Operations Generalist (London)

MATS Research; Greater London; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

In-office meals

Staff trips

Development support

30 days PTO

Hybrid work

AI safety community

Insurance

Job summary

MATS Research in London is seeking an Operations Generalist to keep the program running smoothly and to support fellows, mentors and staff so they can focus on their core work. You will help manage day-to-day operations and contribute to a productive, well-organized office environment.

Your role includes coordinating events, improving systems, managing vendors and onboarding, and collaborating across teams.

Qualifications

• Based in London, UK, and comfortable working in-person at our office in London on most days.
• Experience in operations, project management, events, administration, or another role where you owned getting things done.
• Organized and reliable: you juggle a high volume of small tasks and create structure and standardization.
• Strong judgment and problem-solving: you prioritize well and handle ambiguity.
• Clear, service-minded communicator with plain, kind writing and a proactive mindset.
• Comfortable with Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, Airtable or quick to pick up new tools.
• Motivated by the MATS mission and able to articulate why it matters.

Responsibilities

• Keep the organization and fellowship running smoothly, responding to day-to-day needs.
• Support fellows, mentors, and staff to create a productive environment.
• Plan and support events, seminars, workshops, socials, and the end-of-program symposium, including AV support.
• Coordinate vendors, guests, supplies, catering, and onboarding/offboarding.
• Maintain and extend organizational infrastructure (Airtable, Notion, Google Drive), and automate workflows.

Tools

Google Workspace

Slack

Notion

Airtable

Job description

About the role

We are looking for proactive, service-minded, and highly organized operations staff to help the MATS program in London grow, and to give our fellows the best possible experience. As an Operations Generalist, you will support fellows, mentors, and staff so they can focus on their core work, and you will help keep the organization and the program running day to day.

The exact mix of your responsibilities will be shaped by your strengths and interests and by the organization’s priorities at the time. Ideal candidates are detail-oriented, adaptable, organized, and are able to communicate clearly and concisely both verbally and in writing.

What you'll do

Your core work will be to keep the organization and the fellowship running smoothly while staying responsive to whatever comes up. This varies day to day and by your strengths and interests, but may include:

• Supporting fellows, mentors, and staff: respond to requests and help create a comfortable, productive environment.


• Helping run events: plan and support seminars, lightning talks, workshops, socials, and the end-of-program symposium, including setup and audio-visual support.


• Enable the office and program to function smoothly: coordinate vendors, guests, supplies, and catering, oversee basic facilities needs, and support fellow onboarding and offboarding.


• Building and improving systems: maintain and extend our organizational infrastructure (Airtable, Notion, Google Drive, and more), and automate repetitive workflows, including with AI tools.


• Owning special projects: take point on new initiatives and one-off problems as they arise (creating security procedures for the office.

Areas You Can Grow Into

If you perform well and have interest, you might end up contributing to any of the following areas over time. Most generalists start with a few and broaden or deepen from there:

• Digital infrastructure: designing, building, and maintaining our databases, our knowledge management systems, and our task/project management systems, automating workflows.


• Events: planning and running seminars, lightning talks, workshops, socials, the symposium, and our presence at conferences, including logistics and audio-visual support.


• Finance: supporting budgeting, expense tracking, reimbursements, accounts payable, and clean bookkeeping.


• IT: first-line technical support, managing accounts and access, and keeping hardware, networks, and security dependable.


• Project management: coordinating cross-team projects, breaking work into steps, and keeping initiatives and their stakeholders on track.


• Special projects: taking ownership of new initiatives and one-off problems as priorities shift and the organization grows.

Essential Qualifications and Skills

• Based in London, UK, and comfortable working in-person at our office in London on most days.


• Experience in operations, project management, events, administration, or another role where you owned getting things done. Organized and reliable: you juggle a high volume of small tasks without dropping them, and colleagues trust you to follow through. You naturally create order from chaos, creating structure and standardization with every workflow you encounter.


• Strong judgment and problem-solving: you prioritize well, can work through ambiguity, and know how to figure things out with limited information.


• A clear, service-minded communicator: your writing is plain and kind, and people leave interactions with you feeling supported.


• Proactive: you have an eye for noticing what could be better and take the initiative to improve it.


• Comfortable with the software tools we use (Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, Airtable) or you are able to pick up new tools quickly.


• Motivated by the MATS mission. You do not need to be an expert on AI safety; you should have a general understanding of what we are doing and you should be able to articulate why it matters.

Desirable Qualifications and Skills

We expect the most competitive applicants to also have one or more of the following. You do not need all of them, and this is where breadth or depth in any of the areas above helps.

Technical

• Strong command of Airtable, Google Sheets/Docs/Drive, Notion, and Slack.


• Experience building automations and integrations across tools, or doing data analysis to inform decisions.


• Experience with technical support and ticketing systems, applicant-tracking or CRM software, or audio-visual support for events.


• Comfortable using LLMs as a tool in your work, without outsourcing your judgement or decision-making.

Experience

• Financial administration: budgeting, expense tracking, reimbursements, or bookkeeping.


• Work in fellowship programs, study-abroad, summer programs, or similar short-term educational programs.

We welcome applications from individuals with varied backgrounds and levels of experience, and we strongly encourage you to apply if one or more of these profiles describes you:

• People with work experience in start-ups, tech, or non-profits


• Operations or project managers


• Office managers


• Human resources or people operations professionals


• Bookkeeping and accounting professionals


• Community builders, especially in the AI alignment, control, security, and governance research space


• Generalists in small or growing organizations


• Builders of digital infrastructure and automations that support scaling


• People who love bringing order to chaos and naturally create repeatable systems and processes

We know that resumes and careers do not always fit a particular mold. If you believe that something in your background or skillset makes you a good match for this role, we encourage you to apply even if your background does not match those listed above. When in doubt, apply: our process is designed to test skills directly, and we would rather hear from you than have you rule yourself out.

Reasons This Might Not Be the Right Role for You

• Much of this work is behind the scenes. When operations is going well, it is largely invisible, and many of the wins are things that quietly did not break.


• The role is frequently interruption-driven. Things break on their own schedule, and priorities can shift week to week.


• It rewards breadth over depth, at least at first. You will touch many areas rather than going deep in one, though clear specialization paths open up over time.


• It is in-person in London. We offer limited hybrid flexibility, but fully remote work isn't feasible.


• We are scaling fast and building as we go. Processes and structure will change under you, and feedback is frequent. The ability to deal with ambiguity and to adapt to new circumstances is a strength.

What We Offer

• MATS provides in-office, catered lunches and dinners to employees on workdays.


• Paid work trips, including staff retreats, business trips, and relevant conferences.


• Funding and support for professional development, including relevant conferences.


• 30 days of annual paid time off, plus federal holidays and paid sick leave.


• Flexibility for hybrid work between cohorts.


• Collaborative and intellectually stimulating work environment, including access to AI safety-focused communities in London.


• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance.


• The opportunity to help accelerate and launch the careers of talented AI safety researchers.

Working hours and location

40 hours per week. Successful candidates can expect to spend most of their time working in person from our London office.

MATS is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment at the forefront of our field. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and experiences.

Join us in shaping the future of AI safety & security research!