US Policy Team Member

Future of Life Organizations; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 85,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

PTO 24+ days

Parental leave

401k matching

Professional development budget

Work from home allowance

Job summary

The Future of Life Institute is hiring two US Policy Team Members to support policy work and US government engagement for safe AI governance in a bipartisan framework. You will report to the Head of U.S. Policy and be based in Washington, DC.

You will develop strategies, track developments, and prepare educational briefings to explain AI policy to non-experts, while building broad, cross-partisan networks on Capitol Hill.

Qualifications

• Direct experience working for or advocating to federal legislators and officials; congressional experience preferred.
• Eligibility to work in the United States; based in Washington DC or willing to relocate.
• Strong interest in AI governance and bipartisan policy work.

Responsibilities

• Spend substantial time on the Hill; build networks and raise awareness among policymakers of both parties on AI safety and policy.
• Develop and implement strategies for effective AI governance.
• Track and respond to developments in AI and technology policy.
• Prepare educational briefings and materials to explain complex AI issues to non-experts.
• Identify opportunities to influence policy changes that maximize benefits and minimize risks.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Strong interpersonal skills

Self-direction and work ethic

Meeting planning and facilitation

Strong research skills

Energetic for Hill work

Education

Undergraduate degree in policy or law or tech

Job description

The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is hiring two US Policy Team Members to help with our policy work and US government engagement to promote the safe governance of AI through a bipartisan lens. The US Policy Team Members will report directly to the Head of U.S. Policy.

Who we are

FLI educates and engages lawmakers, key stakeholders, and the general public about transformative technologies and their implications. We advocate for policies and approaches that mitigate catastrophic risks while advancing positive futures for humanity.

As US Policy Team Member, you will

• Spend a significant amount of your time on the Hill. You will build networks and raise awareness among influential policymakers of both parties of the importance of AI safety and the appropriate policies to reduce catastrophic risks from AI.
• Help develop and implement FLI’s strategies for effective AI governance.
• Track, analyze, and respond as appropriate to developments in both AI and emerging technology policy developments.
• Develop informational materials and conduct educational briefings to explain complex issues in AI policy to non-experts.
• Identify high-impact opportunities to affect meaningful policy change toward realizing the benefits of emerging technology and minimizing its risks.

Required Qualifications

• Direct experience working for or advocating to legislators and government officials at the federal level. Particular interest in candidates with congressional experience.
• Eligibility to work in the United States, based in Washington DC (or willing to relocate to DC).

Required Skills and Qualities

• Excited by the prospect of joining a small but influential team looking to improve humanity’s future.
• You’re someone who would find jumping between meetings on the Hill all day energising rather than exhausting.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability communicate complex information to non-expert audiences.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build trusting partnerships, regardless of political affiliation.
• Strong, pro-active self-direction and work ethic i.e. ability to just get stuff done.
• Ability to plan, prepare for, and conduct efficient meetings with key stakeholders across civil society, academia, industry, and government.
• Strong research skills.

Preferred Experience

• Undergraduate degree in policy, law, or a technical field related to emerging technologies or requisite / commensurate experience in the field.
• Knowledge of the technical capabilities and limitations of AI systems.
• Advanced knowledge of the policymaking process, including legislative procedure and opportunities for intervention.
• We expect strong candidates to have at least one of the following:
• Extensive existing networks related to this work.
• Experience creating partnerships with think tanks and other policy-focused organizations in DC.
• Experience developing and implementing a legislative strategy.
• Experience analyzing corporate lobbying as related to AI.

$85,000 - $195,000 a year

Exact compensation will vary depending on experience and geography.

Additional benefits include: health insurance, 24+ days of PTO per year, paid parental leave, 401k matching in the US, a generous professional development budget, and a work from home allowance for the purchase of office supplies or equipment.

Application Deadline: Rolling applications

Location: Washington DC

Start Date: We’d like the chosen candidate to start as soon as possible after accepting an offer.

Questions may be directed to [e-mail].

About the Future of Life Institute

Founded in 2014, FLI is an independent non-profit working to steer transformative technology towards benefiting life and away from extreme large-scale risks. Our work includes grantmaking, educational outreach, and policy engagement.

Our work has been featured in The Washington Post, Politico, Vox, Forbes, The Guardian, the BBC, and Wired.

Some of our achievements include:

• Superintelligence Statement, an open letter calling for a prohibition on the development of superintelligent AI until there is strong public buy-in and scientific consensus that it can be developed safely and controllably. The letter has been signed by more than 130,000 people, including Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, Steve Wozniak, Richard Branson, Steve Bannon, Prince Harry and Susan Rice.
• The Asilomar AI Principles, one of the earliest and most influential sets of AI governance principles.
• The Pro-Human AI Declaration, a document with five guidelines on how AI development must be centred on humanity first, created during a meeting of bipartisan civil society groups spanning faith, labor, and think tanks.
• Testimony to the US Senate AI Insight Forum on Innovation, and the first civil society presentation to the US House of Representatives Taskforce on AI, encouraging policies that mitigate catastrophic risks from AI.
• Participation in the US AI Safety Institute Consortium.
• AI Safety Index - an objective rating of AI companies on key safety and security domains, as judged by experts in the field.

FLI is a largely virtual organization, with a team of >30 distributed internationally, mostly in Europe and the US. We have four offices: Campbell in California, Brussels in Belgium, London in the UK, and Washington DC.