Managing Director, Women in Safety and Ethics

Title: Managing Director Status: Full-time, 18-month fixed term (renewal subject to funding) Location: San Francisco, CA; Washington, DC; London, UK; Paris, France; Remote Work authorization: You must have the right to work in the country where you live. We cannot sponsor visas or work authorizations. Travel: Occasional, including to Paris for a global conference Salary range: Annual salary equivalent of $75,000-$90,000 USD, based on experience and local market rates, with some flexibility for exceptional candidates or higher cost-of-living locations. Benefits vary by location. Desired start date: January 4, 2027 Apply by: November 2 (priority consideration) / November 15 (final deadline) About WISE Women in Safety and Ethics (WISE) is a global community connecting women and nonbinary individuals in the fields of AI safety, ethics, and governance. WISE’s mission is to help women and nonbinary individuals enter, advance, and lead in impactful careers that address AI risk by connecting them with the mentors, peers, and opportunities that shape the field. Founded at the Paris AI Action Summit in February 2025, WISE has grown to 300+ members across five chapters: Paris, London, Washington DC, Brussels, and Delhi. Our members work across government, think tanks, civil society, academia, and industry. We run curated monthly meetups, a monthly newsletter, and partnered events with organizations including SaferAI, The Future Society, CeSIA, Microsoft, Hugging Face, Monday.com, and Civic Tech DC. About the role The Managing Director will be WISE’s first full-time hire, transitioning WISE from a global community to a professionally-run organization. You’ll be responsible for formalizing the programs, operations, and processes within the organization and its global chapters. You’ll own two distinct projects — organizing our first global conference and setting up and running a new mentorship program — as well as providing operational support to equip our chapter leads to successfully lead and grow regular local programming. This is a hands‑on, 0-to-1 role. You’ll build the systems, processes, and tooling that let a small, distributed team operate well beyond its size. We’re looking for someone proactive, agentic, and excited to build from scratch and grow with the organization. You’ll join a small, global founding team where everyone owns meaningful scope. Our three co-founders will stay closely involved in strategy, partnerships, and fundraising, and will invest significant time in onboarding you. This role is remote‑first, with a preference for candidates based in San Francisco, Washington, DC, London, or Paris. The role is structured as an 18‑month contract, with the potential to renew subject to funding. The annual salary is $75,000–$90,000 USD, based on experience and local market rates. There’s some flexibility for exceptional candidates or higher cost‑of‑living locations. Benefits vary by location. What you'll do Support chapter leads in Paris, London, Washington, DC, Brussels, Berlin, and Delhi to deliver monthly meetups. Manage chapter budgets, reimbursements, and event logistics in line with funder and fiscal-sponsor requirements. Help onboard new chapters and chapter leads as opportunities come up. Lead special projects Lead planning and delivery of a first‑of‑its‑kind global conference for ~150 women in AI safety, ethics, and governance. Launch and run a pilot for the WISE mentorship program from the ground up, recruiting, managing, and getting feedback from mentors and mentees. Propose and own the execution of other special projects that would grow the community and/or contribute to WISE’s mission. Communications and partnerships Produce the monthly newsletter and manage the content calendar for social media channels (LinkedIn) Manage and grow WISE's 600+ member Slack community Identify and develop new communication channel opportunities, such as Instagram and Substack Build relationships with partner organizations, speakers, and co‑hosts across chapters, maintaining a directory of various relationships. Operations, impact, and fundraising support Track program metrics and member outcomes, and report on impact on a regular basis. Maintain budgets, vendor payments, and compliance with our fiscal sponsor and funder(s). Contribute to funder reporting and grantwriting. Who you are You care deeply about AI safety and about supporting women develop themselves as leaders. You share WISE’s values, are excited to grow the field, and are a self‑starter who thrives working independently. Above all, we’re looking for an owner, not an administrator. We’ll measure your success by outcomes: more women entering AI safety and governance, staying in the field, and rising into leadership roles. Required qualifications 3-5 years of professional experience relevant to the role. Working knowledge of the AI safety and governance field, such as prior participation in a BlueDot Impact course, and familiarity with the AI risk ecosystem. A track record of delivering events or programs end to end, including budgets and logistics. Comfort working autonomously, setting your own priorities, and building processes from scratch. Experience working with global teams and balancing multiple projects with different collaborators. Preferred qualifications 5-8 years of professional experience, including significant program management, community management, and/or operations work. Prior engagement with AI safety or governance: a role or fellowship at an organization in the space. Professional fluency in French, since the conference will be held in Paris. How you’ll work You’ll set priorities with WISE’s executive team, made up of its three co‑founders, and then own the execution of your work largely independently. You’ll also collaborate with 10+ volunteer chapter leads across three continents, and you’ll be able to bring on contractors as needed, such as event planners for the global conference. Equal opportunity The role is employed by BERI (the Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative), WISE’s fiscal sponsor, and embedded in the group. BERI is a small 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides operational support to university research groups and other projects working to safeguard humanity's long-term future. BERI is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and especially encourage women, nonbinary candidates, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals to apply. If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every qualification, we’d still love to hear from you. If you need any adjustments during the application process, let us know. #J-18808-Ljbffr Existence