Vice President, Biosecurity

About Global Risks Fund

Global Risks Fund is a newly established philanthropic organization dedicated to identifying, understanding, and mitigating catastrophic risks facing humanity. The organization focuses on several critical areas including nuclear weapons, biological threats, and advanced artificial intelligence. As an emerging funder in the risk mitigation space, Global Risks Fund operates with substantial capital and minimal existing commitments, positioning itself to build influential funding mechanisms and incubation platforms in underserved areas of global risk management. The organization recognizes that biological risks are expanding at an accelerated pace, driven by rapid advances in artificial intelligence and biotechnology. These evolving threats are outpacing the development of institutional frameworks designed to manage them. Global Risks Fund has entered this field with the explicit mission to build world-class infrastructure for both funding and incubating solutions to biosecurity challenges. The organization is structured around a mission-driven, entrepreneurial culture with experienced organization builders at its helm. Operating from the San Francisco Bay Area, Global Risks Fund functions as a dynamic startup environment while maintaining the rigor and resources of a significant philanthropic institution. The fund’s approach combines strategic grantmaking with direct incubation of new organizations and initiatives, reflecting a comprehensive strategy to address biosecurity risks comprehensively.

About this Role

As Vice President for Biosecurity at Global Risks Fund, you will take ownership of a core program area while working directly with the leadership team. This is a foundational role in launching an ambitious new program designed to reduce biological risks on a global scale. You will operate with significant autonomy and strategic responsibility, setting the direction for one of the organization’s primary funding pillars. The role encompasses four primary dimensions: defining the organization’s biosecurity funding and incubation strategy, launching new organizations to fill critical gaps in the field, building and managing a growing portfolio of grants and investments, and developing partnerships with other funders to amplify the organization’s impact. This position requires someone who can operate effectively in an early-stage, fast-moving environment while maintaining the analytical rigor and communication standards expected at leading philanthropic institutions, frontier research laboratories, and top-tier consulting firms. The successful candidate will bring both strategic vision and execution capability, combining deep domain expertise with proven ability to build programs and organizations from inception. You will represent Global Risks Fund to researchers, funders, government officials, and other key stakeholders in the biosecurity ecosystem, requiring excellent communication skills and the ability to operate credibly across multiple constituencies.

Responsibilities

• Set the strategy for biosecurity funding and incubation, defining what the organization funds, what it builds, and the rationale behind these decisions
• Identify critical gaps in the biosecurity field where the appropriate response is the creation of a new institution
• Lead the incubation process for new organizations from initial concept through the formation of founding teams
• Source, conduct due diligence on, and actively manage a growing portfolio of grants and investments
• Develop fellowships, research programs, and tools that address gaps in the current biosecurity field
• Develop co-funding partnerships with other philanthropic and institutional funders to multiply the organization’s capital impact
• Represent Global Risks Fund to funders, researchers, government officials, and other stakeholders in the biosecurity ecosystem

Requirements

• Minimum five or more years of professional experience in biosecurity, life sciences, or closely adjacent fields
• Substantive point of view about the direction the biosecurity field should take
• Demonstrated track record of building programs, organizations, or portfolios from minimal or no existing foundation in philanthropy, government, corporate, or startup environments
• Comfort with autonomous operation in a small, fast-moving organization with capacity to set direction and execute
• Excellent communication skills with ability to deliver precise, polished work
• Ability to effectively engage and communicate with researchers, funders, and government officials
• Fluency with or strong willingness to learn modern technical tools, including artificial intelligence
• Authorization to work in the United States

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical coverage
• Comprehensive dental coverage
• Comprehensive vision coverage
• Retirement plan with employer contribution
• Relocation assistance for candidates relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area
• Opportunity to work in a mission-driven organization addressing global catastrophic risks
• Direct collaboration with organization leadership team
• Entrepreneurial environment with substantial resources and minimal existing constraints