Senior Business Operations Associate

About

is a non-profit AI research institute dedicated to ensuring advanced AI is safe and beneficial for everyone. We work at the intersection of machine learning safety research and policy supporting a global community of researchers and practitioners. At we believe in thoughtful inclusive and rigorous work that empowers our team and partners to do their best work.

Since our founding in July 2022 weve grown quickly to 40 staff producing 30 influential academic papers and established the leading AI Safety events for research and international cooperation. Our work is recognized globally with publications at premier venues and features in the Financial Times Nature News Forbes and MIT Technology Review.

We drive practical change through red-teaming with frontier model developers and government institutions. Most recently we discovered major issues with Anthropics latest model the same day it was released and worked with OpenAI to safeguard their latest model. Additionally we help steer and grow the AI safety field through developing research roadmaps with renowned researchers such as Yoshua Bengio. We also operate an AI safety-focused co-working space in Berkeley housing 40 members as well as support the community through targeted grants to technical researchers.

The Role

We are hiring a Senior Business Operations Associate to support our Business Operations Manager and work closely with our COO and leaders across the organization. This is a hands-on generalist role with a broad remit and real ownership: You will own key organizational processes drive critical improvements in intra- and inter-team operations support and IT coordination take on special projects as they arise and fill gaps where theres no clear owner.

You will report to our Business Operations Manager and collaborate closely with our COO and the rest of the BizOps team. Your priorities will shift as organizational needs evolve; no two weeks will look the same.

Why This Role / Why Now

is scaling fast. We are 45 people today and expect to grow to 75 by the end of the year. Our operations team is growing alongside the organization and the scope of what we need to run well is expanding: finance and accounting HR and compliance IT and a steady stream of special projects that do not fit neatly anywhere else.

This role owns the recurring work that keeps moving along with a portfolio of internal systems that will be yours to run and improve. Partnering with our Business Operations Manager youll be the dependable center of our operations making sure nothing slips and someone teams trust to just handle it. Youll own work thats varied hands-on and close to every part of the organization with the latitude to redesign what isnt working and room to grow as the function builds out.

If you are sharp low-ego and energized by getting things done across a wide range of operational domains we would love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities

• Operations delivery: Own operational tickets triaging incoming requests and providing first-responder support across the team. Own and improve our operational requests pipeline maintain policies and support recurring operational rhythms. Drive operational excellence and clear any roadblocks that might slow us down.

• Systems & continuous improvement: Support the design maintenance and optimization of cross-team coordination systems operational tool stack and knowledge management systems. Spot operational risks and process gaps early and propose solutions. Identify and execute on opportunities for process automation and systems integration as scales.

• Finance & compliance: Own and maintain compliance calendar tracking federal state and local filing deadlines and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. Support the systematization and automation of compliance obligations across the organization support grantmaking operations and provide financial operations support as needed.

• IT coordination: Provide initial IT support and coordinate with vendors to keep the teams tools and systems running. Coordinate equipment provisioning and sourcing.

• HR operations: Support onboarding and offboarding processes HR compliance employment policies and the maintenance of the company handbook.

• Coworking space operations: Support the operations of including event logistics.

• Special projects: Take on ad hoc operations projects end-to-end and drive specific pieces of larger initiatives.

Must-Have Qualifications

• 3-6 years of professional experience in operations or program/project management with demonstrated success building and implementing operational systems and processes. Consulting backgrounds are welcome but please note that well want to see evidence of real operational execution and iteration.

• Demonstrated experience as a high-agency problem-solver. Youve repeatedly identified a need or a better way to do something and brought the solution to life without being asked.

• Evidence of real results in past roles: things you have delivered or problems you have solved while juggling several responsibilities at once.

• Comfort working across multiple operational domains simultaneously: finance HR compliance IT and projects. Even if youre not a domain expert youve ramped up in new areas quickly before and can learn fast.

• Superb written and verbal communication. You can adjust your communication for different audiences summarize a situation accurately and write clear concise documentation.

• Reliable with details especially on compliance and finance tasks where a missed deadline or a wrong number is a real issue. You flag issues and develop solutions proactively.

• Comfort zooming between the details and the big picture. You can take an ambiguous problem ask the right questions to scope it and chart a path to a solution without losing track of the specifics that make or break execution.

• Demonstrated service mindset. You get energy from helping others succeed no job is too big or too small.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience in fast-paced highly ambiguous environments. Youve worked in startups nimble nonprofits and/or high-growth teams before.

• Experience contributing to an impact-driven organization or a passion for AI safety.

• Experience and driving change within an organization.

• Experience driving change within an organization with a sense for creating the right amount of structure to enable rather than stifle a team thats scaling fast.

• Experience with tools like Coda Notion Asana CRMs or similar operational software.

• Fluency with AI tools and workflows paired with the judgment to know when to use them and when not to.

• Experience building automations for efficiency gains.

Logistics

• Structure: You will be a full-time employee of a 501(c)(3) research non-profit.

• Location: Berkeley CA (onsite/hybrid).

• Hours: Full-time (40 hours/week).

• Compensation: $110000-$125000/year depending on experience. We will also pay for work-related travel and equipment expenses and offer catered lunch and dinner at our office in Berkeley.

• Reporting: Reports to the Business Operations Manager.

• Hiring process: A test task phone screen interview with the hiring manager and in-depth interviews with the team followed by reference checks.

If you have any questions about the role please do get in touch at If you dont have questions the best way to ensure a thorough review of your skills and qualifications is to apply directly through the application form. Please dont email us to share your resume (it wont have any impact on our decision). Thank you!

Required Experience:

Senior IC