Rethink Priorities’ Special Projects Team is hiring

By Rethink Priorities, merilalama @ 2022-11-01T16:09 (+63)

This is a linkpost to https://careers.rethinkpriorities.org/en/jobs/65646

TL;DR

• The Special Projects Program launched in mid 2022 to provide fiscal sponsorship and operational support to (for the most part, longtermist) megaprojects.
• We are now hiring for Manager and Associate roles on the Special Projects team.
• Rethink Priorities is a remote organization that welcomes applicants from almost anywhere in the world.
• Compensation for the roles ranges from $74,000 USD (for Associate roles) up to $111,000 (for Manager roles).
• Examples of activities for Managers and Associates include day-to-day operations, running hiring rounds, developing budgets, writing business plans for entrepreneurial projects, fundraising, liaising with stakeholders, researching legal/operational issues, scouting for talent for the projects, helping run prizes or requests for proposals, and grantmaking.
• In lieu of holding a webinar for these roles, we will aim to answer all questions posted in the comments section of this post. Please ask away!
• Please apply here by November 13th at the end of the day in your local time. 

General information about all our roles

• We invite anyone who is interested to apply, regardless of background, experience, or credentials. We will select candidates almost entirely based on their performance in our selection process, putting only minimal weight on CVs and references.
• Most of our positions are equally open to part- or full-time candidates (anywhere between 20-40 hours per week).
• The full-time annual salary we offer varies based on title and prior experience. The range for the roles in our Special Projects Team is from $74,000 (for Associate roles) to $111,000 (for Manager roles). Salaries for part-time staff are prorated for the fraction of 40 hours/week they work. 
  • See Titles at Rethink Priorities for more information.
  • See the "What we offer" section below for details.
• We are a remote organization and welcome applicants from anywhere in the world. 
  • We expect to be legally able to hire in most countries. If you are unsure whether we can hire in the country in which you are based, please email info@rethinkpriorities.org.
  • Most of our staff are in time zones between UTC-8 and UTC+3. While we welcome candidates from outside of these time zones, we often have meetings during working hours in these time zones that employees are expected to attend.  
• For permanent staff, Rethink Priorities offers comprehensive health coverage as regionally appropriate.
• Other benefits include stipends for workplace equipment, organization-wide mid- and end-of-year breaks, and generous leave policies.

About Special Projects and the roles

The Special Projects Program launched in mid 2022 to support activities outside of RP’s core research agenda. A lot of these projects require complicated operational support. RP’s Core Operations team is focused on ensuring RP's day-to-day functioning, and often these special projects require additional capacity beyond what the Core Ops team has or exploration of novel areas that are outside the purview of the Core Ops team.  

Although we currently expect Special Projects staff to primarily focus on operations activities, this is unlikely to solely be day-to-day operations tasks, and there are also many other activities we would be excited for the team to engage in. Some possible examples include developing budgets, writing business plans for entrepreneurial projects, fundraising, liaising with stakeholders, researching legal/operational issues, scouting for talent for the projects, helping run prizes or requests for proposals, and grantmaking. 

We expect that most of these projects will be in the longtermism space, although that is not a requirement. SP plans on fiscally sponsoring, incubating, or otherwise hosting several of these projects over the next few years. We expect to run regular hiring rounds to increase the SP team’s capacity to manage these projects, as required. Many of the special projects may spin off from RP after incubation — Special Projects staff may be well-suited to join these (or perhaps even help lead them), which will help ensure the operational success of the projects after the spinoff. 

Roles on this team would liaise between the RP Core Operations and General Longtermism teams and with the staff of each special project. 

You can read about the current SP team members here. 

Since the Special Projects program launched, we’ve achieved the following:

• Supported the launch of Epoch, an AI research organization, and are now providing them with ongoing fiscal sponsorship
• Organized LAISR, an AI strategy retreat 
• Supported Condor Camp, an EA outreach program in Brazil/Latin America
• Supported the launch of EA Pathfinder, an EA outreach and advice program for mid-career professionals

In addition to the above, we’re looking to potentially launch highly-scalable longtermism projects related to civilizational resilience and biosecurity.

