About Constellation
Constellation is an independent center for AI safety work with the mission of helping the world navigate the development of transformative AI. To do this, we host the Constellation network, a curated group of researchers and other professionals from nonprofit organizations, universities, companies, think tanks, and governments. Our programs support and strengthen this network to do work within the Constellation focus areas by:
- providing direct funding
- running talent acceleration programs, and
- fostering cross-organizational knowledge-sharing and cooperation through a shared workspace and various workshops.
Some of our current and past programs include:
- Our Visiting Fellows program, embedding over 100+ researchers from around the world into the Constellation network for 3+ months in 2024
- The Astra Fellowship, which paired over 30 early-career researchers in active collaborations with research mentors from top companies
- 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 roles at companies such as Anthropic, METR, Redwood Research, Google DeepMind, and OpenAI.
About this role
Our Program Managers create, design, and run the programs that directly further Constellation’s mission. Representative responsibilities would include designing and launching a major new program on the scale of a Visiting Fellows cohort (30+ people participating for several weeks) and managing our ongoing Visiting Fellows program. This role requires applying strategic thinking, an understanding of the AI safety field, and experience design principles to make programs hit impact-oriented goals. Program Managers focuses on program design, participant sourcing and selection, and overall program success, coordinating with our Program Operations team for much of the logistical implementation. With Constellation hosting over 100 researchers and other professionals in a typical week, this work benefits from a high degree of situational awareness about the latest developments in AI safety.
We’re a small, fast-paced, and flexible team (11 full-time staff). Candidates should be entrepreneurial – taking initiative to fill gaps, execute efficiently on straightforward details, and cutting through ambiguity as needed.
Example Responsibilities
- Managing existing programs, as well as creating and leading smaller programs end-to-end
- Taking overall responsibility for meeting program goals, including their strategic impact, participants’ experience, and impact on the rest of the Constellation network
- Helping design and measure program goals to maximize their impact
- Developing new program concepts with clear theories of change for strategic impact
- Designing and measuring program goals to meet strategic company goals and maximize impact
- Designing program structure and content
- Designing detailed programming for onsite program participants, customized to their needs – talks, networking events, workshops, etc.
- Leveraging AI safety knowledge and network context to provide high-touch support for program participants (for example, by strategically curating useful 1:1 meetings), as well as other Constellation members and visitors
- Sourcing program applicants (including customized direct outreach and other creative / bespoke sourcing strategies) to ensure we reach our participant recruiting goals
- Designing and managing participant selection processes, including process and criteria definition, advisor recruiting and coordination, and overall pipeline management
- Writing clearly and compellingly about our programs, both for private communication with candidates and participants, as well as general audiences such as visitors to the Constellation website
- Coordinating with the Program Operations team to ensure smooth implementation of processes and events
Requirements
- Understanding of recent AI safety concepts and developments (at minimum, comparable to the AI Safety Fundamentals curriculum, plus initiative for further self-directed study)
- Ability to design experiences that simultaneously achieve strategic impact goals and participant experience goals
- Networking skills for developing relationships with 100+ program participants and experts in the field, and leveraging those relationships to create value
- Ability to reason about systems of people and organizations with a variety of motivations and incentives
- Qualitative and quantitative analysis of program-relevant questions, both strategic and tactical
- Excellent at clearly and compellingly distilling complex, ambiguous information for a variety of audiences
- Reliable tracking, prioritization, and management of a high volume of projects, threads, and deadlines
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.
Compensation and Logistics
$100,000 - $190,000 per 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, cover PPO health, dental, and vision insurance, and offer 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.
