Partnerships Manager, Global Catastrophic Risks

About Open Philanthropy

Open Philanthropy is a philanthropic funder and advisor; our mission is to help others as much as we can with the resources available to us. We stress openness to many possibilities and choose our focus areas based on importance, neglectedness, and tractability. Our current giving areas include potential risks from advanced artificial intelligence, global health and development, scientific research, global public health policy, farm animal welfare, and biosecurity and pandemic preparedness. In 2024, we recommended $650 million to high-impact causes, and we’ve recommended over $3.9 billion in grants since our formation.

Open Philanthropy’s primary funding partner is Good Ventures. However, we recently expanded our philanthropic advising work to serve additional philanthropists and aim  to further expand and professionalize that work. We aspire to work closely with  more major funders, helping direct hundreds of millions of dollars annually to high-impact causes from partners in addition to Good Ventures.

About the team

The Partnerships Manager will work exclusively within the Global Catastrophic Risks (GCR) portfolio, which works to secure the benefits and mitigate the risks of transformative technology. We expect the vast majority of the Partnership Manager’s time will be focused on the advanced AI portion of the portfolio.

Engaging with other funders is an increasing priority within the GCR portfolio because (a) we'd like to help diversify the funding base for work aiming to improve biosecurity and reduce threats from advanced AI, and (b) since the launch of ChatGPT, an increasing number of philanthropists have asked for our advice on what to fund to mitigate AI risks. We've started to interface with a larger number of funders who are interested in receiving our funding recommendations, and as such we are looking to increase our capacity to coordinate recommendations to those funders, coordinate funding partnerships, and manage the relevant relationships.

The Partnerships Manager will report to Open Philanthropy’s new Director of Partnerships, Liz Givens, and work closely with GCR program staff and leadership. Because this is a new function for the team, we expect the workflows, reporting lines, and mandate for the position to evolve over time, perhaps considerably. 

About the role

We are looking for an experienced manager who can develop and execute a strategy for engaging funders to direct more money to high-impact philanthropic opportunities within the GCR ecosystem. Over the past year — despite having no full-time staff dedicated to building partnerships — we’ve helped individual philanthropists give $20M+ to opportunities we identified for them.

The Partnerships Manager will be responsible for doubling this output by activating our long list of potential partners who are interested in being connected to meaningful philanthropic opportunities. The goal of this role is not to fundraise for Open Philanthropy’s own funding vehicles, but rather to increase the flow of funding to opportunities that benefit from a diversified funding base, including opportunities that Good Ventures does not support. Over time, this role will help build a network of philanthropists focused on reducing global catastrophic risks. 

The Partnerships Manager would execute (or, as the team grows, manage) four  ongoing  streams of work while building a fifth new area of responsibility:

1. Communicate funding opportunities to potentially interested funders, including writing emails, taking calls, and producing customized one-pagers and slide decks to promote and explain the opportunities.

2. Maintain and proactively grow relationships with interested funders, including fielding calls to learn more about the preferences, goals, and constraints of potential funders.

3. Work closely with GCR program staff to maintain a database of opportunities that would benefit from more diversified funding, prioritizing the opportunities by cost-effectiveness, urgency, and the value of additional funding diversification.

4. Oversee the improvement of behind-the-scenes processes (e.g., database management, metric tracking, impact reporting, and communication workflows) to increase the efficiency, volume, and success rate of recommendations to funders

5. Cultivate interest in GCR cause areas among individuals and foundations early in their “donor journey” (i.e., individuals who aren’t yet convinced they should be spending their money on GCR-targeted philanthropy). While this work is nascent, it has significant potential for impact and aligns with key priorities for senior leadership and Open Philanthropy as a whole. 

In addition to the primary responsibilities above, we expect the Partnerships Manager to contribute to (or manage) other fundraising activities, on an ad hoc basis. This might include building a fundraising dashboard to capture key statistics, commenting on strategy memos, desk research on specific donors, and/or coordination with other philanthropic foundations and donor advisories.

Qualifications

You might be a good fit for this role if you:

• Are passionate about catastrophic risk mitigation. You're familiar with and excited to support the ecosystem of organizations and individuals working to secure the benefits and mitigate the risks of transformative technology.

• Excel at high-stakes strategic conversations. You have a track record of engaging with accomplished leaders in substantive discussions about complex topics. You're able to provide thoughtful, candid advice that adds value to their decision-making process.

• Can effectively communicate AI risk concepts. You have a strong grasp of the key arguments around AI safety and can present them persuasively to different audiences.

• Have excellent relationship management skills. You understand how to build and maintain long-term professional relationships with sophistication and judgment. You can adapt your engagement approach to match different stakeholders' needs and expectations.

• Demonstrate exceptional communication abilities. You express yourself clearly and professionally across all mediums, both in person and in writing. 

• Bring strong operational capabilities. You can manage multiple complex workflows while maintaining high standards of accuracy and efficiency.

• Take initiative and ownership. You're comfortable working independently and taking full responsibility for projects and processes. 

While there’s no single set of experiences we’re looking for, a successful candidate might have a background in management consulting, investment research, or data-driven project management/leadership roles. Previous fundraising experience is a plus but not required.

Role details and benefits

• Compensation: The starting compensation will be $210,393.72, which will include a base salary of $187,393.72 and an unconditional 401(k) grant of $23,000.00.

  • This assumes a remote location; compensation would be adjusted slightly upwards for candidates based in the San Francisco Bay Area or Washington D.C.

• Time zones and locations: This is a full-time, permanent position with flexible work hours and location. Occasional travel to San Francisco may be required, and you will generally need to be available for calls during most of the U.S. workday. We are happy to consider sponsoring U.S. work authorization for candidates wanting to relocate to the U.S.; however, we don’t control who is and isn’t eligible for a visa and can’t guarantee visa approval.

• Start date: The start date is flexible, and we may be willing to wait for an extended period of time for the best candidate, though we’d prefer someone to start as soon as possible after receiving an offer.

• Benefits: Our benefits package includes: 

  • Excellent health insurance (we cover 100% of premiums within the US for you and any dependents)

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • We can’t always provide every benefit we offer US staff to international hires, but we’re working on it (and will usually provide cash equivalents of any benefits we can’t offer in your country).

We aim to employ people with many different experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who share our passion for accomplishing as much good as we can. We are committed to creating an environment where all employees have the opportunity to succeed, and we do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.

Applications are due by Sunday, March 2nd at 11:59pm PT. Please apply as soon as you can — we may prioritize candidates who can move through the process sooner. 

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or have any other questions about applying, please contact jobs@openphilanthropy.org.