[Hiring] Head of Special Projects @Kairos

Role Description

Lead Kairos’s new team to turn promising ideas into new programs and shape which bets Kairos makes for the AI safety ecosystem.

Note: This role description is a first draft. Scope, salary, and responsibilities may evolve, and we’ll keep you in the loop about any changes if you apply.

Applications are due by September 25, 2026. We’ll review applications after the deadline and get back to everyone shortly after.

The Role: Kairos is a portfolio of programs, and we have more promising ideas than we have people to pursue them. We’re looking for a Head of Special Projects to take the strongest of those ideas from concept to running project, prove out the ones that work, and build lasting programs around them.

• Own a small portfolio of early-stage bets.
• You’ll run one to three new projects at a time, taking each from concept to something operating in the world.
• Decide what we pursue.
• You’ll evaluate ideas from across the team and the ecosystem, including your own, and make the case for which ones are worth attempting.
• Scale what works.
• When a pilot succeeds, you’ll build the systems it needs to run reliably, then keep owning it or hand it to a long-term owner.
• Grow the team around the work.
• As projects mature, you’ll likely hire people to run them and manage them as a small team.
• Contribute to Kairos more broadly.
• As bandwidth allows, you’ll help shape org-wide strategy, weigh in on new programs, and participate in cross-cutting work.

Qualifications

• Experience starting things.
• You’ve taken a program, an organization, a product, or a community from an idea to something up and running.
• AI safety context.
• Choosing which bets deserve Kairos’s time requires a clear picture of what the ecosystem is missing. You should come with views of your own about what’s worth building.
• Comfortable with an evolving mandate.
• Your portfolio will change under you as projects launch, hand off, or wind down, and you should be happy working that way.
• Mission-aligned.
• You care deeply about reducing risks from advanced AI, and you see new programs like these as one of the most promising ways to fill the ecosystem’s gaps.

Benefits

• Salary: $140,000–$195,000 (baseline), $175,000–$245,000 (supported hubs, like London, DC, Boston, and NYC), or $195,000–$270,000 (San Francisco Bay Area), depending on experience, with potential for additional compensation for exceptional candidates.
• Location: This is a remote role. We provide access to office space in San Francisco, Berkeley, London, or Boston, with optional coworking elsewhere. If you work from an AI safety office in one of these cities, we cover food, lunches, and office expenses.
• Flexible working hours.
• Highly competitive health insurance, dental and vision coverage.
• Generous vacation policy.
• Professional development budget.
• Team retreats: We host all-team retreats three times a year to connect in person, collaborate, and build team culture.
• Work-related travel and expenses covered.

Logistics

• Start date: Flexible, though we generally expect new hires to be able to start within a couple of months of applying.
• Remote, with expected travel 3–6 times a year for conferences and events, predominantly in the US.
• We’d also be happy for you to work out of any of the AI safety hubs in San Francisco, Berkeley, London, or Boston.
• We prefer candidates who can attend meetings in the ET time zone (though our team currently spans GMT-8 to GMT+1).
• Visa sponsorship (particularly O-1) may be possible depending on circumstances, but we can’t guarantee it.

Our Culture

We’re a small, high-trust team motivated by the urgent challenge of making advanced AI go well. We try hard to figure out where we’re wrong, which means we say uncomfortable things to each other and change our minds fairly often. We value collaborative truth-seeking, a scout mindset, agility, and an alliance mindset with the broader ecosystem.

We also believe meaningful work should be enjoyable. We support each other’s well-being, celebrate wins, and maintain a healthy sense of humor even when the work is hard.

Application Process

Applications are due by September 25, 2026. We’ll review applications after the deadline and get back to everyone shortly after.

• Application form (10–20 mins)
• Screening call (15 mins)
• Take-home assignment (1.5–3 hours, paid)
• Interview (45 mins)
• Reference checks
• Work trial (3 days, paid)
• Offer

If you’re excited about this role but unsure whether you meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. If you’re interested in multiple roles, apply to the one that best fits your skills and interests, and note in your application the other roles that you’d like to be considered for.

Questions? Reach out at [email protected] .

Know someone who might be a good fit? If your referral gets hired and completes 6 months with us, we’ll pay you a $5,000 referral bonus.