Technical Programs Director

The deadline to apply is Sunday, March 10th, and we strongly encourage people to apply as soon as possible. We will be making offers on a rolling basis.

Constellation is a research center whose mission is to help the world safely navigate the development of superhuman AI. Technical programs are the core of how we pursue the three Constellation priorities of research, collaboration, and capacity building.

We have a small and growing team of 7 full-time staff. We plan to start several new technical initiatives in the next year, and we are looking for entrepreneurial candidates who are flexible and able to own a variety of projects.  Hires will report to Bill Zito (President) and work closely with Nate Thomas (CEO). 

We’re interested in candidates with a range of seniority and management experience. The three roles we’re hiring for:

• Technical Programs Director: a senior contributor managing a team of people running technical programs. 
• Technical Programs Lead: an individual contributor who is the project lead for larger, more complex technical programs and will need to grow quickly.
• Technical Programs Associate: an individual contributor who will own significant components of larger technical programs or complete smaller programs and will need to grow quickly.

Responsibilities 

Hiring and managing a team of 2-4 others executing on our technical programs.

Creating and leading large new programs, such as:

• An expanded Astra Fellowship  with 20 advisors and 40 researchers 2x/year.
• An Evals bootcamp for 30 researchers 2-4x/year.
• A headhunting program that leads to 5 hires each quarter for top AI safety organizations.
• An Entrepreneurs in Residence Program, which will support 10-20 entrepreneurs in making connections, developing a better understanding of both AI threat models and the ecosystem, and starting new projects. 
• A podcast for in-depth AI safety research conversations.

Leading several of our current programs:

• Visiting Researchers Program for 20-30 researchers 2-4x/year.
• ML for Alignment Bootcamp for 40 researchers and engineers 2-4x/year.
• 3-day AWAIR workshops for 20 industry and academic researchers 3-10x/year.
• 1-day AI Safety Workshops for 60-70 AI safety researchers 6x/year.

Keeping up with and contributing to AI Safety research with about 20% of your time. Contributions may include:

• Talking regularly to the more than 100 researchers in Constellation programs.
• Reading and developing views on research.
• Assisting with survey papers like Open Problems and Fundamental Limitations of RLHF.
• Organizing seminar series to foster a vibrant intellectual community.

Skills Needed

• Entrepreneurial. Able to run large programs autonomously and successfully, anticipating possible opportunities and roadblocks.
• Capacity to think through how research directions are promising for reducing catastrophic risks from superhuman AI, and to refine understanding of AI threat models and safety techniques via reading, thinking, and talking to other researchers. 
• Comfortable thinking through how a given program will help us make progress towards the mission and able to set clear and inspiring targets.
• Ability to communicate clearly, delegate well, and listen effectively.

Compensation

$185,000 - $315,000 a year

This is a full time, on-site role. We are willing to sponsor visas for this role. We would like the candidate to start as soon as possible after receiving an offer, though there is some flexibility.

Our office is in downtown Berkeley, CA, thirteen seconds from the nearest BART (metro) stop. We offer catered lunches and dinners, and cover PPO health, dental, and vision insurance.‍

We are committed to diversity and equal opportunity in all aspects of our hiring process. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We welcome and encourage all qualified candidates to apply for our open positions.

For more information about the role or about Constellation, please feel free to contact us at programs@constellation.org.