{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"5b4e8c8a2223ac4bb3fb37ca","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/5b4e8c8a2223ac4bb3fb37ca","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/5b4e8c8a2223ac4bb3fb37ca","title":"Fellowship Operations Associate","description":"About Cambridge Boston Alignment Initiative\nThe Cambridge Boston Alignment Initiative (CBAI) is a nonprofit research organization working to advance research and education directed towards ensuring that society navigates a safe and beneficial transition to advanced AI systems. Our work takes the form of producing original research efforts and accelerating AI safety research through fellowship programs.\n\nOur inaugural summer fellowship cohort has already published a spotlight paper at the Mechanistic Interpretability Workshop at NeurIPS, accepted papers at ICLR, and some of our fellows have joined Goodfire and Redwood Research. After a successful 2025 launch, we're rapidly scaling in 2026. We will host multiple fellowship cycles (Fall, Spring, and Summer), double the fellowship cohort, and quadruple our team.\n\nRefer us candidates, and receive $5,000 if we hire them.\n\nThe Role\nYou’ll own the operational backbone of CBAI’s fellowship programs, everything that makes it possible for fellows, mentors, and staff to do their best work without friction. This ranges from daily logistics like meals and A/V for the speaker event series, to planning the social and community events that make CBAI a place people want to be. You’ll manage vendor relationships, coordinate space and resources across fellowship cycles, and ensure that every event, from an informal reading group to a full‑cohort poster day, runs smoothly. This is a high‑ownership, high‑visibility role. When operations work well, everyone notices; when they don’t, you’re the one who fixes it.\n\nFellowship Operations (0.7 FTE)\n\nOwn daily operational logistics during active fellowship cycles, including weekday meal coordination, A/V setup for the speaker events, and working with the Operations Site Manager at our Harvard Square office\n\nSource, book, and manage venues for fellowship events, including workshops, speaker series, poster days, and other program milestones\n\nCoordinate travel and accommodation for visiting speakers and mentors\n\nManage vendor and contractor relationships, including sourcing new vendors, negotiating terms, and maintaining quality and reliability over time\n\nProcure and manage supplies, equipment, and other resources needed to support fellows and staff\n\nAnticipate operational needs across the fellowship calendar and prepare proactively rather than reactively\n\nCoordinate with the Director of Operations to ensure accurate bookkeeping, sound budget management, and that program operations run effectively and efficiently\n\nCommunity Programming (0.3 FTE)\n\nPlan and execute social events that build cohort community, such as cohort dinners, celebrations of small wins & important days, informal gatherings, and other touch points that make the fellowship experience more than just research\n\nCoordinate with the Director of Programs to align social programming with fellowship milestones and cohort needs\n\nIdentify creative, low‑friction ways to strengthen the fellowship’s social fabric across a diverse cohort\n\nAbout You\nWe expect you to be characterized by most of the qualities listed below.\n\nYou're a natural operator. You have a bias toward action and get things done reliably. You anticipate problems before they happen, keep multiple moving pieces organized, and follow through on everything you commit to. People trust you to handle the details so they don’t have to think about them.\n\nYou take ownership seriously. When something is your responsibility, you treat it as yours, not just mechanically completing tasks, but genuinely caring that the outcome is good. You don’t wait to be told something is broken; you notice it and fix it.\n\nYou're an excellent communicator. You're clear and direct with vendors, responsive with internal stakeholders, and proactive when you see a potential issue. You can manage expectations calmly even when things don’t go as planned.\n\nYou're resourceful and creative within constraints. Budgets are real. You know how to find good solutions that don’t require spending more than necessary, and you bring genuine creativity to community and social programming rather than defaulting to the obvious option.\n\nInterpersonally excellent. You're warm, easy to work with, and good at building relationships — with vendors, with fellows, and with staff. You understand that a big part of this role is making people feel taken care of.\n\nOrganized and conscientious. You maintain clear systems, document what you do, and build operational playbooks that others can follow. You improve your processes over time based on what you learn each cycle.\n\nMission‑motivated. You are aligned with CBAI’s mission and care about contributing to an organization working on one of the most important problems of our time, even in an operational capacity.\n\nThe ideal candidate will have meaningful experience in event coordination, operations, or a similar role, ideally in a fast‑paced, mission‑driven environment. Experience managing vendors or contractors is important. What matters most is that you’re someone who takes genuine pride in making complex things run smoothly and who brings care and creativity to the social and community dimensions of the role.