Open Phil’s Global Aid Policy Team is Hiring a Program Associate!

By Norma Altshuler @ 2025-10-01T15:44 (+16)

Our Global Aid Policy program is hiring a Program Associate at an unusually important moment for the field. There are more promising opportunities than we currently have the bandwidth to pursue, and this role will help us move faster while also shaping where we focus next.

The Program Associate will work closely with me and other program staff to identify and assess grant opportunities. This will include speaking with leaders in the field to surface promising grantees, analyzing whether a grant will cost-effectively advance our program’s priorities, and writing up clear reasoning to support funding decisions. The role will also involve monitoring grantee progress and managing day-to-day program operations. Over time, the Program Associate will take on greater responsibility, including recommending and overseeing their own grant portfolio.

Why work in Global Aid Policy right now? 

If the description above sounds like you, here are five reasons this role could be especially high-impact.

1. It’s an unusually important time to expand our capacity in aid policy.
We need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of what we’re already doing, and there are new ideas we’d like to explore but haven’t had the bandwidth for. Limited capacity also means we sometimes take longer than we’d like to respond to partners, which directly affects their work. As a Program Associate, you would help us move faster and do more.

2. You'd have the opportunity to shape our approach.
Beyond execution, you’d also influence our strategy. We’re flexible in deciding which countries to focus on, which tactics to pursue, and which policy goals to prioritize. We’re eager to explore new, high-impact ideas, but limited bandwidth has held us back. While some elements of our strategy are set, we remain open to anything that meets Open Phil’s high bar for impact.

3. You’d have significant opportunities for growth and mentorship.

I’d like this person to grow into being an extension of me and eventually take meetings on my behalf, draft internal and external documents, and serve as a close thought partner. I would aim to teach you everything I know, both because I enjoy mentorship and because it will directly benefit the work.

4. You’d learn about how to impact global aid policy across a wide range of approaches and contexts.

Our grantees range from think tanks to youth and religious advocacy organizations to lobbyists. Through this work, you’d have the chance to form your own views on which tactics and organizations are most effective and where you’d add the most value.

5. You’d be exposed to, and build relationships with, a wide range of people inside and outside Open Phil.

You’d work with leaders in the field across the kinds of organizations described above, as well as with colleagues on many of our operational, research, and Global Health and Wellbeing grantmaking teams.

What this might look like in practice:

The person who previously held this role helped us substantially increase our grantmaking output and take on countries and policy priorities that we wouldn’t have been able to cover as a small team. For example, they:

• Took ownership of two priority donor countries directly (after some time in the role)
• Investigated new lines of grantmaking, such as global health R&D advocacy, in collaboration with other Open Phil teams
• Supported senior staff on additional grant investigations

What we’re looking for in candidates 

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Principled problem-solver who can quickly build new skills, employ them to identify and evaluate key questions, make clear recommendations, and take ownership of projects to drive them through to completion.
• Experience in or adjacent to policy work (e.g., in government, think tanks, or advocacy groups); familiarity with aid policy is a bonus. We’re looking for at least a year of relevant policy work, with most competitive applicants likely to have 3–10 years of overall professional experience.
• Can quantitatively estimate benefits with imperfect information; able to conduct back-of-the-envelope calculations (BOTECs) that estimate the social return on investment of different grant opportunities.  
• Strong, succinct, and personable communicator and project manager who can interface clearly and thoughtfully with ideologically and culturally diverse stakeholders and partner organizations, including on sensitive topics.
• Willing to work business hours that significantly overlap with Pacific Time, including being available for part of the afternoon and no later than 8:00 a.m. a few times a week for calls with Europe; ideally open to living in San Francisco. 

Other Role Details

• Our work: You can read more about the Global Aid Policy team’s strategy and approach to grantmaking here. 
• Title and pay: Program Associate; The baseline compensation for this role is $126,233.59, which would be distributed as a base salary of $109,768.34 and an unconditional 401(k) grant of $16,465.25 for U.S. hires. 
•  Benefits: Excellent health insurance, four weeks PTO, four months fully paid parental leave, generous remote work and professional development support, and more.
• Location: We strongly prefer hires based in the San Francisco Bay Area and will cover relocation costs. We will also consider candidates in Washington, D.C. or elsewhere, provided they can travel to the Bay regularly (especially early on). While we cannot sponsor visas, we are open to hires outside the U.S. who can work hours with heavy overlap with Pacific Time, including afternoons. You would also need to be available to meet with colleagues in San Francisco, on the U.S. East Coast, and in Europe.
• Start date: As soon as possible after receiving an offer (ideally by January 2026). 
• Application deadline: 11:59 Pacific Time on Sunday, October 5, 2025. 

A few final notes

The ideal candidate for this role will have many of the skills and experiences described above, but there’s no such thing as a “perfect” candidate. If you’re unsure whether you’re qualified, I still encourage you to apply!

I’m not able to accommodate individual intro calls or special requests, but our recruiting team reviews every application carefully. Our hiring process is designed to be structured and consistent, which means prior conversations or connections don’t play much of a role in our decisions compared to some other organizations.

You can find more details in the job description and our FAQs. Feel free to reach out to jobs@openphilanthropy.org with any questions.