[Hiring] Special Projects Director @Rethink Priorities

Role Description

Special Projects Director (Leadership)

Salary: $130,000 – $160,000 gross annual. For other currencies, we use a 5-year rolling average exchange rate.

Location: Fully remote. UTC-5 to UTC+2 preferred.

Job Type: Full-time (40 hours per week) preferred, and minimum 35 hours per week required.

Reports to: Chief Operations Officer, Carolyn Footitt

Start date: As soon as possible, but no later than January 4, 2027

Application Deadline: Monday, October 12, at the end of the day (23:59) Anywhere on Earth (UTC-12:00).

Application Process: Click "Apply Now" to respond to the prompts. We ask that you spend no more than 2 hours preparing your responses to the prompts.

Contact: Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.

Key Responsibilities

• Own SP's overall strategy and roadmap, positioning the program to capture the current wave of AI-related philanthropic capital and project demand.
• Decide which projects join, graduate, or spin off from fiscal sponsorship, and build the frameworks behind those calls.
• Own SP's value proposition and Theory of Change with input from RP leadership.
• Evaluate the inbound project pipeline and proactively source new fiscally-sponsored opportunities.
• Represent SP externally to prospective projects, funders, and peer fiscal sponsors.
• Explore new service lines where they'd extend SP's value, such as regranting structures.
• Establish a formal project risk assessment framework covering financial, employment, legal/reputational, and leadership risk.
• Serve as a senior escalation point on operations compliance matters.
• Create a project graduation framework — criteria for when a project should spin out vs. stay within RP.
• Keep the SP fee model fair and sustainable for RP and project directors.
• Track a defined SP revenue target quarterly against a forecast.
• Decide when to add capacity, what roles come next, and how management layers evolve.
• Manage the Special Project Managers directly: weekly 1:1s, performance and feedback, coaching and professional development.
• Ensure SP’s processes are documented and standardized.
• Set and track OKRs for the team.
• Keep SP's relationships with funders, project directors, and other RP departments strong.
• Make sure project directors are genuinely satisfied with the support they're getting.

Qualifications

• Solid experience in an operations role — HR, legal, finance, or general operations.
• Familiarity with the effective altruism landscape and at least one of RP's cause areas.
• People management experience, including managing managers across a scaling team.
• Project/program management for large, varied portfolios.

Requirements

• Strategic Thinking and Systems Evaluation.
• Judgment and Decision-Making.
• People Management.
• Business Development and Relationship Management.
• Solution Orientation.
• Social Perceptiveness.
• Cultural Competence.
• Adaptability.
• Communication.
• Execution.

Benefits

• Annual salary range: $130,000–$160,000 USD pre-tax, based on a 40-hour workweek.
• Flexible work hours and location.
• Comprehensive global benefits package.
• Generous paid time off, including unlimited vacation and parental leave.
• Technology stipend of $2,000 USD equivalent every 3 years.
• AI tools budget of $40 USD equivalent monthly.
• Professional Development Budget of $5000 USD per year.
• Paid work trips, including one annual all-staff Mega Team Retreat.
• A caring team that values respectful work relations and a healthy work-life balance.