Kairos is hiring: Founding Generalist & SPAR Contractor

By Agustín Covarrubias 🔸, Topaz @ 2025-10-07T18:15 (+10)

TL;DR: Kairos is hiring a full-time Founding Generalist ($90k–$150k) and a part-time SPAR Contractor ($25–$45/hr) to help scale up our AI safety talent development programs and continue growing our organization. Applications close November 4th.

Know someone who'd be great? We’re also offering a $5,000 referral bonus for the Founding Generalist role.

About Kairos

Kairos is a nonprofit accelerating talent into AI safety and policy. In just one year since our founding, we've trained over 600 people through our flagship programs:

• SPAR – The largest AI safety research fellowship, now with 300+ mentees mentored by researchers from Google DeepMind, the UK AI Security Institute, Open Philanthropy, RAND, METR, and others.
• Pathfinder Fellowship – Growing the global network of AI safety university groups from a few dozen to nearly 100, distributing $1.4M+ in grants to support their work.
• OASIS Workshops – Bay Area workshops for top university organizers with speakers from Constellation, AI Futures Project (AI 2027), Redwood Research, ARI, and more.

Our fellows have published at NeurIPS and ICML, been featured in Time Magazine, and gone on to lead impactful work across top research labs, think tanks, and policy organizations. We've helped dozens land AI safety roles and supported hundreds in taking meaningful action in this space.

We view ourselves as a portfolio of highly impactful projects in a rapidly evolving field. By 2026, we plan to launch more ambitious initiatives addressing critical gaps in the ecosystem while rapidly scaling our current programs.

The Roles

1. Founding Generalist (Full-Time)

Salary: $90,000–$150,000

Location: Remote (with optional office access in Berkeley, London, or Cambridge, MA)

As a Founding Generalist, you'll have strong ownership over major programs shaping the AI safety talent pipeline. This isn't a typical operations role—you'll be a key builder on our team, taking on high-stakes work with significant autonomy.

What you'll do:

• Drive recruitment and outreach: Lead outreach for SPAR, Pathfinder, and new programs, recruiting both mentors and mentees. We've doubled applications round-on-round for every cohort we've run.
• Grantmaking and application review: Review applications with rigor and nuance, help conduct due diligence on complex grant proposals, and make funding recommendations.
• Proactively ship high-impact projects: Identify priorities aligned with our mission and execute independently. Come up with new ideas, test them, then scale what works.
• Develop deep field expertise: Build understanding of AI safety and policy research agendas to inform program design. Map the AI safety ecosystem to identify gaps where Kairos could have outsized impact.
• Build strategic relationships: Cultivate relationships with key stakeholders across the AI safety ecosystem. Work closely with mentees and mentors to understand their needs and help them thrive.
• Build the team: Help interview and recruit future team members as we scale in 2026 and 2027.

Who you are:

We're looking for someone with high agency, strong judgment, and deep alignment with our mission. Ideally, you have:

• High agency: You demonstrate strong internal motivation and ownership. You proactively upskill on complex tasks, triage competing priorities, thrive in ambiguous environments, and set clear daily goals.
• Impact-minded: You're motivated by reducing catastrophic risks from AI. When challenges arise, you roll up your sleeves and contribute wherever you can make a difference.
• Scout mindset: You pursue truth over comfort, resist motivated reasoning, maintain intellectual humility, and stay open to changing your mind.
• Agile and decisive: You move fast, develop hypotheses about how to create change, and act decisively even under uncertainty.
• Alliance mentality: You're collaborative and pro-social. You see others working on AI safety as allies and handle problems constructively.

Preferred (but not required):

• Context on the AI safety ecosystem, needs, and gaps
• Entrepreneurial experience or strong motivation for starting new projects

What we offer:

• Base salary: $90,000–$150,000 (depending on experience, seniority, and location)
• 10% 401(k) contribution or equivalent pension contribution
• Flexible working hours
• Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance
• Generous vacation policy and professional development budget
• Office access in Berkeley, London, or Cambridge, MA (or coworking access elsewhere)

Start date: December 2025 (flexible)

See the full job description here.

2. SPAR Part-Time Contractor

Rate: $25–$45/hour

Location: Remote (worldwide)

Time commitment: Minimum 7 hours/week (flexible)

We're seeking a motivated contractor to help scale SPAR's operational capacity and support program delivery. You'll provide essential coordination and logistics support for high-impact projects.

What you'll do:

• Coordinate and facilitate technical and policy workshops for SPAR mentees
• Support the organization of SPAR's Demo Day: source judges and attendees, develop outreach materials, design the Gather Town space, and manage the event website
• Meet one-on-one with participants to understand their experiences, connect them with opportunities, and help assess program impact
• Organize in-person meetups (Bay Area, London, Boston, or NYC) or virtual social events
• Create practical guides, templates, and resources for mentees
• Take on other projects based on your skills and interests

Who you are:

• Deeply committed to AI safety: You understand the importance of AI safety work and are motivated to help build this field. You likely have engagement via research programs, university groups, or other AI safety initiatives.
• Interest in fieldbuilding: You're curious about or passionate about talent development in AI safety.
• Strong organizational skills: You can manage multiple projects simultaneously, meet deadlines consistently, and maintain high attention to detail.
• Proactive and self-directed: You thrive with autonomy and are comfortable defining your own approach to achieving goals.
• Strong communication skills: You can engage effectively with diverse stakeholders, from early-career fellows to senior researchers.

Logistics:

• Start date: Late October 2025 (flexible)
• Duration: Flexible—could conclude at the end of the current cohort (December 2025), extend through the next cohort (May 2026), or continue beyond if mutually beneficial
• Preference for candidates available during some ET business hours

See the full job description here.

Why Work With Us

• Mission-critical work: You'll be working toward reducing risks from advanced AI, potentially the most important challenge of our time.
• Real ownership: You'll shape major programs that influence hundreds of future AI safety and policy professionals.
• Growth opportunities: As Kairos expands, your role will grow with your interests and skills. Potential to manage others as we double or triple our team size by 2027.
• Exceptional team: Work alongside people from METR, Open Philanthropy, Rethink Priorities, and CEA who share your commitment to impact.
• Strategic connections: Collaborate regularly with leading AI safety researchers, policy professionals, funders, and organizers.

Our Culture

Kairos is a small, dynamic, high-trust team motivated by the urgent challenge of making advanced AI go well for humanity. We operate with a scout mindset—pursuing truth over comfort and embracing uncertainty. We value purpose over ego and alliance over competition.

We also believe meaningful work should be enjoyable. We support each other's well-being, celebrate wins, and maintain a healthy sense of humor even when the work is challenging.

Ready to Apply?

If you're passionate about our mission but unsure whether you meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway!

• Apply for Founding Generalist
• Apply for SPAR Contractor
• General Expression of Interest
• Refer someone you think would be a great fit (earn a $5,000 referral bonus if they're hired and complete 6 months as an FTE)

Questions? Reach out to careers@kairos-project.org

Application deadline: November 4th, 2025