About Constellation

Constellation is an independent research center that brings together people throughout the AI safety ecosystem to accelerate ideas, research, and talent through better collaboration. Unlike a conference or summit, Constellation operates continuously, in the form of a physical workspace. This allows for relationships and conversations to develop over time, meaningfully fostering trust, collaboration, and shared insight. It also makes Constellation a natural field-building hub that helps by rapidly inspiring, orienting, and connecting people who are newer to the field.

Based in Berkeley, CA, our shared workspace hosts over 250 people per week across dozens of AI safety organizations in nonprofits, academia, industry, and government. Hundreds of other researchers spend time at Constellation for shorter visits each year. We believe this is the strongest and highest-output network of AI safety researchers in the world; dozens of participants in past Constellation programs have gone on to safety-focused roles at companies such as METR, Redwood Research, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and the US and UK Safety Institutes.

For more information, see our research focus areas and selected publications from Constellation Fellows.

About This Role

As a Senior Business Operations Generalist, you’ll be part of the operational backbone ensuring we stay compliant, financially sound, and operationally excellent while enabling a growing team and ecosystem of people working on AI safety. You’ll support accounting, finance, legal, compliance, and audit processes with opportunities to lead specific areas and initiatives. Throughout, you'll build systems that scale without breaking.

This role requires someone who can balance competing demands, proactively spot risks before they become problems, and is decisive when balancing compliance requirements with organizational and ecosystem needs.

You’ll be the bridge between the business operations team and the rest of Constellation, synthesizing input from many stakeholders and translating it into action. You’ll work in a community of intelligent and highly mission driven people operating at the technical frontier.

Key Responsibilities - Accounting & Finance

Support day-to-day accounting and bookkeeping operations, ensuring accuracy and timeliness
Support budgeting processes, cash flow reporting, and financial planning to inform organizational decision-making
Prepare and file Form 990 and other required tax documentation
Support the annual nonprofit audit process from start to finish, coordinating with external auditors

Legal & Compliance

Ensure compliance with nonprofit regulations, governance requirements, and legal obligations
Manage relationships with external legal counsel and coordinate a range of legal matters
Support company and board governance structures and processes
Review and implement policies for in-kind donations, contracts, immigration, and other business operations
Proactively identify and address compliance gaps, bringing potential risks to leadership's attention

Process Building & Operational Excellence

Build, document, and continuously improve operational processes across business functions
Create systems that increase team capacity and reduce bottlenecks
Support organizations in our network with services, such as finance, accounting, HR, and payroll administration
Make thoughtful tradeoff decisions between compliance and organizational needs, clearly communicating the reasoning

Skills & Experience:

4-6 years of experience in business operations, accounting, finance, legal, or a related field; ideally with nonprofit business experience
Working knowledge in accounting and bookkeeping
Experience managing or coordinating with compliance requirements, legal counsel, and external service providers
Proficiency with spreadsheets, accounting software, and financial management tools (e.g. Quickbooks Online and BILL.com)

Bonus Qualifications:

Experience with nonprofit audits and tax filings (Form 990)
Knowledge of nonprofit governance structures and board operations
Experience working in organizations under 200 people, ideally across different organizational stages
Experience leading cross-functional projects

You may be a good fit if you:

Thrive in environments where you’re building systems while simultaneously running them
Are highly conscientious and detail oriented, while also prioritizing and balancing perfection with practical organizational needs
Are an active listener who asks clarifying questions and incorporates feedback to improve processes
Notice when something looks off and speak up about potential risks
Think quickly on your feet and handle sudden context changes or new tasks with flexibility
Exercise discretion with sensitive and confidential information
Are driven by the importance of AI safety work and excited to enable the people doing it

Logistics:

This is a full-time position. You’ll be able to do this job best if you work in person at our Berkeley office, though we're open to discussing partially remote arrangements for exceptional candidates.

We encourage you to apply if you meet at least 70% of our qualifications.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Compensation & Benefits

For the San Francisco Bay Area, the compensation range is $113,000 - $145,000.

Our benefits include generous vacation policy, 401(k) with employer match, employer-paid commuter benefits, health/dental/vision insurance, catered meals at the office.

Constellation Institute

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Senior Business Operations Generalist