Talent Mobilization Lead

About Constellation

The AI safety field lacks the capacity, capability, and cooperation needed to safely navigate transformative AI. Constellation addresses these gaps, by mobilizing new and existing talent (to improve field capacity), incubating and growing projects, teams and organizations (to improve field capability), and convening field contributors (to improve field cooperation). 

While our overall mission requires work across all the necessary areas needed to address risks from transformative AI, Constellation is especially well positioned to support research, because of our established track record of hosting and collaborating with research organizations. We support research at multiple levels: we host and incubate research organisations, we support individual researchers via our Residency, and we support cohorts of independent researchers as Visiting Fellows (and previously our Astra research fellowship), and by partnering with external research programs like MATS and Anthropic Fellows.

But there’s so much more to do. There is more talent that can contribute to safety than has been mobilized into the field, and the field as a whole needs to grow to meet the demand for top talent working across all areas. 

About this role

The future of AI safety will be shaped by who works on what, and when. The right people, in the right roles, at the right moment can change the trajectory of the entire field. That’s where you come in. As Talent Mobilization Lead, you won’t just fill positions, you’ll help shape the talent map of the AI safety ecosystem. You’ll spot high-potential individuals before others do, help them navigate pivotal career moves, and connect them to roles where their work will have outsized impact.

This is a rare opportunity to operate at the intersection of strategy, networks, and execution, working with individual talent, leading research labs, and operational teams to make sure the most capable minds are deployed where they’re needed most. If you want your work to directly accelerate the progress of an entire mission-driven field, this is the role.

You’ll identify and engage promising individuals, guide them through key career transitions, and facilitate their movement into high-impact roles. You’ll work across organizational boundaries, partnering closely with internal program leads (e.g., Research Program Managers) and external stakeholders at frontier labs and aligned nonprofits.

Your time is primarily split between:

• Sourcing and identifying talent through networks, programs, and referrals.
• Placement and transition support including matchmaking, advisory conversations, and warm handoffs to hiring organizations.

Your work will directly accelerate the field’s progress by:

• Sourcing and preparing top talent to step into priority roles.
• Guiding individuals through transitions e.g., from a fellowship into a frontier lab, from academia into applied AI safety research, or from an industry role into policy-focused work.
• Strengthening the systems and partnerships that make talent deployment faster, more precise, and more effective over time.

Key responsibilities

• Design and run Research Programs hosted at Constellation, in partnership with senior researchers and the Constellation team
• Research manage (including a mixture of people management, project management, coaching, and performance management) research projects in programs and organizations hosted by Constellation
• Work with external partners to deliver excellent research support (for example, our work hosting and supporting the Anthropic Fellows Program)
• Support Constellation’s mobilization efforts to place talent you manage in fulltime roles that match with their skills and values

Skills & experience

You may be a good fit if you:

• Are an experienced manager (minimum 2-5 years) preferably on technical research or engineering teams
• Have experience designing and leading multi-stakeholder initiatives that recruit, evaluate, match, and place talent (especially for research opportunities)
• Actively enjoy people management and are experienced with coaching and performance management.
• Are a quick learner, capable of understanding complex technical topics and are motivated to learn about a wide array of research agendas across AI Safety (such as our focus areas)
• Have strong written and verbal communication skills
• Are motivated to rapidly elicit and address blockers, feedback, and needs as they appear from direct reports and program stakeholders
• Think AI might have transformative effects in the coming years, and are driven to help humanity to safely navigate periods of intense uncertainty and change

Strong candidates may also have:

• Prior experience writing or contributing to research papers in the AI Safety / Machine Learning more broadly (especially first or last author contributions)
• Demonstrated experience managing research or engineering projects
• Familiarity with machine learning infrastructure and computational research workflows

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation will depend on experience, but will likely be $130,000 to $200,000 per year.

Our benefits include:

• Generous vacation policy
• 401(k) with employer match
• Employer-paid commuter benefits
• PPO health, dental, and vision insurance
• Catered lunches and dinners, plus unlimited snacks & drinks
• Regular interaction with AI safety researchers and thought leaders
• A friendly, mission-driven team

Logistics

This is a full-time, on-site position at our Berkeley office, just steps from the nearest BART (metro) and bus stop. On-site parking is also available. We’re open to discussing remote versions of the role with promising candidates.

If you're excited about helping humanity safely navigate the development of transformative AI, we encourage you to apply—even if you're unsure whether you meet every qualification.

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.