Policy Generalist

Palisade Research; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Palisade Research is hiring a Policy Generalist in Washington, DC to identify and build scalable ways of engaging Congress, the Executive Branch, and DC's policy ecosystem to grow Palisade's impact on AI risk. The role focuses on developing policy recommendations and engaging stakeholders across government, media, and think tanks.

The successful candidate will possess a track record of policy advocacy, strong briefing skills, and deep understanding of DC processes, while working under the Head

Qualifications

• Proven track record advocating for policy changes across diverse stakeholders (5+ years).
• Excellent oral briefing and meeting management skills.
• Understanding of DC policy processes and mechanisms.

Responsibilities

• Identify opportunities for policy engagement and develop scalable ways to engage policymakers and influencers.
• Develop policy recommendations and briefing materials.
• Engage government, media, and think tanks under supervision of the Head of Policy.
• Advocate for Palisade's policy recommendations with government, media, and non-profit community.

Skills

AI policy

Policy advocacy

DC policy processes

Briefing presentations

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Palisade Research is hiring a Policy Generalist in Washington, DC to identify and build innovative, scalable ways of engaging Congress, the Executive Branch, and DC's policy ecosystem to grow Palisade's impact on AI risk.

Palisade's mission is to help people and institutions build the understanding needed to avoid permanent disempowerment by strategic AI agents.

Description

About Us: Palisade's mission is to help people and institutions build the understanding needed to avoid permanent disempowerment by strategic AI agents.

We engage Congress, the Executive Branch, and DC's policy ecosystem, and have identified some ways of engaging these communities; however, much remains to be done to inform Congress about these risks and to help them understand policy options to address them. We need people who can conceptualize, develop, and execute on innovative and scalable ways of growing Palisade's policy impact.

Responsibilities:

• Identify opportunities for policy engagement and develop novel ways of engaging policymakers and policy influencers (e.g., journalists, think tanks, etc.)
• Develop policy recommendations and briefings
• Engage government, the media and the think tank community under the supervision of our head of policy
• Advocate for our policy recommendations with the government, media, and the non‑profit community

Desired qualifications:

We expect that a successful candidate will have many, but not all, of these qualifications. Please apply for this role even if you are not sure if you meet them. In particular, if you are a motivated individual who cares about AI policy but is transitioning from another field, please DO apply.

• Familiarity with AI national security risks, particularly:
• Loss of control to powerful AI systems
• Recursive self‑improvement
• Catastrophic misuse
• The rapid and exponential pace of AI capabilities growth
• A willingness to dive in and get things done – a successful employee in this role must be comfortable with a project‑based approach where key deliverables might change every few months
• Proven track record of effectively advocating for policy changes for at least 5 years across a range of stakeholders and views. This could include experience in management consulting, startups, the nonprofit sector, or work on Capitol Hill or the Executive Branch
• Excellent oral briefing and meeting management skills
• Understanding of DC policy processes, communities, and mechanisms, such as "how does a bill's sponsor navigate the current Congressional legislative process" or "how does the Department of Commerce make key recommendations to the President?"
• Network of contacts in DC and/or national media or nonprofits that are relevant to this work

Details of position:

• Based in Washington, DC with occasional travel to our Berkeley home office or other locations as required
• Full‑time salaried employment; either hybrid or full‑time in-person work
• Salary: $120K to $140K per year, dependent on experience
• Benefits: Comprehensive health, dental, and long‑term disability coverage, unlimited PTO
• Reports to our Head of Policy, Dave Kasten