Jobs
Overview
Title: Deputy Director
Reports to: Executive Director Elizabeth Cooper
Status: Full-time
Location: Fully remote
Work authorization: U.S. work authorization required (visa sponsorship not available)
Salary range: $110,000–$150,000 USD
Introduction
BERI (the Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative) is a small, fully remote 501(c)(3) that provides operational support and fiscal sponsorship to university research groups and other projects working to safeguard humanity’s long term future. We’re a lean team of operations professionals who take our craft seriously; our work directly enables some of the most important research happening in AI safety, biosecurity, and related fields.
We’re hiring a Deputy Director to serve as the Executive Director’s operational right hand and long-term successor. “Deputy” is intentional — this isn’t an assistant role. We expect this person to be capable of running BERI independently within 1 to 2 years. Day to day, you’ll manage finances, support our collaborations, handle compliance, and build the systems that keep a complex global operation running smoothly.
This role is a fit for someone who finds deep satisfaction in enabling others’ impact, is energized by operational variety and complexity, and has the financial acumen and judgment to manage real compliance and fiduciary responsibilities. You’ll need to be the kind of person researchers and collaborators are genuinely glad to hear from.
We do expect to make several additions to staff in the next 12 months. The Deputy Director will play a large role in shaping our growth.
Responsibilities
In a team this small, the Deputy Director's responsibilities span what would be five or six roles at a larger organization: finance, compliance, HR, procurement, legal coordination, and stakeholder management. The list below captures the major areas, but the reality is that you'll regularly handle tasks that don't fit neatly into any category.
Support x-risk researchers and projects
Source, recruit, and hire project personnel, freelancers, and contractors across diverse geographies
Navigate international payment systems, compliance requirements, and procurement for global teams
Identify and implement operational improvements for BERI’s collaborators
Manage relationships and represent BERI externally
Build trust and credibility as a valued member of the x-risk community
Advise collaborators on operational, compliance, and logistics questions
Cultivate relationships with donors, grantmakers, and university partners
Report to BERI’s Board of Directors on a quarterly basis
Oversee financial and compliance operations
Manage per-project budgets, cash flow, fiscal sponsorship agreements, and grant arrangements
Navigate intellectual property considerations, contractor agreements, and grant negotiations across multiple jurisdictions
Handle annual audit preparation, tax filings, vendor compliance, and board reporting
Ensure appropriate governance boundaries and compliance across all BERI operations
Shape BERI’s strategic direction
Evaluate and support promising new projects and partnerships
Fundraise for BERI’s collaborations and programs
Shape growth initiatves
Our Expectations for Applicants
This role has two distinct categories of requirements.
Foundational qualities are what we need you to bring from day one. These are central to success in this role and difficult to develop on the job:
Strong financial intuition and comfort with accounting — you can look at a set of numbers and sense when something’s off
Critical thinking and healthy skepticism — you question, verify, and push back when something doesn’t add up, whether from people, tools, or AI systems
Clear, concise written and verbal communication that requires minimal revision
Professional warmth and presence that makes researchers and collaborators feel confident in who they’re working with
Attention to detail paired with the instinct to build systems and processes
Sound independent judgment — you know when to act on your own and when to escalate, and can tell one-way doors from two-way doors
Accountability — when something goes wrong, you own it and fix the process
Deep commitment to reducing existential risk and genuine satisfaction from enabling others’ impact
At least 4 years of relevant operations and/or management experience
We're especially interested in people who get energized by operational variety, instinctively build systems rather than rely on memory, and want their professional skills to directly serve the mission of reducing existential risk. We'd rather hear from someone who's honest about their gaps than miss a great candidate.
Learnable skills are areas where we invest in your growth and expect development while on the job. Starting with some of these is ideal, but demonstrated ability to quickly master new domains matters more than checking every box:
Nonprofit accounting, fund accounting, and fiscal sponsorship models, including governance considerations like conflict of interest and self-dealing policies
Contractor classification rules (especially California AB 5), tax compliance, and employment law basics
International payment systems, cross-border compliance, and employer-of-record (EOR) structures
Grant agreement evaluation and milestone-based funding management
Contract review and coordination with outside legal counsel
Insurance and benefits administration
Proficiency with tools like QuickBooks Online, Google Workspace, Airtable, and advanced spreadsheets (specific platforms are learnable; general comfort with financial and operational software matters more)
Familiarity with the EA ecosystem, the x-risk community landscape, and AI safety research context
What matters most is proven competence in the foundational qualities and a track record of quickly getting up to speed in unfamiliar domains.
Time Allocation Expectations
Based on our experience, here’s roughly how we expect time to break down by the end of your first year:
35% — Direct support of collaborations: Check-in calls, running hiring rounds, processing payments and reimbursements, purchasing. This may be 30–40% depending on active collaborations.
25% — General management and admin: Daily check-ins with ED, strategic planning, board meeting preparation, project management. Expect 30–35%+ during onboarding.
15% — Finance: Credit card approvals, budgeting, runway calculations, audit preparation, vendor management. Could range 10–20% depending on your background.
10% — External communications: Annual reports, blog posts, forum posts, website maintenance. Writing goes through multiple editing rounds at BERI.
5% — Professional development: Newsletters, conferences, seminars, upskilling. Expect ~10% in your first year, especially if you’re new to x-risk.
10% — Everything else: HR, fundraising, special projects, travel, legal coordination, international operations.
What Makes This Role Unique
High impact, high autonomy: You will have significant decision-making authority and directly enable cutting-edge x-risk research.
Growth trajectory: This is a succession role with a clear path to executive leadership.
Complexity and variety: No two days are the same — you’ll tackle novel problems across finance, compliance, international operations, and stakeholder management.
Mission alignment: Everything we do connects directly to reducing existential risk and improving humanity’s long-term prospects.
Extraordinary people and problems: BERI sits at the nexus of the x-risk research community. You'll work directly with researchers, institutions, and funders across AI safety, biosecurity, and other fields. Your colleagues will be people who are thoughtful, mission-driven, and genuinely delightful to collaborate with.
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