Open Philanthropy is looking for a Grants Associate to help support our grantmaking in our cause areas focused on safeguarding the long-term future, including potential risks from advanced AI, biosecurity and pandemic preparedness, and longtermist effective altruism community growth.
About the Grants Management Team
Our nine-person Grants Management team supports Open Philanthropy’s mission by processing grants efficiently and expertly so that our grantees and program staff can focus on doing the most good possible. We pride ourselves on keeping administrative burdens to a minimum and getting grantees money in a quick and low-hassle way.
The Grants Management team’s goal is to support grantees and program officers — and we’re proud to have historically received excellent reviews from our stakeholders. Our long-term vision is to develop the infrastructure and capacity to support a much higher volume of giving, while maintaining our high standards for customer service and continually innovating and improving on our systems.
About the Role
Most grants associates work across Open Philanthropy’s focus areas; in this role you would specialize in supporting our grantmaking focused on longtermist effective altruism community growth and existential risk reduction. As the volume of grants in this area increases, we believe it will be valuable to have a grants associate focused on becoming familiar with the team’s unique needs to provide more tailored support.
Your core responsibilities would include:
- Managing the process of getting funding to longtermist grantees once it has been internally approved. This includes determining which vehicle is best suited to make the grant, coordinating with grantees and program staff to get the necessary information, resolving any logistical or compliance issues that arise, and communicating with external funding entities to ensure grants are paid on time and don’t encounter any roadblocks.
- Knowledge and information management related to longtermist grants, including record-keeping and updates in Salesforce, maintenance of processes/workflows/guides, tracking of check-ins and renewals, monitoring and responding to staff and grantee questions via our grants inbox, and managing key documents.
- Identifying and managing legal and compliance risk related to grantmaking activities and related vehicles, in collaboration with our legal team.
- Noticing areas for improvement and bringing them to the attention of the team. (We’re big on looking for ways to continually improve our systems and practices to better support Open Philanthropy’s mission.)
- Taking on other special projects related to grants management (past examples have included developing training for new program staff, managing our annual grantee survey process, and designing a formal Individual Grants Program to more easily fund individuals).
Who might be a good fit
We’re looking for someone who resonates with Open Philanthropy’s culture and values, and is excited to take ownership of providing excellent support to our longtermist grantmaking teams. We are open to applicants with varying levels of experience, and we don’t expect you to have any familiarity with grantmaking yet (we have training available).
You might be a great fit for this work if you:
- Work in a way that is consistent with our operating values of ownership, openness, calibration, and inclusiveness, and feel you can model those values for others on your team.
- Are familiar with, and interested in, effective altruism and longtermism. Familiarity with adjacent communities and fields in which relevant work is done — such as AI safety, biorisk reduction, or EA community-building — is a plus, but not required.
- Are a strong communicator, particularly in writing. You will need to manage a large volume of email correspondence, and sometimes explain complex issues to grantees clearly and succinctly.
- Are reliable and responsive — fielding questions and requests from grantees and program staff will be a key piece of the role.
- Are organized and detail-oriented. The day-to-day work will involve following processes to organize and track information about grants, and we will need someone who can keep on top of a large number of open items and next steps while making sure details don’t get dropped.
- Are a fast learner, and excited about working through novel challenges. Open Phil supports a wide range of grant activities, and the longtermist team in particular makes a large number of grants with unusual structures or requirements. This variability can present unforeseen logistical problems that we strive to resolve as quickly as we can.
The ideal candidate for this position will possess many of the skills and experiences described above. However, there is no such thing as a “perfect” candidate. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we would strongly encourage you to apply. Above all, we are looking for people motivated to contribute to our mission of helping others as much as we can with the resources available to us. Whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this role would make you excited to come to work every day.
Other details
- This is a full-time, permanent position. While we’d love to have you based in the Bay Area, we are flexible on work hours and location (and are able to consider candidates based outside of the U.S. who have work authorization in the country they are planning to work from). Unfortunately, we are not able to sponsor visas for this role.
- The baseline compensation for this role is $104,132.47, which includes a base salary of $90,549.97 and an unconditional 401(k) grant of $13,582.50, with additional consideration on compensation and title given for exceptional experience.
- This compensation assumes a remote work location; there will be upwards adjustments for candidates based in Washington D.C. or the San Francisco Bay Area.
- We would ideally like a candidate to begin as soon as possible after receiving an offer (likely in July or August), but we are willing to wait if the best candidate can only start later.
- We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including full health, dental, vision, and life insurance, flexible work hours and location, and a stipend for ergonomic equipment.
We aim to employ people with many different experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who share our passion for accomplishing as much good as we can. We are committed to creating an environment where all employees have the opportunity to succeed, and we do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.
If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or have any other questions about applying, please contact jobs@openphilanthropy.org.