Summary
The AI safety field is growing fast, and the organizations working on some of the most consequential challenges of our time need exceptional people. Impact Ops helps make that happen.
We’re looking for a Senior Recruitment Specialist with leadership potential to join our team – someone who understands the AI safety ecosystem, thinks strategically about talent, and knows how to move quickly in a high-trust, high-stakes environment.
The £55,000-£75,000 range is based on a UK-based candidate and will be adjusted to reflect the cost of living and market rates for the location of the successful candidate.
About Impact Ops
Impact Ops is an independent organization that provides operational support to high-impact nonprofits, many of our clients work on AI safety, alignment, and governance challenges. Our services include finance, recruitment, entity setup, due diligence, ops audit, and systems implementation. We’re a “remote-first” organization with team members and clients based across the world.
We’re looking for motivated, altruistic, and optimistic people from diverse backgrounds to join us in this impactful work by providing excellent operational support to our clients.
You can read more about how the first two years went at Impact Ops here.
Key responsibilities
As a Senior Recruitment Specialist reporting to Joshua Axford, Co-founder & CEO, you will be part of a team responsible for recruitment operations and strategy for both Impact Ops and our clients. Your key responsibilities will include:
- Managing multiple high-value client relationships across AI safety research labs, governance organizations, and alignment-focused nonprofits
- Sourcing and engaging candidates such as ML researchers, interpretability scientists, policy leads, and operational leaders across a thin, relationship-driven talent pool
- Building and maintaining talent pipelines in a field where most strong candidates aren’t actively looking
- Designing rigorous, evidence-based recruitment processes and assessment frameworks tailored to technical and research roles
- Navigating compensation structures unique to safety-focused nonprofits, including benchmarking against frontier lab offers
- Implementing and iterating on AI-powered recruitment tools and workflows
- Developing recruitment strategies that work within the cultural norms of the EA and AI safety communities
- Coaching junior staff and building a recruitment operation with ambitious but sustainable growth targets
About you
You’ll need to have:
- 5+ years of recruitment experience in a fast-paced environment, with strong command of best practices in talent acquisition
- Proven track record managing complex, high-value client or stakeholder relationships
- Demonstrated experience with organizational or team strategy
- Strong business acumen and comfort with commercial sustainability in a mission-driven context
- Genuine interest in the AI safety ecosystem
You’ll also likely have:
- Experience working with diverse teams and coaching junior staff for professional development
- Experience recruiting for technical research roles, particularly in AI/ML, interpretability, or adjacent fields
- Demonstrated ability in strategic capacity planning and proactive management
- Enthusiasm for adopting cutting-edge recruitment technologies and AI tools, with willingness to innovate
- An existing network within AI safety, Effective Altruism, LessWrong, or adjacent communities
- Ambitious growth mindset with excitement about scaling recruitment operations
- Positive, optimistic leadership style with strong interpersonal skills
- Experience in nonprofit, social impact, or mission-driven recruitment is a plus
- Interest in the unique challenges of recruiting for emerging, specialized cause areas
Benefits and salary
Your starting salary range is £55,000 to £75,000 for a UK based individual, the salary offered will depend on prior experience and location. There may be flexibility in salary for exceptional candidates with significant experience.
Our benefits include:
- Prioritized health & wellbeing: We provide private medical, vision, and dental insurance, and up to 2 weeks’ paid sick leave. We also offer a generous allowance for you to spend on your mental health.
- Flexible working: You’re generally free to set your own schedule (with some overlapping hours with colleagues as needed). We’ll cover a remote workspace outside your home if you need one.
- Generous vacation: 25 days’ holiday each year, plus public holidays. We encourage you to use the full allowance.
- Professional development opportunities: We offer a generous allowance each year for professional development. We build in opportunities for career growth through on-the-job learning, increasing responsibility, and role progression pathways.
- Pension: We offer a 10% employer pension contribution or equivalent salary increase (if we’re unable to offer this in your country).
- Equipment to help your productivity: We’ll pay for high-quality and ergonomic equipment (laptop, monitors, chair, etc.) for your remote work set up.
- Global team retreats: As a remote team we hold in-person staff retreats twice a year, to work on our plans and build strong working relationships.
Full-time preferred, but part-time is possible. We welcome candidates based in North America, provided there is sufficient overlap with European timezones.
We’re able to sponsor visas in the UK, so let us know if you require work authorization.
Application
Here’s a summary of the application process for a successful candidate:
- Application: Submit an application by June 27th.
- Screening call: Attend a brief screening call, where you’ll have the chance to ask questions about the role.
- Interview: Attend a remote interview to assess team fit.
- Work trial: Attend a paid, remote work trial where you’ll spend the day meeting the team and completing further assessments.
- References: Share references who can comment on your aptitudes. If your references are strong, you’ll receive an offer!
We’re reviewing candidates on a rolling basis and may make an offer before the end of the application deadline.
Diversity and inclusion
We’re aware that factors like gender, race, and socioeconomic background can affect people’s willingness to apply for roles for which they meet some but not all the suggested attributes. We’d especially like to encourage people from underrepresented backgrounds to express interest.
There’s no such thing as a “perfect” candidate. If you’re on the fence about applying because you’re unsure whether you’re qualified, we’d encourage you to apply.
If you require any adjustments to the application process, such as accessibility accommodations, additional preparation time, or other, please contact hello@impact-ops.org. We’re happy to support your needs and adjust the application process.