Field Strategist
On-sitePalo Alto, California, United States
Palo Alto, California, United StatesOn-siteFull TimeSmall
Full TimeSmall
Job Summary
Scope multiple potential AI interventions by mapping context, sketching solutions, and iteratively validating feasibility with domain experts and funders. Synthesize complex system risks across cybersecurity, datacenter security, and epistemic security to produce clear write-ups identifying best advisors, decision-makers, and funding criteria. Coordinate with founders to pitch potential organizations to funders and introduce connections, while managing 1-5 simultaneous efforts on 3-5 month timescales. Drive progress with little oversight in a high-trust, low-structure environment focused on US-based efforts scaling globally.
Required Qualifications
- expertise in navigating and/or modifying complex systems (natural or human-made)
- generalist: able to quickly understand nuances in a variety of topics, including ML architecture, export control laws, and ideological differences within the AI community
- meaningful experience in at least one of these areas: Cybersecurity - Technical: Software security, vulnerability analysis (or related). Hardware security or hardware supply chain security (or related). Identity & authentication systems (or related). Privacy engineering or privacy threat modeling (or related). Cybersecurity - Strategic: Cybersecurity strategy, Red Team, or threat intelligence (or related). Cyber-defense coordination or policy (e.g., IC, CISA). Risk analysis in highly complex ...
- meaningful experience in at least one of these areas: Epistemic Security - Technical: Media forensics, deepfake detection, or content provenance (or related). Platform trust & safety, content moderation systems, or recommender integrity (or related). Computational propaganda analysis or bot/network detection (or related). Epistemic Security - Strategic: Information operations analysis or counter-influence strategy (e.g., IC, think tank, or allied government). Election security, democratic res...
- Cross-cutting: Strategic technological or product planning.
- Cross-cutting: Working in an "ARPA" entity.
- Cross-cutting: Technology roadmapping or multi-year strategic planning.
- a strong ability to interview experts and synthesize across domains
- comfort forming and revising hypotheses quickly
- strong creative problem-solving skills, love finding pareto improvements to the obvious options
- a capability to reason about AI trajectory, safety, and future-state technologies
- a practice of reviewing the state-of-the-art after having an idea, coupled with an urge to prototype, test, and iterate
- a founder mindset, with a high degree of ownership over outcomes (not process) and the ability to personally make and externally drive progress with little oversight
- experience coordinating and aligning stakeholders to work toward a common goal
- strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
- comfort with uncertainty and interest in shaping our culture, as we're still a very small organization
- work authorization to work in the US (and ideally also would be eligible to hold a US security clearance)
Desired Qualifications
- strongly hold a conviction that AI is going to reshape the face of civilization fairly soon, and you want to join a hard-working team focused on making that go as well as possible
- have deep networks in cybersecurity, biosecurity, or epistemic security
- have a background in product or taking things from zero to one: organizational formation, paired with domain depth
- have experience acting as a COO-type integrator across complex, multi-expert efforts
- thrive in a high-trust, low-structure environment
- love talking to people across multiple domains about concrete actions that can address important problems
- know how to solve problems with money, but also know how to operate on a tight budget
- seriously considered starting your own company, but the opportunity or push hasn't come up yet
- find yourself always recommending books, models, and frameworks
- are deeply committed to improving the human condition with technology... and understanding how different people might differently define "improving", "human", "condition", and "technology" in that sentence
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