\n\nNice to Haves\n\nPrevious involvement in AI safety, field‑building, or research acceleration programs\n\nExperience in research program coordination or academic administration\n\nFamiliarity with how research fellowships or grant programs operate\n\nExperience planning community or social events for professional or academic cohorts\n\nHowever, there is no such thing as a \"perfect\" candidate. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply.\n\nWhy This Role May Not Be the Right Fit\nWe want to be transparent about what this position entails so you can make an informed decision about whether it's right for you.\n\nThe work is operational, but not strategic. This is a high‑ownership execution role. You’ll have real creative latitude — especially in social programming — but you’re not setting the direction of the fellowship or contributing to research. If you’re primarily motivated by intellectual engagement with AI safety or by shaping organizational strategy, this role won’t be satisfying.\n\nWorkload varies significantly by fellowship cycle. Active fellowship periods are intense with multiple events, high coordination demands, and fast‑moving logistics. Between cycles, the pace slows considerably. If you strongly prefer steady, predictable workloads, this variability may be challenging.\n\nYour impact is felt, but not seen. When operations work perfectly, nobody notices, and that’s actually the goal. If you need visible recognition for your contributions to feel satisfied, this role will be frustrating. But if you take pride in being the person who makes everything else possible and learn a lot in a short period of time while also having a multiplier impact, you’ll find real meaning here.\n\nIf you want to spend at least a year becoming excellent at running complex operational programs, building relationships with a remarkable community of researchers, and contributing to an ambitious research ecosystem in Cambridge, MA, this role could be a great fit.\n\nRole Details and Benefits\nTeam: You’ll report to the Director of Programs.\n\nSalary: $70,000 – $90,000, depending on experience.\n\nWe also provide:\n\n5% 403(b) match contribution\n\nComprehensive health insurance\n\nGenerous PTO policy\n\nMeals provided during weekdays\n\nEmployer‑paid commuter benefits\n\nReimbursement for work‑related technology and/or home office expenses\n\nU.S. work authorization required (we accept OPT).\n\nLocation: This position is primarily based in Cambridge, MA. While we expect you to spend most of your time working in‑person from our Harvard Square office (particularly during active fellowship cycles), we can offer some hybrid flexibility between fellowship cohorts for candidates with specific circumstances. In those cases, we can give you access to AI safety co‑working spaces in Berkeley and NYC.\n\nStart date: May 2026\n\nSelection Process\nWe use a multi‑stage process to find the right fit:\n\nApplication Review: We review applications on a rolling basis and invite strong candidates to phone screens. Your application will be reviewed in detail by a CBAI employee.\n\nInitial Phone Screen (15 minutes): A conversation with the team manager to discuss your background, understand your interest in the role, and answer your initial questions.\n\nPaid Test Task: Strong candidates will receive a paid test task that mirrors actual responsibilities, such as planning a fellowship event, drafting a vendor outreach strategy, or designing a social programming calendar for a fellowship cycle. You’ll have a fixed amount of time to complete this.\n\nInterview: Top candidates will be invited for an interview, including a discussion of your test task, an operational scenario case study, and a conversation with CBAI team members.\n\nReference Checks: For our top finalists, we’ll conduct reference checks and a final conversation to ensure mutual fit.\n\nOffer: Selected candidates will receive an offer and detailed onboarding information.\n\nCBAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. In acknowledgement of the research that suggests that women, gender minorities, and other marginalized groups may be less likely to apply for roles where they don’t meet every criterion, we especially encourage people in these categories to apply.\n\nWe may use AI to assist in the initial screening of applications, including to detect whether candidates have used AI models in drafting their application. Decisions are always made by a human on our team.