Program Manager, Applied

About Constellation

Constellation is an independent research center that brings together people throughout the AI safety ecosystem to accelerate insight, research, and talent through better cooperation. Unlike a conference or summit, Constellation operates continuously, in the form of a physical workspace as well as conference-style talks, workshops, and training bootcamps. Continuous operation allows for relationships and conversations to develop over time, meaningfully fostering trust, collaboration, and shared insight. It also makes Constellation a natural field-building hub by rapidly inspiring, orienting, and connecting people who are newer to the field.

Based in Berkeley, CA, our shared workspace hosts over 100 people per week across dozens of AI safety organizations in nonprofits, academia, industry, and government. Hundreds of other researchers spend time at Constellation for shorter visits each year. We believe this is the strongest and highest-output network of AI safety researchers in the world; dozens of participants in past Constellation programs have gone on to safety-focused roles at companies such as METR, Redwood Research, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and the US and UK Safety Institutes.

For more information, see our research focus areas and selected publications from Constellation fellows.

About the Programs team

Constellation’s Programs team designs and executes on programs that further Constellation’s mission. Our programs and roles fall into three areas:

• Hosting Programs offer different ways for people and organizations to spend time at the workspace and engage with the Constellation network. Each hosting program is tailored to a variety of participant profiles, and include aspects of recruitment, selection, programming, and individual facilitation to make visits maximally worthwhile. An example of a hosting program is the Visiting Fellows program, embedding over 100 researchers from around the world into the Constellation network for 3+ months in 2024.‍
• Community Programs increase the amount or quality of network engagement by improving the mediums of interaction. Examples include network culture, design of the physical workspace, workspace meals, and the Constellation Slack. ‍
• Applied Programs actively leverage the Constellation network to achieve specific mission-strategic goals. Applied programs often take the forms of events (talks, workshops, training bootcamps, and so on) but may include other avenues of catalyzing cooperation toward specific goals. An example is the Machine Learning for Alignment Bootcamp (MLAB), a one-month bootcamp program in partnership with Redwood Research which helped 75 participants develop the machine learning skills most relevant to alignment research. Over 20% of MLAB graduates went on to full-time AI safety roles in top organizations.

About this role

You will design, execute, and iterate on programs that leverage the Constellation network and the broader AI safety ecosystem for field-building, knowledge sharing, and collaboration. Often this will take the form of in-person events, such as seminars, training programs, and expert workshops, but could also include virtual collaboration, such as in facilitating remote working groups. These Applied Programs enable the network—which includes experts across technical research, policy, academia, and industry—to engage meaningfully with the broader AI safety community and world.

We're looking for an entrepreneurially-minded leader who brings a deep understanding of our mission's importance and the judgment to advance it effectively. The work also requires flexibility: sometimes you’ll be digging into current program metrics to understand goal progress and sometimes you’ll be in front of field experts introducing a workshop.

To succeed in this role, you'll need a strategic mindset, great interpersonal skills, and familiarity with the AI safety field. An innate desire to actively engage with the AI safety ecosystem is also a must. Each program you lead will have its own set of goals and success metrics, so you should be experienced in program design, project management, and running effective feedback loops.

This role will be part of our Programs team and require close collaboration with teammates on both the Programs and Operations teams. Please note: when applying for any one Program Manager role, we will also consider you for other Program Manager roles that could potentially be a good fit.

Example responsibilities

Day-to-day work can vary substantially depending on the program. Example responsibilities specific to Applied Programs include:

• Generating ideas for new programs that leverage Constellation’s brand and broad network to achieve specific mission-strategic goals
• Designing program structure and content, enrolling outside experts as needed
• Recruiting, selecting, and/or facilitating the selection of program participants
• Executing on the logistics and delivery of in-person events like workshops, bootcamps, and seminars
• Managing relationships with partner organizations and external collaborators
• Organizing the development of curriculum and educational content for training programs
• Facilitating expert workshops and technical discussions
• Monitoring program outcomes and impact, particularly tracking career outcomes and research contributions
• Adapting program structure and content based on participant feedback and observed results
• Developing standardized playbooks and operational templates to enable consistent program delivery and facilitate future scaling

Example responsibilities applicable to all Constellation Program Managers include:

• Defining goals and determining effective and practical ways to measure them
• Taking responsibility for overall success by tracking progress and iterating as needed
• Gathering and analysis of data, including quantitative analysis, survey design, user interviews, etc.
• Coordinating with the Program Operations team to ensure smooth implementation of designs and other plans
• Building personal relationships with a wide variety of network participants and an understanding of their work, challenges, and interests
• Crafting thoughtful, socially intelligent, sometimes politically sensitive communications (verbal or written) designed to produce specific results

Skills needed

• Understanding of AI safety ideas, major lines of research, and ecosystem actors (e.g. being able to have high-level discussions about our focus areas)
• Ability to develop an intuitive model for Constellation’s strategy and how it supports the mission of safely navigating the development of transformative AI, and to evaluate specific tactical decisions in relation to that strategy and mission
• Ability to interact effectively with technical researchers, policy experts, organizational leaders, academics, industry professionals, and other ecosystem participants
• Ability to plan and run events with busy stakeholders, including senior researchers, organizational leaders, and prominent field experts
• Public speaking and presentation skills, particularly for facilitating events and discussions
• Ability to model and reason about systems of people and organizations with a variety of goals and incentives
• Nuanced understanding of individuals’ motivations as well as an ability to predict how changes in programs (including small changes such as nuances in scheduling, communication, or physical space design) may affect the person’s feelings and behavior
• Strong judgment in evaluating candidates' potential fit and impact, including gauging technical depth and research quality when evaluating potential program participants
• Ability to find effective ways (trading off accuracy, precision, and measurement cost) to measure qualitative goals and performing effective qualitative and quantitative analysis of that data
• Reliable tracking, prioritization, and execution of large numbers of tasks, as well as execution of complex projects involving multiple contributors and stakeholders
• High initiative, speed, and ability to get things done, while cutting through ambiguity and taking a strong sense of ownership
• Ability to design systems and processes that are efficient, robust, and scalable
• Ability to identify and build from the fundamental assumptions or elements of a problem
• Strong teamwork, including a focus on team success, ability to rapidly build trusting relationships, and to disagree actively and constructively

Compensation

The ideal candidate for this role will have some combination of the skills and experiences described above.  If you are not sure if you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply anyway.  

$100,000 - $190,000 a year

This is a full-time, on-site role. We are willing to sponsor visas as needed. We would like the candidate to start as soon as possible after receiving an offer, though there is some flexibility. We offer catered lunches and dinners, covered PPO health, dental, and vision insurance, and a 401(k) as well as monthly commuter expense reimbursements.

Our office is in downtown Berkeley, CA, thirteen seconds from the nearest BART (metro) stop.

We value diversity in all respects and base our hiring decisions on the needs of the organization and individual qualifications.  We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age or disability.