Head of Community

About the Team

Our researchers have published in top venues, including Science and Nature, and work closely with decision-makers across government, industry, and civil society. Our alumni have gone on to influential roles in government (US, UK, EU), leading AI companies (e.g. DeepMind, OpenAI, Anthropic), top think tanks (e.g. CSET, RAND), and leading universities (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge).

Our team and affiliate community possess expertise across risk management, threat modelling, frontier AI regulation, technical governance, agent governance, AI economics, international cooperation, US-China relations, and AI forecasting. Since our inception in 2016, we have helped define and shape the field of AI governance.

Although most of our staff are based in the United Kingdom, we also have team members in the United States and European Union.

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Why You Might Be Interested In This Role

• You'll transform community potential into impact. GovAI has valuable community resources - a new London office, a burgeoning visitors programme, a growing alumni network of researchers and practitioners, and an affiliate community - that aren't being fully leveraged. You'll have the mandate to design and implement creative approaches to capture this value in service of GovAI’s mission.

• You'll shape the professional trajectories of AI governance leaders. The alumni and visitors you support will go on to inform AI policy at major governments, lead research at top institutions, and build organizations that shape the field. Your work will help ensure they remain connected, supported, and effective throughout their careers.

• You'll have unusual autonomy to experiment and build. This role offers significant independence to design community programs from the ground up. You'll work closely with senior leadership to set strategy, but have the freedom to experiment, iterate based on feedback, and build systems that work.

• ‍You'll be at the center of the AI governance ecosystem. Working at the intersection of research, policy, and practice, you'll develop deep understanding of the field's key actors, challenges, and opportunities. You'll build relationships across government, industry, academia, and civil society that will be valuable throughout your career.

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Role Description

As Head of Community, you will bring together a diverse group of AI governance researchers and practitioners to establish a network in support of GovAI’s mission. You will transform our new London office into a central node for AI governance work in the city, foster an active professional network among our seasonal fellows and other alumni, and enable high-bandwidth exchange between key actors inside and outside of GovAI.

Core responsibilities will include:

London Office & Physical Space Management:‍

• Transform GovAI's new London office into a central node for AI governance work in the city
• Create programming that brings the right people together—from informal coworking to structured collaboration opportunities
• Manage our office manager and potentially an events manager down the line. Facilitate both efficient day-to-day operations and excellent delivery of a broad range of events in our office

Alumni Network Development:

• Build an active, mutually supportive professional network around GovAI's seasonal fellowship cohorts and other alumni
• Organize regular alumni engagement activities (events, communications, opportunities for involvement)
• Facilitate valuable information exchange within our alumni network and between alumni and GovAI staff

Affiliate & Partner Network Management:

• Formalize and strategically expand GovAI's affiliate network
• Design clear value propositions and expectations for affiliate relationships
• Create opportunities for affiliates to engage with GovAI’s research and contribute their expertise
• Track and maintain relationships with key partner organizations in the AI governance ecosystem

Event Programming & Coordination:

• Design and execute events that serve GovAI's strategic goals like research dissemination, community building, and stakeholder engagement
• Support the Research Management team in organizing research-focused seminars and workshops
• Create recurring programming that keeps the community engaged through social and programmatic events

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Selection Criteria

We're selecting candidates who are:‍

• Excited by the opportunity to use their careers helping decision-makers to successfully navigate the transition to a world with powerful AI systems, in line with our organisation’s mission.

• Energized by relationship-building and genuinely enjoy meeting people, facilitating connections, and creating environments where valuable interactions happen naturally.

• Able to identify what makes professional networks valuable, how to balance different stakeholders' needs and priorities, and how to build programs around those insights.

• Connected to or able to quickly build networks in the AI governance ecosystem. Understanding of the field's key actors, organizations, and dynamics is highly valuable for this role.

• Skilled communicators who can represent GovAI professionally. You must be able to engage effectively with diverse audiences, from fellowship applicants to government officials, in both written and verbal contexts.

• Experienced with planning and executing events for 10 to 100 people. While event management isn’t the core focus of the role, many programs will have an event component and will benefit from prior experience with setting those up.

• Proactive and comfortable with ambiguity. You'll be building many systems from scratch and will need to identify opportunities, develop solutions, and implement them independently while knowing when to seek input.

• Experienced or interested in managing a team. You'll manage at least one direct report - our office manager - and potentially expand the team over time. You’ll need to know - or need to learn - how to motivate your team, accurately evaluate performance, provide constructive feedback, delegate effectively, and create environments where people are excited to work.

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Salary and Location

This position is full-time and will initially report to GovAI’s Chief of Staff, Georg Arndt. Our offices are located in London, UK, and we expect the Head of Community to spend the majority of their time here given the role's focus on our physical office and in-person community building. We are able to sponsor UK visas.

The Head of Community will be compensated in line with our salary principles. As such, the salary for this role will depend on the successful applicant's experience, but we expect the range to be between £71,000 (~$95,000) and £93,000 (~$125,000) if based in London. In rare cases where salary considerations would prevent a candidate from accepting an offer, there may also be some flexibility in compensation.

We also offer competitive benefits, including a 10% pension/401k contribution and private medical cover.

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How to Apply and What to Expect

Application Process

The selection process has three stages:

• Written application
• A paid remote work test
• An interview and reference checks

Special Circumstances

Please contact recruitment@governance.ai if you:

• Need a decision communicated by a particular date
• Require assistance with the application due to a disability
• Have questions about the application process

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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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