks and manage details in larger projects.
• Motivation to contribute to organizational needs, even if not high-profile.