Program Director, Catalytic Deployment

OpenAI Foundation•San Francisco, CA

12d•$270,000 - $330,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Program Director is a leadership role on the Catalytic Deployments team that combines philanthropic investment, strategy, institution-building, and operations. Catalytic Deployments is a small, flat, and fast-moving team designed to make large and transformative investments across a wide range of areas in civil society. Program Directors own the strategy and execution of major areas of the Catalytic Deployments portfolio, working closely with the Head of Catalytic Deployments to set overall team priorities. As part of this work, Program Directors will help lead the development of large philanthropic investments globally, from grants to ambitious multi-year initiatives, and potentially new institutions. Program Directors will be part of a small, collaborative team and expected to work closely with the rest of the organization. Ideal program directors have deep experience in at least one social sector domain, such as public health, education, poverty alleviation, and economic mobility. This role requires strong judgment, high ownership, and the ability to operate with meaningful autonomy. This role has an unusually high bar for judgment, strategic thinking, and execution velocity. In the first year, Program Directors will develop a clear investment thesis in one or more priority domains; build a high-quality pipeline of opportunities; launch several significant partnerships or investments; and help establish the operating model and team for Catalytic Deployments.

Requirements

10+ years of leadership experience in nonprofits, philanthropy, or government
Credible experience building and scaling large social-sector initiatives
Experience in sourcing, assessing, and structuring grants
Subject matter expertise in at least one social sector domain, such as public health, education, poverty alleviation, and economic mobility
Ability to reason clearly about AI capabilities, implementation constraints, organizational readiness and the risks of deploying AI systems in civil society contexts.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate technical or organizational opportunities and make strong recommendations
Comfort operating in a fast-moving environment where priorities may evolve over time
Experience engaging credibly with external experts, institutions, and senior stakeholders
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information clearly and persuasively
Strong strategic judgment combined with a bias toward execution
High degree of ownership, discretion, and accountability
Deep motivation to accelerate AI’s impact in civil society and contribute to the Foundation’s mission

Nice To Haves

Direct experience deploying or scaling AI-enabled approaches in at least one social-sector domain.
Demonstrated out-of-the-box and original thinking about AI-for-good.

Responsibilities

Contribute to the strategy, prioritization, and the Foundation’s approach to Catalytic Deployments; over time, own specific areas within Catalytic Deployments
Source, evaluate, and recommend grants and other funding opportunities. Conduct diligence on organizations, projects, and leaders, including execution capability and potential for scaling the benefit of AI-enabled approaches
Help design and manage a growing portfolio of grants, ensuring strong judgment, clear prioritization, and high-quality follow-through
As the organization grows, manage other members of the Catalytic Deployments team
Engage deeply with the external ecosystem, including researchers, nonprofits, academic centers, public-interest organizations, data platforms, funders, and other potential grantee organizations
Identify gaps in the current ecosystem and develop ideas for how the Foundation can support new efforts, partnerships, or field-building initiatives
Develop and launch new initiatives from zero-to-one, including helping shape concepts, convene stakeholders, and stand up new efforts where needed
Represent the Foundation in external conversations, helping to build credibility, source opportunities, and strengthen the broader field
Write clear internal recommendations and strategy memos to support decision-making
Use frontier AI to support your work across the activities described above