We are looking for a generalist who will identify and evaluate high-impact grant opportunities intended to improve the quality of the long-term future.

In this role, you will have a tangible impact by directing funds to high-impact opportunities, all the while building your skills in grantmaking research and expanding your knowledge about key cause areas of the effective altruism community. Within your area of responsibility, you will be able to work very autonomously on a set of challenging and diverse tasks. You will become part of our team of intellectually curious, hard-working, and caring people, all of whom share a profound drive to make the biggest difference they can.

Impact

• You will directly influence our discretionary grant volume of $200k–3m per year (including the REG Fund).
• You will indirectly influence a donation volume of $2m–20m per year by helping to determine our public charity recommendations and advice for major donors.
• You will potentially influence the priorities and giving of the effective altruism community and its funders by publishing novel and thorough charity research.
• In some rare scenarios you will be able to set up a grantmaking team to distribute $10m to $100m/y of fairly flexible funding.

Core Responsibilities

• Identifying high-impact funding opportunities (non-profits, academic institutes, and individual researchers), particularly in the following areas: AI Alignment, AI Strategy & Policy, and Decision Theory Research. Other potential areas for future grants are: Global Cooperation, Moral Circle Expansion, Improving Institutional Decision-making.
• Developing frameworks, criteria, and models for identifying high-impact funding opportunities that aim to shape the long-term future.
• Interviewing domain experts, conducting literature reviews, and cost-effectiveness modelling.
• Depending on your skills and our priorities, other responsibilities might involve donor relations or macrostrategy research.

Future Options

We are still a fairly young organization with shifting priorities, in a landscape that also undergoes frequent changes. Therefore, we expect there to be some scenarios in which other types of work become much more valuable. If that is the case, you will, outside of the role specified here, also have options for development in the following areas:

• Macrostrategic research at the Foundational Research Institute.
• Project Management & Donor Relations in our Philanthropy Department.

Qualifications

We are looking for generalists with strong research skills who strive to have the biggest impact they can. Passion for our mission and understanding of our prioritization of risks of astronomical suffering is key to making outstanding contributions in this role. Ideally, applicants have the following qualities:

• Enjoyment in and excellence at self-directed work without strong guidelines
• Understanding of macrostrategic questions relevant for effective altruism
• Ability to integrate data and arguments from a wide range of sources into systematic frameworks
• A drive to continuously improve themselves as well as the organization they work with

We do not require applicants to have specific degrees in specific fields. Academic research experience, as well as some understanding of the areas to be investigated, can nevertheless be valuable assets. German language proficiency is a plus.

Additional Information

• This is a full-time position at our offices in the heart of Berlin—a cosmopolitan city offering a lot for all tastes at low living costs. We will consider remote work only in very exceptional circumstances.
• The starting salary for this position will be between EUR 35,000 to EUR 55,000. In exceptional circumstances, we’d consider salaries up to EUR 70,000. We also support your professional development with funding and training. Other benefits include health care and dental coverage, generous paid vacation time, and flexible working hours.
• We are an equal-opportunity employer and we value diversity at our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, age, physical attractiveness, marital status, or disability. We are happy to make any reasonable accommodations necessary to welcome all to our workplace. Please contact us to discuss adjustments to the application process outlined below: info@ea-stiftung.org

Application Process

• We are looking to hire for this position as soon as possible. We expect the hiring process to be finished by October 8. The starting date for the position will be determined together with the successful applicant.
• The first stage consists of an application form and a standardized test. This will be followed by a work sample (second stage) and an interview (third stage). The final stage is a one-week trial.
• We decided to blind the first two stages to ensure as fair an evaluation as possible.
• Interviews via video call will likely be held on September 19 to 21. The trial week will likely take place in Berlin on October 15 to 19 (we previously stated that it would take place during the week of October 1). Please contact us if you won’t be available during either of those times. We will consider exceptions: info@ea-stiftung.org
• The soft application deadline is at midnight on September 9. The hard application deadline is at midnight on September 11. Applicants who submit their full application after September 9 will have less time to complete the work sample (likely 4 instead of 5 days). Start your application by filling out the online application form (~90 minutes). After completing it, you will receive a link to the standardized test (45 minutes) right away. You don’t need to do the test immediately, but only applicants who submit both the form and complete the test will be considered.

About the Effective Altruism Foundation

Our Mission

Our mission is to identify cooperative and effective strategies to reduce involuntary suffering. While we prioritize the reduction of suffering, we also put great value on happiness, flourishing, and fulfilling people’s life goals. We are committed to pursuing positive-sum strategies and respecting the values of others to reap mutual gains from trade and collaboration.

Currently, this means we facilitate research aimed at finding strategies to prevent s-risks, and build a community of exceptional people with the commitment and capabilities to put these strategies into practice—both as part of their careers and their giving.

Our Culture

We are a small team of intellectually curious, hard-working, and compassionate people who care deeply about averting risks of astronomical suffering. In order to achieve that ambitious goal, we strictly prioritize what to pursue as an organization and as individuals. Getting the right answer and getting things done are the two main drivers behind our work.

Whenever we have identified current priority goals, we work hard to achieve them. Getting exceptional results often requires improving both ourselves and our organization. We encourage everybody to question the status quo and take initiative wherever it’s needed.

We set goals together and leave it up to the individual to pursue them autonomously. We want everybody to own their area of responsibility. At the organizational level, we value flexibility, as areas of responsibility can change frequently due to new priorities and opportunities.

While this can make for an intense working environment, we also put great value on self-care and mutual support. We are in this for the long haul, and we strive to always be cognizant of that fact as individuals. This role is your opportunity to become a crucial part of that journey.