Key Responsibilities

Special Projects Associate

Special Projects Associates serve as liaisons between their projects and RP Core Operations, completing operations tasks for their projects and helping ensure their operational success. Each Associate will manage a portfolio of 2-4 special projects and assist in the planning process for future projects. Specific responsibilities may include:

• Serving as the operations point person for their portfolio of projects and completing operations tasks as needed to ensure the success of those projects 
  • Expected responsibilities include research on legal/operational issues, meeting with stakeholders, identifying talent and recruiting, running requests for proposals, developing budgets, and more depending on the specific needs of the projects
• Completing project management tasks for incubated projects as needed
• Developing materials and processes to aid in the success of the special projects in the longterm
• Planning for future projects to be incubated at RP, and conducting research needed to launch new projects

Special Projects Manager

Special Projects Managers will be responsible for managing a small team of associates and their portfolio of projects. Managers will also assist Special Projects and Rethink Priorities research staff in the development of additional projects, and contribute to the strategic direction of the program. They’ll work across the RP Core Operations, General Longtermism, and Special Projects teams to ensure the success of the projects. Specific responsibilities may include:

• Scoping out potential future projects (conducting research on feasibility, risks, etc.)
• Advising the Director of Special Projects on project feasibility and risks
• Providing project management support for incubated projects
• Providing backup operational support for projects
• Managing a small team of SP Associates
• Assisting with business development/fundraising needs as required
• Organizing team meetings and co-working/retreats
• Providing updates on the status of projects to the Director
• Overseeing the development of SP team processes and procedures

Skills and Experience

Special Projects Associate

• Experience managing projects or organizing communities in the EA space or elsewhere
• Interest in exploring potential new EA charities and opportunities for impact
• Familiarity with effective altruism and longtermism
• Interest in developing generalist operations skills, such as basic finance, HR, and related skills
• Potentially open to working with projects if they are spun off from RP (if the fit makes sense)
• Comfort with independent, remote work (we're a 100% remote team across multiple countries)

Special Projects Manager

• Experience managing projects or organizing communities in the EA space or elsewhere
• Experience with direct management of a team
• Interest in exploring potential new EA charities and opportunities for impact
• Interest in contributing to the overall strategy and direction of Rethink Priorities
• Strong familiarity with effective altruism and longtermism
• Potentially open to working with projects if they are spun off from RP (if the fit makes sense)
• Comfort with independent, remote work (we're a 100% remote team across multiple countries)

What we offer

Compensation

• Annual salary between the following ranges for a full-time associate: 
  • $74,000  - $76,000 pre-tax USD 
  • £56,000 - £58,000 pre-tax GBP 
  • €66,000 - €68,000 pre-tax EUR 
• Annual salary between the following ranges for a full-time manager:
  • $109,000 - $111,000 pre-tax USD 
  • £82,000 - £84,000 pre-tax GBP  
  • €97,000 - €99,000 pre-tax EUR 

Please note that as Rethink Priorities can hire staff in many countries, compensation is not restricted to the major currencies listed above, and payments may be made in different currencies and payment intervals depending on the location of applicants and legal requirements.

Other benefits

• Opportunity to contribute to a fast-growing, high-impact organization—our research is used by key decision-makers who influence the distributions of hundreds of millions of charitable dollars
• Flexible work hours and location
• Comprehensive global benefits program
• Generous family leave (six months paid at full salary, regardless of gender)
• Organization-wide mid- and end-of-year breaks, plus unlimited vacation and personal time off (several additional weeks in practice)
• A caring team that looks out for each other, is friendly, respectful, and values having a healthy work-life balance
• Opportunities to grow/advance your career and engage in professional development
• Low administrative bureaucracy
• We don’t provide snacks, but we could mail you a box of Oreos if you want

About Rethink Priorities

Rethink Priorities is a research organization aimed at uncovering insights to inform policymakers and major foundations about how to best help people and nonhuman animals.

Since the beginning of 2018, we've:

• Studied alternatives to QALYs for measuring wellbeing
• Published reviews of lead reduction policy, charter cities, and agricultural land reform 
• Conducted polls, surveys, and message testing to better understand how the public thinks about animal welfare and other important topics
• Brought to light the important and neglected area of invertebrate welfare
• Investigated nuclear war as a possible existential risk, quantitatively modeled the expected harm from various nuclear war scenarios, and explored some interventions for reducing this risk
• And much much more!
• You can review our public work to date here 

We're supported by Open Philanthropy, Effective Altruism Funds, the Survival and Flourishing Fund, and individual donors.

If you'd like to know more about our hiring process, culture, and what working at Rethink Priorities is like, visit our Career Opportunities website.

Rethink Priorities is committed to building an inclusive, equitable, and supportive community for you to thrive and do your best work. We're committed to finding the best talent for our team, so please don't hesitate to apply for a role regardless of your age, gender identity, political identity, personal preferences, physical abilities, veteran status, or any other background you may identify with.

Note Before Applying: Please do not include a cover letter, photograph, or headshot of yourself, or any personal information that is not relevant to the role you’re applying for (including marital status, age, identity traits, or any other personal information that is not related to the position).  Additionally, please do not ask staff members involved in the hiring process to meet with you—to ensure fairness, we try to minimize these interactions, and requests for meetings with hiring committee members during the hiring process will be declined. 

We are not doing a webinar for this role, but if you have any questions, please post them in the comments. We will do our best to answer most questions. If you’d like to ask something privately, you can also email info@rethinkpriorities.org.