EA NYC is hiring an Executive Director!

Summary

As we enter our next chapter, Effective Altruism New York City (“EA NYC”) seeks an ambitious mid-career leader ready to take ownership of the organization. The successful applicant will report directly to EA NYC’s board of directors and serve as the Executive Director of the organization.

As the Executive Director of EA NYC, you would help oversee the strategy, execution, and management of our impact-oriented programs and back-office operations. You would collaborate with the board, staff, volunteers, and external stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of initiatives across programmatic streams while fostering a safe, inclusive, and value-aligned community.

This is a great opportunity to help individuals find their unique path to making a difference in the world and help contribute to the success of one of the largest effective altruism communities worldwide.

Effective Altruism NYC is committed to fostering a culture of inclusion, and we encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. We especially encourage applications from self-identified women and people of color who are excited about contributing to our mission. We do not discriminate against applicants or employees based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact megan@effectivealtruism.nyc. Otherwise, please contact alexrk@effectivealtruism.nyc for any other questions about applying.

If you’d prefer to see this job description in a Google Document, you may do so here.

About EA NYC

Organization

Effective Altruism NYC is a resource center and community hub supporting the growth and success of effective altruism and its objectives through regional movement and capacity building. Our community is composed of individuals and organizations ambitiously striving for a better future, who we support in their current efforts to do good better. We take a “big tent” approach, emphasizing the principles of effective altruism and supporting a wide variety of causes, including—but not limited to— ensuring AI goes well, animal advocacy, biosecurity, global health and wellbeing, and nuclear safety.

Since our founding as a volunteer-run community in 2013, we have grown into a professionalized New York State nonprofit organization preparing to enter our fifth year with paid staff.

In recent history, our team has consisted of a volunteer board of directors, two co-directors — Alex and Rocky — who report to the board, and a part-time community health coordinator (Megan) who supports the co-directors. Several volunteer leaders facilitate various aspects of our programming, namely our subgroups.

About the Role

Overview

The Executive Director will grow and support EA NYC, fostering a community motivated by the principles of effective altruism and helping individuals in their journeys to do good better. As a core owner of EA NYC’s work, the role will fundamentally require decision-making on organizational priorities, execution of goals and compliance, and leadership among the team’s staff and volunteers.

While the Executive Director will have significant scope to determine their own projects and priorities, they will be responsible for several key priorities:

Responsibilities

• Strategy

  • Work with the board to articulate an updated strategy and vision for the organization

  • Maintain an open, curious culture within the EA NYC community, with a focus on inclusivity and community health

  • Monitor and evaluate EA NYC’s impact to track programmatic performance and implement improvements

• Operations

• Oversee the execution of all back-office operations, nonprofit state and federal compliance procedures, and board of directors administrative support

• Manage the organization’s financial health, including budget-setting, fundraising, and accounting

• Own the implementation of EA NYC’s community programming, such as the curation of in-person events, customized support, and online resources for individuals and organizations

• Management

• Recruit, onboard, supervise, and support staff and volunteers; oversee all HR compliance

• Manage routine communications with external stakeholders and occasional communications with news media

• Create a healthy and sustainable working culture among EA NYC staff and volunteers

A successful candidate will also need to be based in (or willing to relocate to) NYC so they can easily organize and attend in-person meetings and events (though most work will be done remotely). 

We expect excellent candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds to have some (but not all) of the below characteristics. We encourage you to apply if you are interested in the role and if you have some of the characteristics listed in the following two categories:

Recommended Proficiencies

• Organization: Excellent project management skills, including the ability to coordinate cross-functional teams, manage timelines, and allocate resources effectively

• Initiative: Highly autonomous and capable of making decisions without close supervision; able to work independently in a results-oriented and structured way

• Communication: Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills; highly approachable with the ability to build relationships, collaborate with diverse stakeholders, and convey information clearly; able to work in a team in a reliable, constructive, and respectful way

• Effective Altruism: Well-versed in the principle ideas of effective altruism, the foundations of major cause areas, and the landscape of EA-aligned organizations

• Eager to learn: Quick to acquire new knowledge regarding technical systems, compliance, social context, etc.

• Leadership: Experienced in cooperation, driving team results, delegation, and providing clarity around the roles of paid and voluntary contributors; committed to leading the organization over the course of several years

• Inclusivity: Mindful of a wide range of potential backgrounds when planning programs; engages with warmth and integrity when interacting with community members and stakeholders, and creates a welcoming environment for those who find EA NYC

Additional Desirable Proficiencies

• Startup mindset: Willingness to adapt to the environment, try new things in a strategic and systematic way, and pivot in light of new evidence; strong drive to find the intersection of our possible products, what the market wants, and what is impactful

• Strategy and analytics: Proficiency in data analysis, reporting, and presentation skills and a mind for purposeful decision-making

• EA community building: Experience in EA community building and a strong understanding of the relevant considerations determining the value of EA community building 

• Cause-specific expertise: In-depth knowledge of one or more cause areas in effective altruism (e.g. non-human welfare, existential risks, global health/poverty, etc.)

• Event management, marketing, and communications: Experience in movement building, public speaking, social media, marketing, writing articles, and/or organizing discussions, talks, and seminars

Compensation

Funding for this position is primarily supported by the Centre for Effective Altruism’s Community Building Grants (CBG) program. The Executive Director would be an independent grant recipient, and would not be an official employee of either EA NYC or the Centre for Effective Altruism. However, the Executive Director would have access to the benefits of the CBG program, including a global network of leading EA community builders, standardized guides and resources, and potential for collaboration and mentorship with like-minded peers.

We offer unlimited PTO. We encourage an incoming Executive Director to help us establish a minimum number of required days off that each employee must take annually.

EA NYC also offers $1,000 of professional development funding for technology, software, or trainings that would help a successful candidate be more productive.

About Applying

Why apply for this position?

As EA NYC’s Executive Director, you would own the strategy of one of the largest effective altruism communities in the world. By delivering quality programming to those new to EA or NYC, you would serve as a primary touchpoint and inspire lifelong commitments to impactful actions. Your work would help hundreds of people learn about new ideas, get inspired, improve their plans, and coordinate better ways to help the world. Tangibly, you would see the high-impact connections, mentorships, employment, donations, and collaborations that form as a result of your efforts. 

You would be surrounded by a network of passionate people who are trying to find the best ways to help others. Your work would directly support their work, as you would build and resource a community tackling some of the world’s biggest problems. In the process, you would build an extensive network of nonprofit leaders, professors, researchers, and philanthropists. Altogether, the role is the perfect opportunity to learn, innovate, and put existing knowledge and skills to use toward deeply meaningful ends.

Application

To apply, please complete this form. Applications close at 11:59 pm ET on July 21.

Process

The hiring process will likely consist of six phases:

1. Application Form (45-90 minutes)

2. Asynchronous Interview (20 minutes)

3. Written Test Task (2 hours)

4. Interview with EA NYC Team (1 hour)

5. Interview with Granter & Reference Checks (1 hour)

6. Job Offer and Acceptance

Where possible, we anonymize submissions to reduce bias, including application form questions and written test task answers. We will notify you at each stage whether you advance in the process. We do not compensate candidates for any stage of the application process.

The Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) is providing the funding for this role as part of its Community Building Grants (CBG) program. Applications will first be reviewed by the EA NYC team, with top candidates then reviewed by CEA before a final decision is made.

If you have additional considerations regarding confidentiality, please include this in the application.

We’d be happy to discuss this opportunity with any potential applicants. Please contact Alex Rahl-Kaplan, current Co-Director of EA NYC, with any questions you might have: alexrk@effectivealtruism.nyc.