Managing Director

Summary

Join Open Philanthropy as the Managing Director, Global Catastrophic Risks, leading a rapidly growing portfolio directing hundreds of millions of dollars annually towards high-impact strategies addressing critical threats to humanity. You will manage a team of approximately 45, develop and implement GCR giving strategies, collaborate with senior leadership, and ensure accountability to the board. The role requires exceptional management and leadership experience, deep alignment with Open Philanthropy's mission, and relevant expertise in AI or biosecurity. The position offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, remote work flexibility, and opportunities for professional development. Open Philanthropy prioritizes a supportive and high-performing work environment.

Requirements

• Are deeply aligned with our commitment to reducing global catastrophic risks, and you bring relevant expertise and relationships
• You are highly motivated by our mission, especially our work on reducing potential risks from advanced AI and biosecurity and pandemic preparedness
• You have relevant knowledge and relationships in one or more of these fields
• Bring exceptional management and leadership experience
• You have a proven track record of leading teams to deliver outstanding results, and excel in fostering a supportive, high-performing environment. You know how to identify the qualities that make people top performers and reliably cultivate those qualities across a team. Ideally, you bring experience managing other managers
• Demonstrate intellectual rigor and outstanding analytic abilities
• You understand complex arguments, can rigorously assess cost-effectiveness, have experience resolving difficult strategic questions, and can get quickly up to speed in applying that skillset for evaluating grants
• Drive results to maximize our output while displaying nuanced judgment and managing risks appropriately
• You are driven to meet or exceed our ambitious goals and move quickly when needed, while making measured decisions that build trust across the organization
• Bring excellent interpersonal skills
• You are capable of building trusting and collaborative relationships with your team, as well as with peers on the leadership team, with Alexander and our board, and with external partners

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior member of the leadership team: Work with Alexander and the other Managing Directors to help set Open Phil’s strategic direction and serve as a cultural and intellectual leader of the organization
• Lead our GCR strategy: Develop and implement a strategy for our GCR giving, in close collaboration with Alexander. Guide the GCR team’s work across our AI and biosecurity portfolios and identify opportunities for strategically scaling our grantmaking, including potentially by starting new programs. You will have final responsibility for approving the majority of GCR grant recommendations
• Manage the GCR team: Oversee and support the growing GCR program staff (currently about 45 team members), directly managing the program directors and fostering a culture of excellence and impact
• Develop and scale GCR communications efforts and partnerships with other donors: Collaborate with the senior leadership team and the GCR team leads to build and utilize our communications and partnerships functions, deepening strategic relationships with key stakeholders and expanding our network of partners
• Exemplify and champion Open Phil’s culture and operating values: You will work with the senior leadership team to help maintain — and personally model — the core cultural principles of Open Phil as we grow
• Oversee our GCR cause prioritization and evaluation functions: Manage the rigorous analysis and assessment of our GCR portfolio to ensure that we maximize the impact of our grantmaking
• Ensure accountability to the board: Support Alexander in engaging with our board

Benefits

• Excellent health insurance (we cover 100% of premiums within the U.S. for you and any eligible dependents) and an employer-funded Health Reimbursement Arrangement for certain other personal health expenses
• Dental, vision, and life insurance for you and your family
• Four weeks of PTO recommended per year
• Four months of fully paid family leave
• A generous and flexible expense policy — we encourage staff to expense the ergonomic equipment, software, and other services that they need to stay healthy and productive
• A continual learning policy that encourages staff to spend time on professional development with related expenses covered
• Support for remote work — we’ll cover a remote workspace outside your home if you need one, or connect you with an Open Phil coworking hub in your city
• Compensation: The baseline compensation for this role is $453,068.02, which would be distributed as a base salary of $430,068.02 and an unconditional 401(k) grant of $23,000 for U.S. hires
• We’ll support relocation costs for candidates not already based in the Bay Area