Head of Astralis House

Summary

We are looking for a founding Head of Astralis House to help shape and execute an ambitious agenda to promote AI safety. Astralis House aspires to become the most impactful hub for AI safety field-building and funding in Europe. Apart from serving as the office for leading organizations in the field, we will host world-class events and field-building activities. This is a rare opportunity to apply your leadership skills in an environment that values audacious goals, humility, strategic foresight, and entrepreneurial agility.

This is a full-time, in-person role based in London, where Astralis will establish its first and flagship hub. We offer competitive non-profit sector salaries, comprehensive benefits, and a chance to make a significant impact!

Astralis House will be one pillar of a larger foundation - Astralis Foundation. The foundation is currently being established with support from a European billionaire philanthropist to promote the safe and beneficial development of AI and will provide funding for Astralis House. The incoming Head of Astralis House will work closely with the Astralis Foundation team but have considerable autonomy and decision-making power. 

The first-year budget is expected to range between $2 million and $4 million. However, this could increase based on the ambition and speed of the launch plan and strategy implementation that you will help shape. This role will not require fundraising, with funding provided by the parent foundation.

You can apply here. The deadline is 15 September, but we will continuously move successful candidates through the process and encourage you to send your application as soon as possible. If you have any questions about this position, please contact [email removed - click apply for more details] (Impact Ops is a consultancy managing the hiring process for this position).

Role description

Purpose

As Head of Astralis House, you will be captain of the ship. Partnering with the CEO of Astralis Foundation, you will set the strategic direction of this initiative and have overall responsibility for day-to-day operations. You will actively analyze the organization's operations, initiate action to increase impact and ensure that all team members working on Astralis House have what they need to fulfill their responsibilities.

Organizational placement and Team

As Head of 'Astralis House', you will be directly accountable to the Astrails Foundation CEO, but you will hold the highest leadership position within this initiative. You will be the main point of contact for it and manage the incoming Astralis House team.

The composition of the Astralis House team is yet to be finalized and will be determined in collaboration with the Head of Astralis House. Our current vision for the first year includes Head of Astralis House (you), a full-time Office Manager, a part-time Operations Associate, and a part-time Event Specialist. Additionally, you'll have the opportunity to work with the broader Astralis team, leveraging their expertise to enhance the impact of Astralis House.

Responsibilities and Duties

Your role as Head of Astralis House encompasses the full set of responsibilities required for the success and smooth functioning of the office and event space. These include:

• Setting up the new office in London.
• Establishing organizational plans, including milestones, activities, and action plans.
• Hiring and managing a small but growing team.
• Overseeing HR, team development, and performance evaluations for this initiative.
• Monitoring, evaluating, and ensuring that our services deliver high value and foster a productive work environment.
• Planning and overseeing events and community-building activities.
• Interfacing with members and guests and fostering a welcoming environment.
• Acting as the public face of the House, e.g., representing the House at its key events, in the broader community, and in the media.
• Managing relationships with key stakeholders.
• Taking ultimate responsibility for all aspects of Astralis House’s operations, including the budget, financial accounting, legal & compliance, and administration.
• Accounting or legal experience is not required for this role and you will have support from both the wider Astralis operational team and external contractors. However, the successful candidate should be able to interface with lawyers, accountants, and other relevant experts to ensure the robust and compliant functioning of Astralis House. 

The Head of Astralis House can delegate selected tasks to other team members but then has responsibility for ensuring that these tasks are performed adequately.

Furthermore, the successful candidate will cooperate with the foundation CEO to:

• Formulate Astralis House’s overall strategy.
• If necessary, update central governing documents such as policies and agreements.
• Plan and help implement new strategic projects.
• Track world events and developments in the field to ensure goals are up to date.

Why this role might be high impact

As the founding Head of 'Astralis House', you will play a leading role in addressing one of the most pressing issues of our time – ensuring the safe and beneficial development of AI. More concretely you will have the opportunity to:

• Shape strategy and drive execution for an organization that aspires to quickly become the premier hub for AI safety in Europe.
• Work with leaders in AI safety to build a premier ecosystem of entrepreneurs, researchers, and funders working for safe and beneficial AI.
• Support leading actors in AI Safety to become more productive and impactful.
• Run an office and events space that moves $ millions per year, with the opportunity to increase this number based on high-impact results.