\n\n#J-18808-Ljbffr","company":"Cbai","rawCompany":"cbai","city":"Somerville","state":"MA","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-07-08T03:15:38.686Z","occupations":[{"code":"11-9151.00","title":"Social and Community Service Managers","slug":"social-and-community-service-managers"},{"code":"13-1199.00","title":"Business Operations Specialists, All Other","slug":"business-operations-specialists-all-other"},{"code":"43-6014.00","title":"Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive","slug":"secretaries-and-administrative-assistants-except-legal-medical-and-executive"}],"industries":[{"code":"541715","title":"Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)","slug":"research-and-development-in-the-physical-engineering-and-life-sciences-except-nanotechnology-and-biotechnology"},{"code":"813410","title":"Civic and Social Organizations","slug":"civic-and-social-organizations"},{"code":"541720","title":"Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities","slug":"research-and-development-in-the-social-sciences-and-humanities"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Fellowship Operations Associate","description":"About Cambridge Boston Alignment Initiative\nThe Cambridge Boston Alignment Initiative (CBAI) is a nonprofit research organization working to advance research and education directed towards ensuring that society navigates a safe and beneficial transition to advanced AI systems. Our work takes the form of producing original research efforts and accelerating AI safety research through fellowship programs.\n\nOur inaugural summer fellowship cohort has already published a spotlight paper at the Mechanistic Interpretability Workshop at NeurIPS, accepted papers at ICLR, and some of our fellows have joined Goodfire and Redwood Research. After a successful 2025 launch, we're rapidly scaling in 2026. We will host multiple fellowship cycles (Fall, Spring, and Summer), double the fellowship cohort, and quadruple our team.\n\nRefer us candidates, and receive $5,000 if we hire them.\n\nThe Role\nYou’ll own the operational backbone of CBAI’s fellowship programs, everything that makes it possible for fellows, mentors, and staff to do their best work without friction. This ranges from daily logistics like meals and A/V for the speaker event series, to planning the social and community events that make CBAI a place people want to be. You’ll manage vendor relationships, coordinate space and resources across fellowship cycles, and ensure that every event, from an informal reading group to a full‑cohort poster day, runs smoothly. This is a high‑ownership, high‑visibility role. When operations work well, everyone notices; when they don’t, you’re the one who fixes it.\n\nFellowship Operations (0.7 FTE)\n\nOwn daily operational logistics during active fellowship cycles, including weekday meal coordination, A/V setup for the speaker events, and working with the Operations Site Manager at our Harvard Square office\n\nSource, book, and manage venues for fellowship events, including workshops, speaker series, poster days, and other program milestones\n\nCoordinate travel and accommodation for visiting speakers and mentors\n\nManage vendor and contractor relationships, including sourcing new vendors, negotiating terms, and maintaining quality and reliability over time\n\nProcure and manage supplies, equipment, and other resources needed to support fellows and staff\n\nAnticipate operational needs across the fellowship calendar and prepare proactively rather than reactively\n\nCoordinate with the Director of Operations to ensure accurate bookkeeping, sound budget management, and that program operations run effectively and efficiently\n\nCommunity Programming (0.3 FTE)\n\nPlan and execute social events that build cohort community, such as cohort dinners, celebrations of small wins & important days, informal gatherings, and other touch points that make the fellowship experience more than just research\n\nCoordinate with the Director of Programs to align social programming with fellowship milestones and cohort needs\n\nIdentify creative, low‑friction ways to strengthen the fellowship’s social fabric across a diverse cohort\n\nAbout You\nWe expect you to be characterized by most of the qualities listed below.\n\nYou're a natural operator. You have a bias toward action and get things done reliably. You anticipate problems before they happen, keep multiple moving pieces organized, and follow through on everything you commit to. People trust you to handle the details so they don’t have to think about them.\n\nYou take ownership seriously. When something is your responsibility, you treat it as yours, not just mechanically completing tasks, but genuinely caring that the outcome is good. You don’t wait to be told something is broken; you notice it and fix it.\n\nYou're an excellent communicator. You're clear and direct with vendors, responsive with internal stakeholders, and proactive when you see a potential issue. You can manage expectations calmly even when things don’t go as planned.\n\nYou're resourceful and creative within constraints. Budgets are real. You know how to find good solutions that don’t require spending more than necessary, and you bring genuine creativity to community and social programming rather than defaulting to the obvious option.\n\nInterpersonally excellent. You're warm, easy to work with, and good at building relationships — with vendors, with fellows, and with staff. You understand that a big part of this role is making people feel taken care of.\n\nOrganized and conscientious. You maintain clear systems, document what you do, and build operational playbooks that others can follow. You improve your processes over time based on what you learn each cycle.\n\nMission‑motivated. You are aligned with CBAI’s mission and care about contributing to an organization working on one of the most important problems of our time, even in an operational capacity.