A couple of expert-recommended jobs in biosecurity at the moment (Oct 2022)
By Clifford @ 2022-10-20T12:13 (+57)
There are a lot of jobs out there. I have a hunch that it would be useful to get a sense of what field leaders thought were the most pressing roles to fill to motivate people to apply or share with people they know.
I asked Chris Bakerlee (Senior Program Associate for Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness at Open Philanthropy) for three biosecurity roles he is excited to see filled right now. I was excited to get his view as I feel like he has a good overview of the opportunities that are available within biosecurity and which seem highly impactful to fill. He highlighted the following two roles.
For more information on why people prioritise Global Catastrophic Biological Risk, I recommend reading 80000 hours profile.
This post is (in part) a test. Please give me feedback on this post here, in a DM, or in the comments. I’d be particularly interested to know if you found this post useful and/or if this was the first time you’d heard about any of these roles.
Open Philanthropy, Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness, Executive Assistant
Flexible location (within the US and US time zones). The team is currently split between Boston and the Bay Area.
Who is it for?
Someone with project management, organization, and prioritization skills.
What’s the role in a nutshell?
The executive assistant role would unlock valuable time that will be spent on research, grantmaking, and other essential activities. The role would focus on providing administrative and operational support for the team. Responsibilities include:
- providing executive assistant-style support to Senior Program Officer, Andrew Snyder-Beattie
- managing and organizing team documents
- doing ad hoc research or organizational tasks (e.g. proofreading documents),
Read more about the impact case for working in executive assistant roles here.
Why this organisation?
Open Philanthropy is one of the biggest funders in effective altruism. They have given over $131 million for projects aimed at reducing biological risks. You can read more about Open Philanthropy here.
Learn more
Senior Program Officer / Senior Director, Global Biological Policy and Programs (NTI | bio)
Washington D.C.
Who is this for?
Someone with 7-10 years of policy, research, and/or project management experience, including in biology/biotechnology, international security, global health, or international affairs.
What’s the role in a nutshell?
This role presents an excellent chance to work alongside Jaime Yassif and the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s ‘Bio’ team to advance creative solutions to challenging problems in biotech governance and bioweapons nonproliferation. Listen to Jaime’s episode on the 80,000 hours podcast here which describes some of the problems they are tackling.
Responsibilities include:
- overseeing research on the development of practical, innovative risk-reduction approaches;
- managing projects, budgets, and staff;
- convening international events and managing relationships with global stakeholders;
- drafting internal leadership memos and briefing documents;
Why this organisation?
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) works with governments, scientists, and citizens to prevent catastrophic attacks with weapons of mass destruction and disruption—nuclear, biological, radiological, chemical and cyber. You can read more about NTI here.