Community Manager

MATS Program; Berkeley (CA); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Lunch and dinner provided

Medical insurance

Dental and vision

401(k) plan

Job summary

MATS Program in Berkeley, CA seeks a Community Manager to support fellows, foster a safe and collaborative environment, and coordinate with the team to enhance the MATS experience. You will nurture wellbeing, build connections, and coordinate events within the AI alignment community.

The role emphasizes relationship-building, proactive outreach, and collaborative problem-solving, with hybrid work options for exceptional candidates. Compensation reflects seniority and market norms for the field.

Qualifications

• 2-5 years experience in community roles and people-facing support.
• Ability to provide emotional support and empathetic guidance.
• Comfort with confidential information and discreet handling of sensitive matters.

Responsibilities

• Build meaningful relationships with fellows through one-on-one meetings to learn needs and plan for individual growth.
• Execute on the community strategy to foster a safe, inclusive MATS environment.
• Coordinate with the Community Lead on fellow needs and program improvement.
• Collaborate with Research Management and Operations to support fellows.
• Support fellow orientation and offboarding processes.
• Organize and supervise socials, networking events, and workshops, including occasional evenings or weekends.
• Proactively address concerns by coordinating with team members and linking fellows to resources.
• Engage with the broader AI alignment community and related organizations to deepen collaborations.

Skills

Community building

Counselling

Coaching

Autonomy

Interpersonal skills

Emotional support

Conflict mediation

Project management

Mission alignment

Job description

MATS finds and trains talented individuals for what we see as the world’s most urgent and talent-constrained problem: reducing risks from unaligned artificial intelligence. We believe ambitious researchers from a variety of backgrounds have the potential to meaningfully contribute to alignment, control, security, and governance research. Through our research fellowship, we provide mentorship, training, professional network, and financial support to accelerate their careers and increase their impact.

Since 2021, we have trained over 630 researchers. 75% of pre-2026 fellows continue to work in AI alignment. 10% have co-founded organizations. Our fellows have produced 215+ research papers with 17,000+ citations. And we are just getting started: in the coming year we will expand our program to support even more researchers.

About the Role

In addition to helping individuals develop research skills, MATS empowers fellows to make their own positive impact on the AIS field and beyond. Community Managers build a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment where researchers can flourish. You will work in collaboration with the team to support fellow welfare, foster community connections (both within the MATS community and with aligned organizations), and enhance the MATS experience. A great Community Manager builds strong relationships with fellows, anticipates community needs, and creates support systems that promote both individual wellbeing and collective flourishing.

MATS is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming research environment. We welcome applications from individuals with varied backgrounds, and we know that resumes and careers don’t always fit a particular mold. We encourage you to apply even if your experience does not fully match the description and even if you’re very new to AI alignment.

Job Responsibilities

A Community Manager’s primary role is to support the needs of fellows and improve the MATS community environment. This role reports to the Community Lead. Key objectives will be to continue and build upon the team’s work on building a supportive MATS environment and a vibrant community with aligned organizations. Specific responsibilities include:

• Build meaningful relationships with fellows through one-on-one meetings to learn about their needs, help create a plan for the individual to flourish, provide emotional support, talk through challenges, and receive feedback;
• Execute on our community strategy;
• Coordinate with the Community Lead about fellow needs;
• Collaborate with Research Management and Operations teams, as needed, to support fellows;
• Support fellow orientation and offboarding;
• Facilitate MATS community building by organizing and supervising socials, networking events, and workshops (occasional hosting of events on evening or weekend);
• Help improve the program based on fellow feedback;
• Proactively identify concerns and coordinate with appropriate team members to address them, connecting fellows with appropriate resources;
• Support our engagement with the broader AI alignment and security community, deepening relationships with other organizations and facilitating collaboration with MATS fellows.

Desired Skills & Experience (or Knowledge, Skills, Abilities):

• 2-5 years experience across a combination of the following:
• Community building (with focus on relationship building)
• Counselling
• Coaching
• Autonomy and proactivity;
• Strong interpersonal skills (e.g., patience, active listening, empathy);
• Comfortable working with private and confidential information;
• Experience providing emotional support and mediating conflicts;
• Able to practice good judgement in urgent and/or high-stakes situations, if necessary;
• Project management (especially in a community building context, e.g. events)
• Mission alignment (no pun intended!): We’re working to ensure AI systems remain beneficial and aligned with human values. You don’t need to be an expert, but we’d love it if you have a genuine concern for good outcomes for AI.

Nice to haves:

We’d be excited about applicants that have one or more of the following:

• Experience setting community policies, for example in an HR function;
• Some data analysis skills are a plus, but not required;
• Some knowledge of (or willingness to learn about) AI safety-specific concerns that sometimes bear on community health (e.g. potential consequences of transformative AI as described in this video ).

What we offer

• Opportunity to help accelerate and launch the careers of highly talented early-career AI Safety researchers
• Professional development and skill enhancement opportunities, including training and attending industry and professionally-relevant conferences
• Work in a small team and take on responsibility and initiatives
• Collaborative and intellectually stimulating work environment
• Access to our office spaces in London, Berkeley, and other partnered office spaces
• Competitive salary, sick and vacation leave
• Private medical insurance, including dental and vision
• Lunch and dinner provided Monday-Friday

About Compensation

• Salaries at MATS are set by level: each role has defined levels, and each level maps to a salary band.
• The salary band listed in this particular role covers two levels.
• The essential skills listed above contain the basic requirements, and align with the lower end of this range.
• 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.
• 17 days of annual paid time off for Berkeley-based employees.
• Flexibility for hybrid work (but not for fully remote work).
• Collaborative and intellectually stimulating work environment.
• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance.
• Both Roth 401(k) and Traditional 401(k) for US-based employees.

Working hours and location

40 hours per week. Successful candidates can expect to spend most of their time working in person from our main office in Berkeley, California. We are open to hybrid working arrangements for exceptional candidates.

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!