About the team

GovAI was founded to help humanity navigate the transition to a world with advanced AI. One input to that mission is ensuring our staff and visiting researchers have an excellent experience and can focus on their most important work.‍

Since publishing our first research agenda in 2018, we have helped define and shape the field of AI governance. 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.

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Why you might be interested in this role

• You'll help GovAI get more done at any given size.
  
  • The smoother employment at GovAI runs, the more we can focus on our mission: more research published, more stakeholders advised, more people shepherded through our fellowships and other programs, and less time lost to admin. Your work directly translates to more progress on important AI governance challenges. 

• You'll build the function, not just run it.
  
  • GovAI will look different in one, two, and three years. You won't only keep today's systems running well, you'll design ones that hold up at the next scale and keep reducing friction rather than adding it: documenting core processes so the function is less dependent on any one person, and getting it ready to support a larger team.

• You'll lead people through rapid scaling.
  
  • You'll manage and develop a team while solving novel problems. As we grow and introduce more managers, you'll make sure they have the training, support, and resources to manage their teams well.

• You'll have the autonomy to reduce bureaucracy and find better solutions.
  
  • We want the highest efficiency compatible with keeping GovAI safe and compliant. When staff need a bespoke solution, you’ll have the backing to look for creative solutions. You'll overhaul processes, collect the data, and run the experiments that show what works.

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Role description

You'll be the person directly responsible for ensuring GovAI's people operations supports our mission, gives staff an excellent experience, and runs smoothly and efficiently. You'll report to the Director of Operations.‍

A lot is in motion right now: we're scaling quickly, we're introducing more managers who need support, and we have staff in the US, UK, and other countries. Today the Director of Operations is still involved in day-to-day execution. Within your first year, we'd expect you to take that off their plate and run people operations as a coherent function rather than a collection of tasks. You'll also be a trusted partner for staff and managers in sensitive and difficult situations.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Owning the systems behind day-to-day staff experience.
  
  • You'll design and keep improving onboarding, offboarding, payroll, benefits, policies, and request handling, running them with the lowest bureaucracy compatible with keeping GovAI safe and compliant. When staff need a bespoke solution, you'll look for creative solutions rather than defaulting to "no".

• Leading and developing the people ops team.
  
  • You'll manage the people ops team (expected to be 3 to 5 members when you join, including you). You'll set team and individual goals in coordination with the Director of Operations, run a regular check-in cadence, give feedback and mentorship, and hold the team to GovAI's standards.

• Improving and scaling the function.
  
  • You'll identify what isn't working and fix it, reducing friction for staff rather than simply adding process: overhauling outdated processes, adding automation where possible, and documenting core processes as SOPs to make the team more resilient. 

• Handling sensitive and difficult situations.
  
  • You'll be a trusted partner for staff. You’ll help manage conflict between staff, performance issues, and other complex situations, including supporting middle managers as they develop.‍

• ‍Keeping us compliant.
  
  • You'll keep our policies and practices in line with US and UK employment law, knowing when to bring in specialist advice.

In your first year, we'd expect that you:

• Take over management of the team, setting individual goals, making sure every team member is effective and happy.

• Take day-to-day people operations execution off the Director of Operations' plate, so their involvement becomes occasional escalation only.

• Make processes like new-hire onboarding gold-standard, so new joiners report they had what they needed to be effective in their first two weeks. Overhaul outdated or inefficient processes where necessary and set them up for scale.

• Run UK payroll and reimbursements cleanly each month, with pre- and post-payroll work organised across the team to reduce friction and errors.

• Document core processes (onboarding, offboarding, payroll, reimbursements, request handling) as SOPs clear enough for any team member to follow, so the function is less person-dependent and ready to support a larger team as we keep scaling.

• Document the reasoning behind judgement-heavy calls, so it becomes the first reference point for non-standard situations and inspiration for further improvement across the team.

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Selection criteria

We're selecting candidates who:‍

• Are driven to reduce friction and enable GovAI to do more. You treat people operations as enabling, not gatekeeping, and your instinct is to make things lighter, not to add structure for its own sake.

• Are strong people managers, able to set goals, give feedback, develop reports, and hold them to high standards.

• Build systems, not just run them. You see the systemic cause behind recurring issues and design processes that hold at the next scale without quietly adding bureaucracy. You're comfortable with technology and happy to automate or use AI tools where they help.

• Handle sensitive personnel, salary, and performance information with discretion and judgement.

• Have strong attention to detail (payroll, contracts, comms) and reliable follow-through: things get done, on time, without chasing.

• Communicate clearly in writing and in person, and can deliver uncomfortable messages directly without becoming defensive or avoidant.

• Have a working knowledge of US and UK employment law, or can come up to speed quickly. We don't expect deep expertise on day one.

• Are excited to use their career to positively influence the lasting impact of AI, in line with our mission.‍

Experience managing people operations in a research or think tank context is preferred but not required.‍

Some profiles that might be an especially good fit for this role include:

• A people operations team lead or ambitious specialist at an organisation in AI governance or related fields.

• Someone who has built or scaled a people operations function within a fast-growing research organisation, think tank, or startup.

• An early employee at a startup or a generalist at a larger organization who has picked up a basic understanding of people operations and wants to specialise in it.

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Salary and location

This position is full-time. We have offices in London, UK, and Washington, DC, and we strongly prefer team members to be in-office, but are open to exceptional candidates who would need to work remotely. We are able to sponsor visas in the UK and the US and can support relocation.‍

The People Ops Manager will be compensated in line with our salary principles. The salary for this role will depend on the successful applicant's experience and location, but we expect the range to be between £84,000 ($113,000) 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:‍

1. Written application
2. A paid remote work test.
3. An interview and reference checks.
4. Potentially, a one-day in-person work trial.

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 combination of experience and motivation might be exactly what we're looking for.

As part of our commitment to research security and compliance, GovAI may be required to conduct screening checks on shortlisted candidates. This may include sanctions and watchlist screening using publicly available information. Further details are set out in our Privacy Policy.