Full-time position at Effective Giving

Effective Giving is an ultra-high-net-worth philanthropic advisory and grantmaking organization with a distributed team based in London, Oxford, Amsterdam, Norway, Hong Kong and San Francisco. We deployed over $30M in 2021 and have grown at over 400% per year for the last three years. We take an academic approach to maximizing expected impact and are one of only a handful of organizations focused primarily on safeguarding future generations. 

Salary: Competitive and commensurate with experience

Location: London/Oxford/Amsterdam (remote possible)

 

The organization

Effective Giving aims to help solve the world’s most pressing problems. We collaborate with ambitious philanthropists and our extensive network of independent experts to identify bold projects that have the potential to create outsized impact and make them happen. 

Since 2018, Effective Giving has established proof of concept, a strong network across the global catastrophic risk community, grantee organizations and mission-aligned donors, and an international team that is now ready to scale in earnest.

Like all small, tight-knit organizations, we highly value our team culture and want to ensure everyone we bring on is a good fit. Everyone is here to maximize their impact and do as much as they can to safeguard the future of humanity. We work accordingly, with a flat structure and a highly collaborative work environment focused on finding the right answers to difficult challenges.

 

The role

The Effective Giving Biosecurity Program was established early in 2021 and is now one of the largest funders of projects aiming to mitigate global catastrophic biological risks. We are now looking to replicate that success by expanding our in-house evaluative and grantmaking capabilities across other longtermist cause areas. 

We envision this as a generalist role for a candidate who is interested in evaluating opportunities and setting strategy across multiple cause areas. However, it is entirely possible that a successful candidate will be more specialized in one cause area. Prior experience in all the cause areas we anticipate covering isn’t required, but it is important to be interested in working across multiple areas. We expect this role to be broad in scope, covering beneficial AI, nuclear security, climate change, long-termist policy, capacity building, and global priorities research.

The grantmaking team works with the wider Effective Giving team to build and execute a scalable program strategy for directly influencing eight-figure sums in yearly philanthropic capital. In addition to allocating funds to existing projects in the space, a successful hire will play a central role in our activities as an active funder, seeding new initiatives.

 

Key responsibilities

• Identify and evaluate funding opportunities, including managing relationships with prospective and current grantees.
• Leverage existing expert network to identify potential grant opportunities and leads for further evaluation. 
• Develop our grantmaking and prioritization strategy within safeguarding future generations in conjunction with Effective Giving leadership.
• Advise on the development and launch of large-scale longtermist projects in which Effective Giving is an active funder. 
• Execute or commission research and analysis, particularly in beneficial AI and nuclear security.
• Work with the Operations team to build out and optimize the grantmaking process.
• Present compelling written justifications for chosen initiatives to Effective Giving leadership and advisees.

 

Who we’re looking for

Experience and skills

• Prior grantmaking experience and demonstrated abilities in reasoning and judgment.
• Familiarity with the artificial intelligence or nuclear risk landscape and surrounding geopolitical issues.
• Existing network within the broader space of effective altruism and  that can be leveraged to formulate strategy and evaluate opportunities. 
• Good interpersonal skills, ability to explain your thoughts clearly and confidently including in public settings.
• Strong written communication. A quick, clear writer who can translate complex academic findings into language that is understandable for non-academics and helps them to make decisions.

Personality

• Finds variance exciting rather than stressful.
• Excited to take responsibility for project management.
• Analytical. Favors strong argument to narrative.
• A positive, constructive approach to giving and receiving feedback. 
• High integrity. Extremely aligned in focusing on impact (in expectation).
• Willing to take a hits-based approach to grantmaking and project development, but hyper-focused on avoiding projects that could cause outsized harm.

 

Perks

• Exposure to cutting-edge projects and organizations, leaders in the field.
• Access to the inner workings of a fast-growing grant-making organization and active funder, including frequent exposure to (and opportunities to work alongside) firm leadership. 
• Startup-style entrepreneurial culture with the ability to work on a diverse range of projects and build skills in multiple areas at once. 
• Highly flexible working environment and location – work from one of our existing offices or work remotely as suits your location needs.
• We’ll make sure you have: 
  • Your ideal desk setup: ergonomic budget of up to £2,000.
  • Whatever you need to learn what you need to learn: professional development budget of up to £1,500 per year.
  • Whatever you need to grow: personal development of up to £1,500 per year. 
• 30 days paid vacation, plus two-week annual office closure in December. 
• Generous parental leave policy. 
• Health insurance options. 
• 5% pension match.

Effective Giving is looking for mission-aligned hires who want to safeguard future generations against existential risks. If you’re interested in this role but don’t fit the profile exactly, we still encourage you to apply. 

 

To apply, please fill out this form.