(Senior) Program Manager, Mentor Selection
About The Position
The Program Manager for Mentor Selection owns the end-to-end process for deciding which mentors MATS supports. This includes sourcing prospective mentors, gathering and evaluating input from the Mentor Selection Committee, advisors, and team members, considering evidence from past cohorts, and proposing how support should be allocated across mentors and research agendas, subject to approval from MATS leadership. The role requires strong judgment about AI safety research and the people working in the field. The Program Manager will serve as a key point of contact with mentors at organizations including Anthropic, Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Apollo, METR, and Redwood. They will engage with research directions and portfolio tradeoffs, and collaborate with impact analysis and admissions functions on talent allocation. The work has similarities to grantmaking at nonprofit foundations, requiring impact-based opinions about relative support for different research agendas. The mentor selection process runs once per cohort, approximately three to four times per year. Between selection cycles, the Program Manager will engage with AI safety research directions, represent MATS at conferences, and contribute to impact analysis and talent-allocation strategy. The position reports to the Program Director (Juan Gil). The role is 40 hours per week and is primarily in person at MATS's main office in Berkeley, California, with hybrid arrangements available for exceptional candidates; fully remote work is not offered.
Requirements
- High familiarity with the AI safety and security research landscape, its organizations, and its researchers.
- Excellent judgment about research quality and researcher potential.
- A strong network in AI safety or a demonstrated ability to quickly build one.
- Clear, warm, and proactive communication with senior stakeholders.
- Ability to weigh qualitative and quantitative inputs into a defensible decision.
- Strong understanding of and alignment with MATS's mission of reducing risk from the development of advanced AI.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in grantmaking, program-officer work, or research-funding prioritization.
- A PhD or comparable research experience in a field relevant to AI safety.
- Experience identifying talent through headhunting, scouting, or selection for competitive technical programs.
- Project management experience with multi-stakeholder processes on fixed timelines.
Responsibilities
- Own the MATS mentor selection process for each cohort, including sourcing, evaluation, allocation, and offers.
- Headhunt and conduct outreach to prospective mentors using a network and knowledge of the field.
- Design and run information collection from the Mentor Selection Committee and advisors, working with the systems team on supporting interfaces.
- Evaluate returning mentors using data from past cohorts, including fellow ratings, research and career outcomes, and mentor engagement.
- Propose fellow allocations across mentors and research agendas, balancing mentor strength, agenda importance, portfolio strategy, and value of information; iterate with MATS leadership and obtain approval.
- Help manage mentor relationships through the cycle, including reallocating fellow capacity as mentors' plans and resource constraints change.
- Between selection cycles, engage with AI safety research directions, represent MATS at conferences, and contribute to impact analysis and talent-allocation strategy.
Benefits
- In-office catered lunches and dinners on workdays.
- Paid work trips, including staff retreats, business trips, and relevant conferences.
- Funding and support for professional development.
- 17 days of annual paid time off for Berkeley-based employees.
- Flexibility for hybrid work, but not fully remote work.
- Collaborative and intellectually stimulating work environment.
- Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance.
- Roth 401(k) and Traditional 401(k) for US-based employees.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