Astralis House and Astralis Foundation in brief

‘Astralis House’ will be one pillar of a larger foundation - Astralis Foundation - which is currently being established with support from a European billionaire philanthropist. Astralis Foundation will promote the safe and beneficial development of AI through four initiatives: Astralis Grants (non-profit investments), Astralis Ventures (for-profit investments), Astralis Labs (research and special projects), and Astralis House.

Astralis House will have two main functions:

1. Provide an excellent “home office” for leading organizations in AI safety and effective funding. We expect to have 60-100 full-time anchor tenants from 6-8 different organizations.
2. Host world-class events and field building activitiesbringing together entrepreneurs, researchers, policymakers and funders to further AI Safety.

Our goal is to become the premier hub for AI safety research, funding, and action. In year one, the main aim is to scout and open our flagship hub in London, with a full office and a few excellent events. Longer term, we want to significantly scale up our events and field-building activities and explore expanding to additional locations.

What we are looking for

Characteristics and aptitudes

• Humble ambition: Embraces audacious goals, consistently questions current practices, and aims to maximize impact. Accepts setbacks as part of progress and prioritizes the mission over personal ego.
• Dedication to ensuring safe and beneficial AI: While a successful candidate does not need significant AI safety experience, they should be excited to work on this. 
• Strategic clarity: Combines a compelling vision with a clear theory of change and can create concrete plans for putting theory into practice.
• Entrepreneurial spirit: Identifies and seizes new opportunities, thrives in the absence of clear structures, and is willing to do what is needed to help the organization succeed, including unglamorous tasks.
• Management skills: Attracts, retains, and develops talented team members. Effectively manages key stakeholders and demonstrates resilience under stress.
• Community building passion: Creates an inviting physical space, is excited to interact with people of different backgrounds, and aspires to create highly engaging events. 

We expect a successful candidate to display several, but not all, of the characteristics and aptitudes.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience, including 2+ years managing a team
• 3+ years of experience in one or more of the key activity areas of the House:
• Site management
• Event management
• Community Building
• Familiarity with AI safety basics or willingness to invest in quickly getting up to speed 
• High level of fluency in written and spoken English
• Residing in, or willing to relocate to, the London area

Practicalities, salary and benefits

• Time: This is a full-time position. We will continuously bring candidates through the process and aim to make an offer in Q4.
• Location: This role is primarily based in London and requires regular in-person presence to manage Astralis House operations effectively. You will likely need to travel 4-8 weeks per year for team retreats, meetings with funders, etc.
• Visa: We will support necessary visa arrangements for the right candidate.
• Pay: Salary between £70,000 to £140,000. If you’re interested in the role but our salary range is a limiting factor, please reach out to [email removed - click apply for more details] and discuss it with us. We do not wish salary to keep us from hiring the right candidate.
• Benefits
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
• A £4000 annual professional development allowance to support training and other resources to improve your skill set. We might offer more.
• Relocation costs if necessary.
• A high pension contribution.
• Parental leave and support, with up to 16 weeks of fully paid leave and up to 52 weeks of leave in total.
• 22 days of paid vacation time, plus public holidays.

Process

The application deadline is 15 September, but we will continuously move successful candidates through the process and encourage you to send your application as soon as possible. While we hope to make an offer in early Q4, we are willing to wait for the right candidate. 

Our hiring process generally entails:

• 1-2 paid work tasks
• 1-2 interviews
• Reference checks
• Paid 1-2 day in-person work trial

We want to structure the process so you can learn what you need about the role, our mission, and the team. Please let us know your questions; we will do our best to answer them via [email removed - click apply for more details].

We are looking forward to receiving your application here. 

We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion, and we encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. In particular, we know that things like gender, race, and socioeconomic background can often make people less willing to put themselves forward or call attention to their achievements. We strongly encourage people from underrepresented backgrounds to apply. If you need assistance or any accommodation or have any other questions about applying, please reach out to [email removed - click apply for more details].