University Group Coordinator

About CEA

The Centre for Effective Altruism’s mission is to build and nurture a global community of people who are thinking carefully about the world’s biggest problems and taking impactful action to solve them.
To foster this community, we run conferences, support hundreds of local groups, and provide online resources and forums for discussion.

About this role

We are looking for someone to join the CEA University Groups Team to execute, improve and expand the products we have for supporting university group organisers and push the frontier of university group support. Apply here by November 8, EOD.

Background

Students are often reflecting on their values and worldviews, and planning their futures. University groups are one of the most compelling, enjoyable, and accurate ways to introduce them to EA ideas. We want the conversations they have about how to help others effectively to be one of the most rewarding parts of their university experience and to have a lasting impact on the way they shape their lives and careers. If we succeed, we think that many students who take part in university groups will go on to do important work on key global problems.
University groups have shown evidence of large multiplier effects and have been cited as particularly influential for people who identify as part of EA and/or are working on highly impactful projects. There, university groups were among the two most common ways (accounting for ~9–23% of highlighted very important influences) respondents entered promising existential risk reduction career paths. Beyond this, university groups have shown strong success in taking significant actions towards general EA principles and promoting effective giving.
See our team values to learn more about working at CEA.

About the team

The university groups team works on a wide range of projects to support the over 150 university EA groups around the world. We’ve established a mentorship network covering over 300 organizers, work with top talent via internship programs and events and maintain support materials to help groups have impact. We have organizers participating in our program from schools all around the world, including Stanford University, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Harvard University, Cambridge, Delft University of Technology, the University of Hong Kong, and many more.
You can read a more detailed description of what we have recently been working on in this Forum post, recapping our summer.
If you're interested in learning more before applying, we're hosting a Q&A at 12pm ET on October 25.
Our team has experienced an exciting shift as Jessica McCurdy, who previously led the university groups team, has moved to lead the CEA groups team more broadly. Joris Pijpers is now spearheading the team with Jake Mckinnon and we are searching for a new team member to help us maintain current projects and explore new pilots.
Our team cares deeply about improving the world and trying hard to do so, while maintaining a positive and supporting environment.

About the Role

We intend to invest in the development of the person who fills this role and will provide significant mentorship, career advising, and support to them. We are open to two versions of this role. One would be focused on improving and executing the team’s existing products, with a high level of close mentorship. The other would have a broader scope, including owning existing products and launching new products, which would be a good fit for a candidate that is able to operate more independently and take on a greater leadership position.
We aim for our team members to be able to work on what they think is most impactful for them specifically as new information emerges. Therefore, the exact responsibilities involved in the role will vary. The role is likely to include some or all of the below:
  • Group Organizer Support and Development:
    • Accelerate the careers and projects of promising organizers by identifying, motivating, and supporting them via our programs such as our mentorship network (UGAP and OSP), internships, retreats, residencies, and more. Within your first year it is likely that you will engage in the management of organizers as contractors or interns, enhancing their professional development while increasing our team’s operational capacity.
  • Improve Support to Top Universities:
    • Work with organizers at top universities to replicate successes such as those at Stanford and Harvard and MIT. This may involve higher touch and/or on the ground support to top universities.
  • System Optimization and Scalable Impact:
    • Contribute to a team with established scalable products like our mentorship programs, by identifying and implementing system improvements, ensuring that enhancements can be swiftly scaled to maximize impact.
  • Operational Efficiency and Resource Management:
    • Minimize operational burdens for groups by streamlining processes and managing centralized resources and programs designed to reduce time and effort spent on unsuccessful strategy, repetitive tasks, duplicated efforts.
  • Communication, Coordination, and Event Management:
    • Ensure robust communication with group organizers, manage events (like this one), and coordinate collaboration across university groups.
  • Group Strategy Management:
    • Manage written resources and provide advice to help university groups with setting a strategy that promotes high-fidelity outreach and is appealing to talented students. This would aim to generate ambitious, epistemically robust, constantly-learning EA communities.
  • Strategic Exploration and Implementation:
    • Investigate, design, and implement strategic priorities and new pilot programs to effectively address the evolving needs of university EA groups. Explore what the key bottlenecks of group organizers are, and what types of programs are highest leverage in long term motivation and upskilling.
The nature of the role will likely vary significantly depending on the candidate’s skill set and ambitions for the community. As a result, we expect this to be an exciting opportunity for candidates of different levels of seniority and prior experience.

Who is suited for this role?

As mentioned above, we are considering different versions of this role. Hence, this role could be great for someone relatively early in their career who would like to test out different aspects of community building while being in a structured role with support from an established organization. Alternatively, the more senior version of this role would be ideal for someone who is experienced at executing at a fast pace, and is ready to take on leadership roles.
We are looking for people who:
  • Have strong interpersonal skills. You work well with a diverse range of people, can build rapport with organizers, and can be a friendly face for support.
  • Are skilled at executing efficiently among prioritized competing goals. You are able to clarify competing goals, prioritize among those goals, and execute autonomously towards your highest priorities.
  • Enjoy supporting others’ development. You like thinking about how to support, motivate, and engage students to accomplish as much as they can and to have an excellent experience doing so.
  • Think carefully about core EA ideas. You are familiar with the cause areas often prioritized by EA community members. You understand crucial considerations related to different worldviews, and can model good epistemics for student leaders.
  • Are a clear communicator. You can communicate your reasoning articulately and considerately.
  • Mission-driven: Our ideal candidate is passionate about the goals of CEA and works hard to achieve positive impact.
Preferred, but not required:
  • You have significant experience running an EA university group.
  • You have familiarity with updated models of community building and community building strategy.
  • You have experience managing and coaching individuals.

​​Salary, Benefits, and Location

This is a full-time position, reporting to Joris Pijpers or Jessica McCurdy. We would prefer the candidate to work from either Oxford or Berkeley but are open to remote work. We may be able to sponsor visas. The role will likely involve some traveling. For particularly promising candidates we are open to considering a part-time version of the role.
The salary range in Oxford is £48,800 to £65,400, depending on prior experience, skills, and location. There may be flexibility in salary for exceptional candidates. We vary salaries by location - the range in San Francisco would be $88,700 to $120,600 and for Boston would be $85,500 to $116,300. You can find out more about our approach to compensation here. We would also consider hiring for a more junior or more senior version of the position for a compelling candidate, with alteration to salary commensurate with experience.
In the UK, our benefits include private insurance, flexible work hours, a £5,000 annual professional development allowance, a £5,000 mental health support allowance, extended parental leave, ergonomic equipment, 10% pension contribution, 25 days of paid vacation, and more. US staff benefits are commensurate.

Additional information

  • After considering your application, we will invite promising candidates to complete one or two short trial task(s) followed by further interviews. We will invite finalists to provide references and participate in an extended work trial.
  • We would prefer someone who could begin full time before Mid-January. We are open to considering applicants who graduate before July 2024, especially if they could begin on a part-time basis earlier.
CEA serves a global community, and our team works with people and organisations all over the world. We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion, and we encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. We are an equal opportunity employer. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or have any other questions about applying, please contact jobs@centreforeffectivealtruism.org.

Contact

Please reach out to us at unigroups@centreforeffectivealtruism.org if you’d like to learn more about this opportunity, or if you know anyone who might be a good fit for the role.
This position is now closed.
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