\n\nThe ideal candidate will have meaningful experience in event coordination, operations, or a similar role, ideally in a fast‑paced, mission‑driven environment. Experience managing vendors or contractors is important. What matters most is that you’re someone who takes genuine pride in making complex things run smoothly and who brings care and creativity to the social and community dimensions of the role.\n\nNice to Haves\n\nPrevious involvement in AI safety, field‑building, or research acceleration programs\n\nExperience in research program coordination or academic administration\n\nFamiliarity with how research fellowships or grant programs operate\n\nExperience planning community or social events for professional or academic cohorts\n\nHowever, there is no such thing as a \"perfect\" candidate. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply.\n\nWhy This Role May Not Be the Right Fit\nWe want to be transparent about what this position entails so you can make an informed decision about whether it's right for you.\n\nThe work is operational, but not strategic. This is a high‑ownership execution role. You’ll have real creative latitude — especially in social programming — but you’re not setting the direction of the fellowship or contributing to research. If you’re primarily motivated by intellectual engagement with AI safety or by shaping organizational strategy, this role won’t be satisfying.\n\nWorkload varies significantly by fellowship cycle. Active fellowship periods are intense with multiple events, high coordination demands, and fast‑moving logistics. Between cycles, the pace slows considerably. If you strongly prefer steady, predictable workloads, this variability may be challenging.\n\nYour impact is felt, but not seen. When operations work perfectly, nobody notices, and that’s actually the goal. If you need visible recognition for your contributions to feel satisfied, this role will be frustrating. But if you take pride in being the person who makes everything else possible and learn a lot in a short period of time while also having a multiplier impact, you’ll find real meaning here.\n\nIf you want to spend at least a year becoming excellent at running complex operational programs, building relationships with a remarkable community of researchers, and contributing to an ambitious research ecosystem in Cambridge, MA, this role could be a great fit.\n\nRole Details and Benefits\nTeam: You’ll report to the Director of Programs.\n\nSalary: $70,000 – $90,000, depending on experience.\n\nWe also provide:\n\n5% 403(b) match contribution\n\nComprehensive health insurance\n\nGenerous PTO policy\n\nMeals provided during weekdays\n\nEmployer‑paid commuter benefits\n\nReimbursement for work‑related technology and/or home office expenses\n\nU.S. work authorization required (we accept OPT).\n\nLocation: This position is primarily based in Cambridge, MA. While we expect you to spend most of your time working in‑person from our Harvard Square office (particularly during active fellowship cycles), we can offer some hybrid flexibility between fellowship cohorts for candidates with specific circumstances. In those cases, we can give you access to AI safety co‑working spaces in Berkeley and NYC.\n\nStart date: May 2026\n\nSelection Process\nWe use a multi‑stage process to find the right fit:\n\nApplication Review: We review applications on a rolling basis and invite strong candidates to phone screens. Your application will be reviewed in detail by a CBAI employee.\n\nInitial Phone Screen (15 minutes): A conversation with the team manager to discuss your background, understand your interest in the role, and answer your initial questions.\n\nPaid Test Task: Strong candidates will receive a paid test task that mirrors actual responsibilities, such as planning a fellowship event, drafting a vendor outreach strategy, or designing a social programming calendar for a fellowship cycle. You’ll have a fixed amount of time to complete this.\n\nInterview: Top candidates will be invited for an interview, including a discussion of your test task, an operational scenario case study, and a conversation with CBAI team members.\n\nReference Checks: For our top finalists, we’ll conduct reference checks and a final conversation to ensure mutual fit.\n\nOffer: Selected candidates will receive an offer and detailed onboarding information.\n\nCBAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. In acknowledgement of the research that suggests that women, gender minorities, and other marginalized groups may be less likely to apply for roles where they don’t meet every criterion, we especially encourage people in these categories to apply.\n\nWe may use AI to assist in the initial screening of applications, including to detect whether candidates have used AI models in drafting their application. Decisions are always made by a human on our team.\n\n#J-18808-Ljbffr","datePosted":"2026-07-08T03:15:38.686Z","dateModified":"2026-07-08T03:15:38.686Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Cbai","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Somerville","addressRegion":"MA","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"5b4e8c8a2223ac4bb3fb37ca"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/5b4e8c8a2223ac4bb3fb37ca"}}