Program Director, Catalytic Deployment

About Civil Society and Philanthropy

Civil Society and Philanthropy is a new OpenAI Foundation team dedicated to putting advanced AI to work on challenges facing people and communities globally.

We will partner with nonprofit and civil society organizations and governments around the world, putting in place the resources needed to ensure AI can meaningfully support their work. We combine philanthropic investment, technical expertise, and convening power to work alongside trusted partners that deliver essential services across geographies and issue areas. Together, we identify opportunities where AI can strengthen their work, expand their reach, and tangibly benefit their communities.

We're starting with three areas:

Put AI to work in essential services where it can meaningfully improve access and outcomes.

Give civil society organizations the tools, expertise, and support to adopt AI responsibly.

Build shared infrastructure so that successful tools and lessons can benefit the entire social sector.

We believe the most meaningful applications of AI will be shaped not by technology companies alone, but by the teachers, clinicians, legal advocates, public servants, researchers, governments, and community organizations applying these tools to solve real-world problems.

About the role

The Program Director is a leadership role on the Catalytic Deployments team that combines philanthropic investment, strategy, institution-building, and operations. Catalytic Deployments is a small, flat, and fast-moving team designed to make large and transformative investments across a wide range of areas in civil society.

Program Directors own the strategy and execution of major areas of the Catalytic Deployments portfolio, working closely with the Head of Catalytic Deployments to set overall team priorities. As part of this work, Program Directors will help lead the development of large philanthropic investments globally, from grants to ambitious multi-year initiatives, and potentially new institutions. Program Directors will be part of a small, collaborative team and expected to work closely with the rest of the organization.

Ideal program directors have deep experience in at least one social sector domain, such as public health, education, poverty alleviation, and economic mobility.

This role requires strong judgment, high ownership, and the ability to operate with meaningful autonomy. This role has an unusually high bar for judgment, strategic thinking, and execution velocity.

In the first year, Program Directors will develop a clear investment thesis in one or more priority domains; build a high-quality pipeline of opportunities; launch several significant partnerships or investments; and help establish the operating model and team for Catalytic Deployments.

This role reports to the Head of Catalytic Deployments, Civil Society and Philanthropy.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We currently use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week. Some travel around the U.S. and to other countries will be required.

In this role, you will:

• Contribute to the strategy, prioritization, and the Foundation’s approach to Catalytic Deployments; over time, own specific areas within Catalytic Deployments
• Source, evaluate, and recommend grants and other funding opportunities. Conduct diligence on organizations, projects, and leaders, including execution capability and potential for scaling the benefit of AI-enabled approaches
• Help design and manage a growing portfolio of grants, ensuring strong judgment, clear prioritization, and high-quality follow-through
• As the organization grows, manage other members of the Catalytic Deployments team
• Engage deeply with the external ecosystem, including researchers, nonprofits, academic centers, public-interest organizations, data platforms, funders, and other potential grantee organizations
• Identify gaps in the current ecosystem and develop ideas for how the Foundation can support new efforts, partnerships, or field-building initiatives
• Develop and launch new initiatives from zero-to-one, including helping shape concepts, convene stakeholders, and stand up new efforts where needed
• Represent the Foundation in external conversations, helping to build credibility, source opportunities, and strengthen the broader field
• Write clear internal recommendations and strategy memos to support decision-making
• Use frontier AI to support your work across the activities described above

You might thrive in this role if you:

• 10+ years of leadership experience in nonprofits, philanthropy, or government
• Credible experience building and scaling large social-sector initiatives
• Experience in sourcing, assessing, and structuring grants
• Subject matter expertise in at least one social sector domain, such as public health, education, poverty alleviation, and economic mobility
• Ability to reason clearly about AI capabilities, implementation constraints, organizational readiness and the risks of deploying AI systems in civil society contexts. (Strongly preferred: Direct experience deploying or scaling AI-enabled approaches in at least one social-sector domain. Demonstrated out-of-the-box and original thinking about AI-for-good.)
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate technical or organizational opportunities and make strong recommendations
• Comfort operating in a fast-moving environment where priorities may evolve over time
• Experience engaging credibly with external experts, institutions, and senior stakeholders
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information clearly and persuasively
• Strong strategic judgment combined with a bias toward execution
• High degree of ownership, discretion, and accountability
• Deep motivation to accelerate AI’s impact in civil society and contribute to the Foundation’s mission

Compensation

The annual base salary range for this role is $270,000 to $330,000 USD.

This range reflects our good-faith estimate of the base salary we reasonably expect to pay for this position upon hire. Actual base salary will be determined based on job-related factors, including the candidate’s relevant experience, skills, expertise, the scope of the role, and work location, as applicable.

This salary range does not include benefits or any other compensation for which the role may be eligible.

Equal Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.