(Senior) Program Associate, Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness
Open Philanthropy
📍 Remote (Global) 🕔 Full Time
💰$134,804.02 — $184,092.80 USD /year ⏳ 19/10/2025
We are looking for multiple Senior Program Associates or Program Associates to join our team. Our goal is to hire a mix of generalist and technical grantmakers — a deep biosecurity background is not necessary to be a strong candidate, and many strong performers on our team have no prior background in biology or biosecurity. For those with specialized expertise and a specific vision, we’re open to more focused roles.
As a Senior Program Associate, you will be responsible for deploying at least $10 million in funding per year. You will be expected to generate ambitious project ideas, headhunt for potential grantees/collaborators who could execute on these projects, hold grantees accountable for performance, and develop processes to streamline this work. Similar expectations apply to Program Associates, who will be responsible for deploying millions in funding initially and increasing amounts over time. Program Associates typically bring 2-3 years of experience, while Senior Program Associates typically bring 4 or more years of experience.
Some potential grantmaking areas include physical transmission suppression, metagenomic sequencing, personal protective equipment, medical countermeasures, capacity building for the biosecurity field, and work at the intersection of AI and catastrophic biological risk (AIxBio). Expertise in any of these subareas is not required, but would be an asset.
Most grantmakers will have a diverse portfolio, but there are a couple distinct subareas that we hope to find dedicated grantmakers to fully own. These include AIxBio and an ambitious program intended to establish physical defenses against biological threats on “short timelines” — i.e. scenarios where rapid AI progress occurs in the next few years.
Who we’re looking for
We expect the strongest candidates to have:
High agency. You will push to make the right thing happen on large, unscoped projects, even if it requires rolling up your sleeves to do something unusual, difficult, and/or time-consuming.
A rigorous and analytical mindset. You evaluate claims skeptically, reason quantitatively about tradeoffs, and question the fundamental assumptions of a given problem.
Clear communication. You avoid buzzwords and abstractions, and give concise arguments with transparent reasoning.
High emotional intelligence. You have good judgment for people, a knack for navigating hard conversations, and an intuitive sense of who should be informed and consulted.
A sense of urgency. We have a limited amount of time to get safeguards and defenses up, and you’ll run through walls to make this happen fast.
[Ideally] Relevant knowledge. You have either a technical background, grantmaking experience, and/or existing biosecurity knowledge.
We also expect all staff to model our operating values of ownership, openness, calibration, and inclusiveness.
The ideal candidate for this position will possess many of the skills and experiences described above. However, there is no such thing as a “perfect” candidate. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply.
Role Details & Benefits
Compensation: The baseline compensation for the Program Associate and Senior Program Associate roles respectively is $134,804.02 or $184,092.80, which would be distributed as a base salary of $117,220.89 or $161,092.80 and an unconditional 401(k) grant of $17,583.13 or $23,000.00 for U.S. hires.
These compensation figures assume a location in Washington, D.C.; there would be geographic adjustments downwards for candidates based in most other locations.
Location: We have a preference for this role to be in-person in Washington, D.C. While significant remote work is also possible, we would be eager for hires to spend meaningful time in D.C. to connect with the team and our network, and would cover expenses for these trips. Regardless of primary location, the role may occasionally require travel to other locations, both within the U.S. and internationally.
We'll support relocation costs for candidates not already based in the D.C. area.
We are happy to consider candidates based outside the U.S., and to consider sponsoring U.S. work authorization. However, we don’t control who is and isn’t eligible for a visa and can’t guarantee visa approval.
Benefits: Our benefits package includes:
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
We can’t always provide every benefit we offer U.S. 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)
Start date: We’d like a candidate to start as soon as possible after receiving an offer
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.
If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or have any other questions about applying, please contact jobs@openphilanthropy.org.
Please apply by 11:59 pm (Pacific Time) on Sunday, October 19 to be considered.
U.S.-based Program staff are typically employed by Open Philanthropy Project LLC, which is not a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. As such, this role is unlikely to be eligible for public service loan forgiveness programs.
AI/ML notice: Open Philanthropy may use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies, including natural language processing and predictive analytics, to assist in the initial screening of employment applications. These AI/ML tools assess applications against characteristics and qualifications relevant to the job requisition. These tools are designed to help identify potentially qualified candidates, but they do not make automated hiring decisions. The AI/ML-generated assessments are one of several factors considered in the hiring process. Our human recruiting team will thoroughly evaluate your skills and qualifications to determine your suitability for the role.
If you prefer not to have your application assessed using AI/ML features, you may opt out by reaching out to jobs@openphilanthropy.org and letting us know. Opting out will not negatively impact your application, which will be reviewed manually by our team.
