Residency Manager

Astera Institute•Emerybille, CA

8d•Onsite

About The Position

Astera Institute is a new kind of research organization that operates outside the constraints of markets or academia, and is itself an experiment in how research organizations can move faster, take smarter risks, and create lasting public goods. Our Residency is a fully funded, 12–18 month program that supports extraordinary technologists and scientists producing open public goods — covering not just salary but budgets to hire teams, access compute, and otherwise accelerate their work across our focus areas in Biological and Artificial Intelligence, AI-enabled life sciences, and open science. Astera is uniquely positioned because of a $3B endowment we intend to deploy boldly rather than preserve; a small, agile team that runs more like a startup than a foundation; a high tolerance for risk and failure; and a disinterest in consensus — we support people and projects others can't or won't. The Residency is the tip of the spear: this program supports unproven talent and ideas, before any other funding and before a scientist even knows the shape of their program. As the Residency grows, we are seeking a mission- and culturally-aligned Residency Manager to own the program end-to-end: the operational backbone that lets residents do their best work and the connective tissue that keeps a growing set of residents and their teams well-supported. This is not a coordination role bolted onto an existing program: it is ownership of the program itself. Residents join on a rolling basis, work on wildly different problems, and report into different tracks. The core of this job is consolidating and anticipating their needs across that variety (e.g. budgets, milestones, hiring, space, troubleshooting) and turning what is currently handled case-by-case into something that scales without becoming bureaucratic. This job also manages the process by which new residents are selected and onboarded. Reporting to the COO of the Foundation, you will work closely with track leads and Astera leadership, and you'll be the person residents go to first. You will keep senior stakeholders aligned and informed without manufacturing process. This role is ideal for someone who is intellectually curious, exceptionally organized, thrives in ambiguity, and is energized by enabling ambitious people to do their most ambitious work.

Requirements

5-10 years in operations, chief-of-staff, program management or another role demanding exceptional organization, relationship management, and judgment.
Excitement about the science and technology Astera supports, and the curiosity that makes getting smart on a new field feel like a perk
Demonstrated ability to run complex, multi-stakeholder operations independently in a fast-moving environment.
Exceptional written and verbal communication

Nice To Haves

Strong candidates will likely have experience scaling young organizations and can offer perspective to residents as they build their own organizations
Motivated by enabling science and technology that could reshape the future
Excited to define what a modern research institute looks and feels like, rather than inheriting an established playbook
Thrives in early-stage environments where the role will evolve significantly and the path forward is often ambiguous: comfortable proposing direction while staying calibrated to leadership's priorities
Values giving and receiving direct feedback as a cultural multiplier, and sees AI tools as an opportunity to uplevel how the work gets done
Generous collaborator who doesn't maintain strong boundaries around what "isn't your job"

Responsibilities

Own the operational backbone of the Residency, e.g. selection, onboarding, check-ins, and transitions, while partnering with track leads, who own scientific judgment and budgets
Serve as the primary operational point of contact for every resident across their full tenure, from initial application to offer acceptance through completion or transition.
Anticipate and consolidate resident needs across a growing and heterogeneous set of individuals.
Identify recurring needs and friction across residents and build lightweight, repeatable ways to meet them as the program scales.
Offer perspective and informal coaching to residents as they tackle the challenges of growing young organizations
Manage the rolling selection process, e.g. scheduling, reviewer workflows, candidate communications, finalist logistics, ensuring quality holds as the process iterates
Keep senior stakeholders aligned and informed with clear, concise, high-signal updates without generating unnecessary process
Smooth the handoff from offer to Day 1, including helping residents stand up teams ahead of their start date.
Flex to the "unknown unknowns" of a young, growing program — event logistics, hub operations, cross-functional support during peak periods, and special projects across the Operations stack.