Operations Associate

The Center for AI Safety (CAIS) is a leading research and advocacy organization focused on mitigating societal-scale risks from AI. We address AI’s toughest challenges through technical research, field-building initiatives, and policy engagement, along with our sister organization, Center for AI Safety Action Fund.

The Operations Associate helps keep CAIS running smoothly day to day by owning core operational workflows across the office, systems, and people operations. The ideal candidate is a self-starter who learns quickly, takes initiative, and thrives in a fast-paced environment. You're motivated by CAIS's AI safety mission and understand that enabling the team to do high-impact work is itself high-impact work. You're comfortable with ambiguity, can move quickly when needed, and bring strong judgment about when to act independently versus when to escalate. This role offers significant growth potential as operations scales alongside the organization. We're hiring 2-3 people for this role and looking for individuals who want to build foundational systems that will support CAIS's work for years to come.

Key Functions and Responsibilities:

Office Management

• Own day-to-day office operations to keep the workspace functional, stocked, and welcoming.
• Serve as the primary point of contact with building management for facilities requests.
• Manage building access logistics, including key card requests, visitor access processes, and maintaining up-to-date access documentation.
• Manage office set-ups for all-hands meetings and team events.
• Track and execute small office improvement projects.

IT & Systems Administration

• Triage and fulfill access requests for approved tools, provision accounts and maintain clean tracking.
• Support basic IT operations and vendor coordination.
• Manage software and device onboarding/offboardings.
• Maintain a current software/tools inventory and deliver periodic audits.

People Operations

• Help foster a positive, connected team environment by coordinating team events, offsites, and moments of recognition (birthdays, milestones, celebrations).
• Coordinate onboarding and offboarding logistics and serve as the primary point of contact for new joiners.
• Partner with Ops leadership to keep policies and procedures running smoothly day to day, ensuring consistent execution across teams.

Admin Ops & Team Support

• Provide administrative support to Operations leadership (tracking systems, documentation upkeep, assisting with inbound requests, maintaining internal reference guides).
• Serve as a reliable first-line point of contact for staff questions; route issues to the correct owner and follow through to resolution.
• Provide operational support to other teams as needed (Field Building, Research, Public Engagement).
• Monitor shared channels/inboxes used for operational requests and ensure requests are acknowledged, tracked, and closed out.

Required Knowledge and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 0-3 years of relevant experience (start up, banking, program management, ideally in a fast-moving environment).
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills; comfortable managing multiple workstreams with shifting urgency.
• Strong judgment + critical thinking: can assess incomplete info, ask the right questions, and choose a sensible path forward; escalates appropriately.
• Strong communication: clear written updates, professional stakeholder management, and calm day-to-day support to staff.
• Ability to learn and operate within new systems quickly.
• High attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to own recurring workflows end-to-end (not just execute tasks): anticipate needs, document processes, spot failure points, and improve the system.
• Comfort working autonomously, taking feedback well, and iterating quickly.
• Thrives in ambiguity; can “bring order to chaos” without over-engineering.
• The ability to perform physical activities (lifting 30 lbs, catering deliveries, walking) associated with office set up and equipment handling
• Collaborative, service-minded, and discreet with sensitive information.

$80,000 - $110,000 a year

Benefits:

• 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

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.

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 [email protected].​

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