Talent Program Lead

The AI safety field lacks the capacity, capability, and cooperation needed to safely navigate transformative AI. Constellation addresses these gaps, by mobilizing new and existing talent (to improve field capacity), incubating and growing projects, teams and organizations (to improve field capability), and convening field contributors (to improve field cooperation). 

While our overall mission requires work across all the necessary areas needed to address risks from transformative AI, Constellation is especially well positioned to support research, because of our established track record of hosting and collaborating with research organizations. We support research at multiple levels: we host and incubate research organizations, we support cohorts of independent researchers as Visiting Fellows (and previously our Astra research fellowship), and by partnering with external research programs like MATS and Anthropic Fellows.

But there’s so much more to do. There is more talent that can contribute to safety than has been mobilized into the field, and the field as a whole needs to grow to meet the demand for top talent working across all areas.

The future of AI safety will be shaped by who works on what, and when. The right people, in the right roles, at the right moment can change the trajectory of the entire field. That’s where you come in. As Talent Program Lead (alternative title: Talent Mobilization Lead), you won’t just fill positions, you’ll help shape the talent map of the AI safety ecosystem. You’ll spot high-potential individuals before others do, help them navigate pivotal career moves, and connect them to roles where their work will have outsized impact.

This is a rare opportunity to operate at the intersection of strategy, networks, and execution, working with individual talent, leading research labs, and operational teams to make sure the most capable minds are deployed where they’re needed most. If you want your work to directly accelerate the progress of an entire mission-driven field, this is the role.

You’ll identify and engage promising individuals, guide them through key career transitions, and facilitate their movement into high-impact roles. You’ll work across organizational boundaries, partnering closely with internal program leads (e.g., Research Program Managers) and external stakeholders at frontier labs and aligned nonprofits.

- Sourcing and identifying talent through networks, programs, and referrals.

- Placement and transition support including matchmaking, advisory conversations, and warm handoffs to hiring organizations.

Your work will directly accelerate the field’s progress by:

- Sourcing and preparing top talent to step into priority roles.

- Guiding individuals through transitions e.g., from a fellowship into a frontier lab, from academia into applied AI - safety research, or from an industry role into policy-focused work.

- Strengthening the systems and partnerships that make talent deployment faster, more precise, and more effective over time.

- Proactively identify and engage promising individuals across technical, policy, operational, and interdisciplinary domains.

- Assess fit for high-impact opportunities through vetting and triage conversations (e.g., helping determine whether someone is best suited for a research engineering role or a policy fellowship).

- Match individuals to priority-aligned roles across the ecosystem, leveraging curated shortlists, targeted introductions, and structured placement processes.

- Provide lightweight but high-value advisory support such as reviewing a candidate’s transition plan from a fellowship program to a frontier lab, or discussing trade-offs between roles at different organizations.

- Develop and maintain resources to support career moves (e.g., curated job boards, pathway guides, or specialized Slack channels for active opportunities).

- Coordinate warm handoffs to hiring organizations, program managers, or advisors who can offer domain-specific guidance.

- Partner closely with program leads, research managers, and operations staff to identify upcoming needs and facilitate placements from internal programs.

- Build and maintain strong relationships with external field-building organizations to share intel, reduce duplication, and strengthen collective efforts.

- Track and analyze talent flows, hiring trends, and emerging gaps in the field; translate insights into actionable recommendations for leadership and program design.

- Maintain a high-context understanding of organizational needs, leadership shifts, and strategic priorities across the AI safety space.

- Manage tooling for talent tracking and matchmaking.

- Improve and scale repeatable processes for high-quality introductions, placements, and follow-ups.

- Contribute to the design, launch, and evaluation of new talent deployment initiatives.

You may be a good fit if you:

- Have 6+ years of experience in talent development, recruiting, program management, or people operations, ideally in mission-driven, technical, or complex environments.

- Are energized by connecting people to meaningful work and supporting them through career inflection points.

- Bring strong interpersonal judgment and can hold high-trust, nuanced conversations with a wide range of stakeholders.

- Have strong operational instincts, organized, systems-minded, and able to triage, follow up, and execute effectively.

- Are familiar with the AI safety ecosystem (or similar mission-driven technical fields) and excited to contribute to its effectiveness and maturity.

- Are mission-aligned and values-driven, with a clear sense of why this work matters.

The ideal candidate for this role will have some combination of the skills and experiences described above. If you are not sure if you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply anyway. Beyond the qualifications outlined, our priority is building a team that will help humanity safely navigate the development of transformative AI. If you would be excited to do this work, we'd love to consider you.

We value diversity in all respects and base our hiring decisions on the needs of the organization and individual qualifications.  We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, regardless of raace, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age or disability.

This is a full-time, on-site position at our Berkeley office, just steps from the nearest BART (metro) and bus stop. On-site parking is also available.