About the Team

GovAI was founded to help humanity navigate the transition to a world with advanced AI. To succeed with that mission, we need an excellent operations team supporting our programmes and our people. We are looking for someone to shape and lead that team.

Our researchers have provided knowledge and assistance to decision makers in government, industry, and civil society. Our alumni have gone on to policy roles in government; top AI labs, including Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Anthropic; and think-tanks such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Center for Security and Emerging Technology, and the Tony Blair Institute. Our initial research agenda, published in 2018, helped define and shape the nascent field of AI governance. Our research developing the framework of “cooperative AI" led to the creation of a $15 million philanthropic foundation. We made significant early contributions to the ongoing public discussions over the security implications of AI.

Our researchers have published in leading journals and conferences, including Science and NeurIPS. We have published commentary in venues such as War on the Rocks, The Washington Post, and Lawfare. Our work has also been covered by publications such as The New York Times, MIT Technology Review, and the BBC.

Our staff are based across the United Kingdom, United States, and European Union.

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About the Role

You will be leading the operations team, which is responsible for developing and managing a wide range of internal processes and ensuring that programmes and events are run smoothly.

This role will be responsible for:

• Leading the operations team. Successful operational support is a team effort. You will lead the operations team, currently consisting of 13 team members, and enable each team member to grow in their role and contribute fully to the organisation’s success. Beyond that, you will identify future operational needs of the organisation and hire to fill those needs.

• Shepherding GovAI through its next phase of growth as an organisation. GovAI has grown from three core staff at the end of 2021 to more than 45 staff members and more than 100 seasonal fellows per year. We are now entering the next phase of our growth, which will involve both a further increase in scale and the addition of new programmes and workstreams. This growth will create opportunities, but also significant operational challenges this role will need to help us overcome.

• Developing operational processes and ensuring their excellent execution. The quality of operational support is a critical input to the success of most projects and processes at GovAI. You will be responsible for ensuring that the output of the operations team meets very high standards and enables other functions and projects to succeed.

• Overseeing recruitment and selection processes for the whole organisation. GovAI’s various talent programmes require running an unusually large number of hiring and selection rounds. As an example, annual applications for our seasonal fellowship have grown from roughly 500 to more than 15,000 over the last three years. You will oversee the smooth execution of those selection rounds, making sure that GovAI can attract and select the best possible talent.

• ‍Guiding the day-to-day operations of the organisation. Responsibility for the output of the operations team rests with you. This will sometimes require stepping in and picking up tasks other team members don’t have the capacity or skillset to execute successfully. Ideally, though, this will take up only a minor share of your time.

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Selection Criteria

You might be a particularly good fit if you are:‍

• Skilled at people management. This role requires you to not only plan and execute on your own responsibilities, but also guide your team to produce excellent results. You will need to help them prioritise tasks and projects on the basis of the team’s overall priorities. You will also be responsible for helping them overcome challenges, be they related to motivation or competency. Active listening, empathy, clear communication, and the ability to lead your team on their way to success will all be essential.

• Highly organised and competent at tracking a large number of workstreams. This role will require the ability to manage complicated and concurrent workstreams, and we need someone who can demonstrate highly structured work habits, confidence in prioritising between tasks, and a conscientious approach to organisation.

• Highly driven to produce excellent results and to continuously improve both yourself and the output of your team. This will require a high level of proactivity and conscientiousness, as well as the ability to spot flaws and opportunities to improve your work, your team, and the organisation. You will also need the ability to find or develop the tools necessary to realise those improvements.

• Comfortable working as part of a fast-moving team and working under pressure. GovAI is a growing organisation in a developing field. While our mission remains constant, the best opportunities to achieve that mission regularly change. Operational priorities will change often and have to be coordinated with other stakeholders at GovAI. You will need to select between more tasks, both important and urgent, than your team can absorb at any given time, and clearly communicate limitations to the rest of the organisation.

• Capable of anticipating future operational needs and preemptively working towards meeting them. Our operational needs grow with the organisation and change with the opportunities available to us. It will be your responsibility to look ahead and identify future needs as well as ways to meet them. While prior experience in a similar role is optional, we expect that having a good understanding of the operational requirements of an organisation like GovAI and beyond would be helpful here.

• Impact-focused. GovAI is a mission-driven organisation, and we constantly evaluate success in relation to that mission. While we do not require prior exposure to AI governance as a field, we do think that a desire to help improve the outcomes of the transition to a world with advanced AI would be advantageous.

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Salary and Location

This position is full-time. We would ideally like the role-holder to work from London or the US East Coast, although we are open to hiring remote individuals in other locations who can make themselves available for a majority of the working day between ET and GMT. We are able to sponsor visas in either the US and UK for qualified applicants.

Compensation is based on prior experience and location. We expect that successful candidates’ annual compensation will typically fall between $155,000-$190,000 USD for candidates based in Washington DC, depending on experience. There may be additional flexibility in compensation in cases where salary considerations would prevent a candidate from accepting an offer. In cases where salary considerations would prevent a candidate from accepting an offer, there may also be flexibility in compensation.

Benefits associated with the role include competitive health insurance, with employee premiums fully covered by GovAI; an unconditional 10% 401k grant, or equivalent pension contribution in other jurisdictions; and flexible time off.

Please inquire with recruitment@governance.ai if questions or concerns regarding compensation or benefits might affect your decision to apply.

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How to Apply‍ and What to Expect

Submission deadline: rolling

If you would like to be considered for the role, please complete the very brief expression of interest form below. You will be asked to submit a CV or a link to your LinkedIn or a personal website, and to answer two short questions describing your most relevant professional experience.

We are accepting expressions of interest for this role and evaluating candidates on a rolling basis. Priority consideration will be given to early candidates. The next round will consist of a paid remote work test, followed by an interview round and a paid onsite work trial. We also conduct reference checks for all candidates we interview.

Please feel free to reach out to recruitment@governance.ai if you would need a decision communicated by a particular date, if you need assistance with the application due to a disability, or if you have questions about the application process.

Addressing complex AI governance challenges requires many different skillsets and perspectives. We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. If our mission excites you, we encourage you to apply, even if your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification listed. Your unique combination of experience and motivation might be exactly what we're looking for.

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