Operations Manager / Generalist
Company: Alignment Research Center
Location: Berkeley
Posted on: September 21, 2023
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Job Description:
IntroductionThe evaluations project at the Alignment Research
Center is a new team building capability evaluations (and in the
future, alignment evaluations) for advanced ML models. The goals of
the project are to improve our understanding of what alignment
danger is going to look like, understand how far away we are from
dangerous AI, and create metrics that labs can make commitments
around (e.g. 'If you hit capability threshold X, don't train a
larger model until you've hit alignment threshold Y'). You can
learn more about the project and .BackgroundThe evaluations project
is seeking an operations manager to support its work, reporting to
its operations lead. We think that this role offers an exciting
opportunity to contribute to AI alignment efforts in an impactful
way. We are most likely only looking for people withat least 4
years of professional experience for this position.Job MissionYour
overall mission is to build, run and maintain systems that help the
team get their work done efficiently and effectively. You will be
responsible for managing everyday operational projects such as
managing key aspects of our recruitment, working on sponsoring a
visa, and helping to maintain a budget. Though at times you will be
expected to handle tasks such as scheduling, we expect that you'll
often have ownership of projects critical to our work. You'll
report and work most closely with the evaluations project's
operations lead.Skills- Highly organized. As a key member of our
team, you will be expected to work on a diverse set of tasks and
relationships. The demands of this role will require a flexible and
adaptable approach, as you may be required to prioritize either
quality or speed depending on the situation. The ability to adjust
your work style accordingly is vital to succeeding in this
position.- Executive function. To excel in this role you will need
strong managerial skills and the ability to think strategically in
order to guide and support a growing team. We expect to give you
large areas of responsibility with low supervision; you will be
responsible for making informed and insightful decisions that align
with the overall goals of the project. This will require the
ability to analyze and understand both short and long-term plans,
as well as anticipate and plan for potential challenges. Insight
and adaptability in response to changing circumstances are key.-
Eagerness to learn. We hope to make ARC Evals a place that builds
top operational talent. We're excited about finding people who want
to become excellent at this work, and giving them sufficient
direction, access to resources, and ownership such that they
experience rapid growth. The ability to take, reflect on, and
especially implement frequent feedback, as well as the confidence
to challenge existing beliefs (of your own and your manager's), is
an asset to this position.- Drive. The optimal candidate will have
a strong drive to contribute and make a positive impact on the
team. As a key member of the team, you will be expected to take
initiative and be proactive in your efforts to support and improve
the team's performance. You should be comfortable working
independently and taking on new challenges, but also be a team
player who is willing to collaborate and support your colleagues. A
strong drive to contribute and make a difference is important in
this role.- Interpersonal skills. This role requires strong
communication skills and the ability to interact with others in an
empathetic and professional manner. You will be a point of contact
for potential hires, contractors, and staff. A strong candidate
would help to facilitate high quality communication and
organizational health across the team.- Research interest. You'll
sometimes need to thoroughly investigate novel topics and provide
solutions that can be relied upon by the organization and team.
While most tasks will require a balanced approach of efficiency and
effectiveness, the ability to investigate new topics in depth and
apply newfound expertise to your work is valuable in this
position.While technical expertise is not necessary for this
position, a strong interest in AI and AI safety is
essential.Application ProcessWe primarily use work tests for our
evaluations. If we proceed with your application after review,
we'll typically ask you to do 1 to 3 of these (in addition to 1-2
interviews).For some roles the first of these is expected to take
less than 45 minutes, for others, it may take up to three hours. If
we ask you to do a work test that is expected to take more than 1
hour (typical interview length), we will compensate you at a
competitive hourly rate for your time.After the first 1-2 work
tests, we'll schedule an interview to discuss the ideas behind the
project, what you're looking for in a role, ask you any questions
we have, and provide time for any other questions you have.After
that we'd optimally do a 1-3 month trial period; we're open to
figuring out how to manage this with each candidate.Team Status and
StyleThe team is pretty new and operates much like a start-up:
there is a relatively flat hierarchy and operations needs change
frequently. It can therefore be difficult for us to precisely scope
the long-term functions of a specific role. The team has made
significant progress, but it is also still evaluating questions of
"product-market fit", focus, and orientation toward a number of
significant questions that will affect the team size and structure.
This position offers a chance to help contribute and influence the
team's development and growth.Other InformationDeadlineOur
applications have no strict deadlines, but we evaluate candidates
as they apply. Therefore it may be to your advantage to submit an
application sooner rather than later.LocationWe're based out of
Constellation offices in Downtown Berkeley. There's an onsite chef
who provides lunch and dinner daily, there's exercise equipment,
showers, snacks, and a great community!For technical roles, we
fairly strongly prefer someone who can be in-person, but WFH some
days of the week is fine, and remote is not a complete
dealbreaker.For operations roles, we expect to only consider
candidates who can relocate and work in-person.We should be able to
sponsor visas for technical roles for those who need them (and as
ARC is a non-profit, we don't have to go through the visa lottery
for H1-B). There is a small chance we can sponsor for non-technical
roles as well; we expect to only consider pursuing this for
exceptional candidates.Pay and BenefitsCompensation is competitive
with Bay Area tech roles (excluding equity, and we provide
unlimited PTO to all employees.ARC's additional benefits include
premium health insurance with more than 90% of premiums covered, a
generous mental health allowance, and long-term disability
insurance. We are working to expand upon this throughout the year,
and we will especially prioritize putting in place those benefits
most requested by our existing or incoming staff.MiscellaneousWe
encourage you to apply even if your background may not seem like
the perfect fit! We would rather review a larger pool of
applications than risk missing out on a promising candidate for the
position.We will not necessarily fill all open roles, and we may
have candidates already trialing for some roles listed. We are also
open to customizing or re-configuring roles to meet the talent
profile of candidates; please just apply to the closest match.We
are committed to diversity and equal opportunity in all aspects of
our hiring process. We do not discriminate on the basis of race,
religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital
status, veteran status, or disability status. We welcome and
encourage all qualified candidates to apply for our open
positions.
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Keywords: Alignment Research Center, Berkeley , Operations Manager / Generalist, Executive , Berkeley, California
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