Open Philanthropy is hiring a Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness (BPP) Operations Associate to assist in our work of reducing the risk of catastrophic biological threats. The BPP team has recommended over $150 million in grants to date, in diverse funding areas including scholarships, think tanks, advocacy, and technical development of countermeasures.
About Open Philanthropy
Open Philanthropy is a grantmaker; our mission is to help others as much as we can with the resources available to us. We stress openness to many possibilities and have chosen our focus areas based on importance, neglectedness and tractability. We’re particularly interested in high-risk, high-reward giving that may be too unconventional for other funders. Our current giving areas include global health and development, scientific research, South Asian air quality, farm animal welfare, biosecurity and pandemic preparedness, and potential risks from advanced artificial intelligence.
About the Role
The Operations Associate will be responsible for solving the BPP team’s most pressing operational challenges, as well as ensuring that our day-to-day processes run smoothly.
In this role, your work will fall into some of these categories:
- Office management. As a principal area of responsibility, you will own setting up a BPP team office in Washington, DC and managing its day-to-day operations, ensuring that team members located there are productive and have a positive experience. This will include direct hands-on work on the office, such as procuring supplies and equipment, as well as managing contractors in the provision of relevant services (e.g., routine office maintenance / operations). This work may also extend to other office spaces in other locations in the future.
- Reactive logistical support. You will be responsible for responding to ad hoc operational needs, e.g., organizing space for a one-off 15-person meeting in a European city or shipping a package across the country within 12 hours. Some tasks in this category may have short turnaround times and require effort outside of normal working hours.
- Process management. You will establish, maintain, and iterate on team processes, which may include processes related to internal knowledge management, task management, performance tracking, ensuring legal compliance, cybersecurity, hiring, and onboarding.
- Whatever else is needed to raise the team’s game. We are looking for a self-starter who is eager to support the BPP team in working as effectively as possible. Ideally, the person hired into this role will continually spot new opportunities for improving our team’s output, and will work creatively and independently to address unmet needs.
Over time, we hope the Operations Associate will take on more responsibility, growing and evolving in their role on the team.
What we’re looking for
You might be a great fit for this work if you:
- Take the mission of preventing global biological catastrophes extremely seriously
- Work in a responsive, agile way; stay calm when conditions change and are able to improvise and pivot quickly
- Pride yourself on how organized and diligent you are
- Have a track record of managing complex projects, such as teams of employees or volunteers; facilities; long-term efforts; or events
- Recognize when “perfect” risks becoming the enemy of “good enough,” while understanding what “good enough” actually means – especially in navigating situations with competing priorities
- Approach problems prepared to iterate on solutions with team members
- Approach systems and solutions with a “security mindset,” with a constant eye to recognizing and managing risks
- Be excited to handle ~anything that needs to get done, since it’s impossible to anticipate everything that might be needed from this role
We expect all our staff to:
- Put our mission first, and act with urgency to help us realize our ambitious goals for impact.
- Work to model our operating values of ownership, openness, calibration and inclusiveness.
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.
Role details and benefits
- Compensation: The baseline compensation for this role is $114,245.81 which would be distributed as a base salary of $99,344.19 and an unconditional 401(k) grant of $14,901.63 for U.S. hires.
- These compensation figures assume a location in Washington, D.C.
- Location: This role would be based in Washington, D.C., and may from time to time require travel to other locations. We are not able to sponsor visas for this role, and therefore require candidates to have current US work authorization.
- Benefits: Our benefits package includes:
- Excellent health insurance (we cover 100% of premiums within the US for you and any dependents)
- Dental, vision and life insurance for you and your family
- Four weeks of PTO recommended per year
- Four months of fully paid family leave
- A generous and flexible expense policy — we encourage staff to expense the ergonomic equipment, software and other services that they need to stay healthy and productive
- Start date: We’d like a candidate to start as soon as possible after receiving an offer, though there is some flexibility
We’re considering applicants on a rolling basis, and may give preference to candidates who complete our process sooner. Please apply as soon as you’re able.
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 philip@openphilanthropy.org.