Senior Manager, People & Operations

Center for AI Safety (CAIS); San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401K matching

Unlimited PTO

Office meals

Professional development stipend

Referral bonus

Job summary

The Center for AI Safety (CAIS) in San Francisco is seeking a Senior Manager of People and Operations to own all people and back-office functions. This hands-on, on-site role reports to the VP of Operations and oversees the Office Manager, HR processes, recruiting vendors, onboarding, and cross-functional projects, ensuring compliance and scalable systems.

A 7+ year track record, strong communication, and a passion for AI safety are essential; bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is

Qualifications

• 7+ years in core operations, people operations, or a similarly high-ownership role, including hands-on ownership of HR at a small or fast-growing organization.
• Experience running at least two other back-office functions, such as IT, legal, facilities, or compliance.
• Experience managing people and vendors.
• A track record of building or improving processes, not only maintaining existing ones.
• Comfort working closely with senior leaders and acting as a force multiplier for them.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• High agency and low ego: you take ownership of what’s broken or missing rather than waiting to be asked.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented.
• Discretion and sound judgment handling sensitive information.
• Genuine interest in AI safety and CAIS’s mission.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.

Responsibilities

• Own People Operations end to end, including recruiting, onboarding, benefits administration, HR policies, and performance cycles.
• Manage the Office Manager and coordinate cross-functional execution across the function.
• Lead operational projects from scoping through execution (HR systems, tool rollouts, compliance, process improvements).
• Navigate ambiguity, surface risks, and bring solutions; escalate decisions to the VP of Operations when needed.
• Note: may manage vendor relationships as needed.

Skills

People operations

Vendor management

Process improvement

Communication

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

HRIS

PEO

Job description

Location: San Francisco, CA (in-office). Local candidates only.

A quick note before you apply: This is a senior role for someone with 5+ years of experience owning HR end to end, plus hands-on experience running at least two other operations functions, such as IT, facilities, legal, or compliance. It isn’t a specialist HR role focused only on recruiting or benefits

We’d love to hear why you want to work at CAIS. That question is optional, but it’s the first thing we read.

Location: San Francisco, CA (on-site 5 days/week; local candidates only)

About The Center for AI Safety (CAIS)

The Center for AI Safety (CAIS) is a leading research and advocacy organization focused on mitigating societal-scale risks from AI. Some of our past achievements include: releasing the most widely used measure of AI capabilities used by all major AI companies, running a large compute cluster to facilitate AI safety research which has been cited over 16,000 times , and publishing a global statement on AI Risk signed by Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and top AI CEOs.

The Role

This is a full-time, on-site role in San Francisco (local candidates only).

CAIS is looking for a Senior Manager of People & Operations to report to the VP of Operations, who oversees Finance, IT, Compliance, Legal, HR, and Facilities for a growing, fast-moving organization. You will own People Operations end to end as CAIS scales, manage the Office Manager who keeps the office and day-to-day operations running, and take ownership of cross-functional operational projects.

This is a hands-on role. You’ll be the go-to person for hiring, onboarding, and employee questions, and you’ll also roll up your sleeves on whatever the org needs, from coordinating vendors to moving boxes. You should be comfortable taking an important problem with no existing playbook and carrying it through to completion, while knowing when to bring the VP of Operations in.

What You'll Do

Own People Operations

• Own the full employee lifecycle, including recruiting process, onboarding, offboarding, benefits administration, HR policies, and performance cycles.


• Manage recruiting vendors and the hiring pipeline, partnering with hiring managers to keep candidates moving and give them a strong experience.


• Serve as the first point of contact for employee questions and sensitive employee-relations matters, escalating to the VP of Operations and outside counsel as needed.


• Keep CAIS compliant with California and federal employment requirements, including required training, postings, and records, in partnership with outside legal counsel.


• Run the intern program and build practices that support retention, such as structured onboarding, check-ins, and exit interviews.

Lead the Office Manager

• Manage and develop the Office Manager: set priorities, delegate, coach, and own performance.


• Create leverage for the VP of Operations by taking ownership of day-to-day execution across the function.


• Coordinate key vendors and hold them to clear expectations.


• Build systems and processes that allow the team to scale with the organization.


• Step in personally on tactical, in-the-weeds work when the team needs it.

Own Cross-Functional Projects

• Lead operational projects from scoping through execution, such as HR systems implementations, tool rollouts, compliance initiatives, process improvements, and office moves or build-outs.


• Navigate ambiguity with sound judgment, make tradeoffs, and keep work moving, escalating the right decisions at the right time.


• Surface risks early and bring solutions, not just problems.

Note: Depending on org needs, this role may also take on direct management of specific vendor relationships.

What We're Looking For

• 7+ years in core operations, people operations, or a similarly high-ownership role, including hands-on ownership of HR at a small or fast-growing organization.


• Experience running at least two other back-office functions, such as IT, legal, facilities, or compliance.


• Experience managing people and vendors.


• A track record of building or improving processes, not only maintaining existing ones.


• Comfort working closely with senior leaders and acting as a force multiplier for them.


• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.


• High agency and low ego: you take ownership of what’s broken or missing rather than waiting to be asked.


• Highly organized and detail-oriented.


• Discretion and sound judgment handling sensitive information.


• Genuine interest in AI safety and CAIS’s mission.


• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.

Nice to Have

• Working knowledge of California employment law.


• Experience implementing an HRIS, PEO, or similar people systems.


• Experience scaling operations at an early-stage or fast-growing mission-driven organization.


• Experience in a research organization, AI, or technology company.


• Experience managing an office move or build-out.

Salary Range

$150,000 - $200,000 annually, depending on experience.

Referral Program

Know someone who could be a great fit for this role? Submit their details through our Referral Form . If we end up hiring your referral, you’ll receive a $1,500 bonus once they’ve been with CAIS for 90 days.

• Health insurance for you and your dependents


• 401K plan + 4% matching


• Unlimited PTO


• Lunch and dinner at the office


• Annual Professional Development Stipend


• Access to some of the top talent working on technical and conceptual research in AI safety

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Center for AI Safety is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. In alignment with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.

If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact [e-mail].

We value diversity and encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply.