Program Manager, Global Groups
About CEA
The Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) stewards the movement of people putting effective altruism principles into practice to solve the world's most pressing problems. We’re working to build a flourishing future by applying evidence, reason, and compassion to challenges like global poverty, animal suffering, and existential risks.
Our work centers on growing and supporting a global community of people who rigorously analyze where they can do the most good – and take action on those insights. Current strategic priorities include increasing understanding of effective altruism and its principles, growing the number of people who are motivated by EA principles to take significant action to address pressing problems, and diversifying funding sources for high-impact work.
About the Groups team
EA groups are one of the most cited pathways into high-impact careers. When Coefficient Giving surveyed 217 people likely to have high-impact careers, respondents most commonly cited EA groups as an important factor in their trajectory – more than books, podcasts, or conferences. When Rethink Priorities surveyed EA community members, almost a third of them cited an EA group as an important factor for getting involved with EA.
Group members have moved into high-impact roles such as starting new effective charities, entering the UK AI Safety Institute, founding talent accelerators, grantmaking at major foundations, working in the White House and influential think tanks, roles at charity evaluators, EA-inspired journalism for a major publication and many more.
EA groups are led by motivated organizers based around the world. CEA supports EA groups by providing direct support, infrastructure, grants, and mentorship to the people who organize and lead EA groups in their local communities, so they have what they need to help their group to flourish.
EA groups are central to CEA's growth ambitions. In 2025 we grew engagement by ~25% with only a small increase in spending. This year we're focused on building the foundations for even more ambitious future growth in 2027 and beyond – and scalable offerings for group organizers is an important piece of that portfolio.
About the role
We're looking for a product-minded Program Manager to own the strategy and execution of CEA's global group support programs.
EA groups have a strong track record and clear demand, but it’s not clear that groups are reaching their potential. There are hundreds of universities and cities globally where we expect EA groups could thrive. We believe scalable support for volunteer organizers is key to unlocking this growth – but we haven't yet perfected the product that makes this happen at scale.
We have a foundation of programming already running. The Organizer Support Program (OSP) is a mentorship program that reached 223 organizers from 50 countries in 2025, with strong satisfaction ratings (average likelihood to recommend of 8.9 out of 10). We also maintain the Groups Resource Center, grants for group expenses, organizer retreats, a monthly newsletter, and shared design resources. These programs have reached hundreds of organizers across every populated continent.
We’re now looking to gain sharper clarity on who to serve and how to make our offerings compelling enough that target organizers actively seek them out.
The Program Manager, Global Groups will be tasked with taking what exists, figuring out what actually works, and building it into something that scales. You'll lead a small team, set the strategic direction, and make hard calls about what to grow, change, or stop.
This role combines product and programmatic strategy with some operational oversight; we aim to maintain the baseline operation of current programming while we make informed decisions about the strategic direction.
We want someone who asks who we are serving, what they actually need, and how we know if it's working – both for our users, and for the wider world.
You'll report to Jessica McCurdy, Director of Community Growth, and work closely with the Pilot Universities team. This role will eventually report to a Head of Groups once that position is filled.
Key responsibilities
Product strategy
Determine which global groups we should focus on serving
Build a clear theory of change for how support translates to group output and impact
Make hard calls about what to focus on and what to deprioritize
Identify gaps in the current support ecosystem and evaluate ideas for new approaches
Product delivery and improvement
Develop support offerings that group organizers actively seek out
Develop messaging and marketing that attracts organizers from our identified target regions
Run experiments with clear success criteria and build evaluation systems
Make evidence-based decisions about where to iterate, what to scale, and what to stop
Product scaling
Achieve ambitious growth targets (once the new offerings are ready)
Develop a marketing plan to reliably and repeatedly engage further participants
Build the capacity (staff, expertise, funding connections, etc.) to scale
Maintain quality and impact of existing programs as you scale
Team management
Manage the Organizer Support Coordinator and ensure successful execution of OSP and organizer retreats
Set direction for how our portfolio of resources (Resource Center, grants, newsletter, etc.) works together
What we’re looking for
You might be a great fit for this role if you have:
A product-development mindset: You understand what makes products and programs compelling, and can design experiments with clear success criteria and make hard decisions based on data (qualitative and quantitative).
Impact focus: You are laser-focused on achieving exceptional levels of positive social impact through your work and the product, and have a strong understanding and appreciation for effective altruism principles.
Readiness to grow as a people manager: You are excited to manage and motivate at least one direct report. You have successfully led and developed team members and can deliver results through others, or if you haven't already led a team, you are ready and excited to start and to improve your management skills over time.
Strategic thinking: You have a track record of setting a clear vision, developing actionable strategies, and adapting plans based on new insights and evidence.
Execution velocity: You ship things. You don't just theorize about new offerings – you’re able to build and test them. You’re able to oversee the successful execution of our existing supports while actively exploring how to improve our portfolio.
Strong interpersonal skills: You can build relationships across cultures and engage with diverse stakeholders, and can apply this skillset both in high-level strategic discussions and practical project implementation.
(Bonus) Experience with EA groups or similar community-building: Ideally as a former group organizer. You understand the dynamics of working with community groups, have exposure to varying group needs, and can think through approaches and their trade-offs. Strong candidates without direct groups experience but with excellent instincts and fast learning ability will be considered.
We're also open to hiring at a more junior / individual contributor level for candidates with strong product instincts but with less experience overseeing a portfolio, or who aren’t interested in managing a small team. This version of the role would sit one grade lower on the compensation band, and potentially report to Joris Pijpers, Chief of Staff, Community Growth.
Other information
This is a full-time, remote position. We prefer applicants who are able to work in time zones between US Pacific Time and CET.
Start date: May 2026
Reports to: Jessica McCurdy, Director of Community Growth
Compensation
Standard level
US: total compensation package of $131,988, comprising a base salary of $119,989, and a 10% unconditional 401k contribution.
UK: total compensation package of £79,402, comprising a base salary of £72,184, and a 10% pension contribution.
Other locations: For candidates outside the US and UK, we base compensation on our UK salary structure and adjust for the cost of employment and fixed local benefit costs to create an equivalent package
For candidates interested in a more junior, individual contributor role:
US: total compensation package of $109,867, comprising a base salary of $99,879, and a 10% unconditional 401k contribution.
UK: total compensation package of £66,095, comprising a base salary of £60,087, and a 10% pension contribution.
Other locations: For candidates outside the US and UK, we base compensation on our UK salary structure and adjust for the cost of employment and fixed local benefit costs to create an equivalent package
Benefits in the US/UK include private insurance, flexible work hours, a $6,000 / £5,000 annual professional development allowance, a $6,000 / £5,000 mental health support allowance, extended parental leave, ergonomic equipment, 25 days of paid vacation, and more.
This role will involve travel. There are likely 4-6 trips annually, including several international trips to attend team retreats and events worldwide.
We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. We especially encourage applications from self-identified women and people of colour who are excited about contributing to our mission. The Centre for Effective Altruism is an equal opportunity employer. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or have any other questions about applying, please contact jobs@centreforeffectivealtruism.org.
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Interview plan
We expect the interview process to include the following steps, subject to minor changes:
Application
Test task 1
Short interview
Test task 2
Final interviews (3-4)
1-2 day work trial with the team