The Center for AI Safety (CAIS) is a leading research and advocacy organization on a mission to reduce societal-scale risks from AI. We tackle the toughest AI issues with a mix of technical, societal, and policy solutions, working with our sister organization, the CAIS Action Fund. Our organization’s work includes directing global attention towards AI challenges with our statement on AI Risk (signed by Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and CEOs from the major AI labs), educating the public on a major AI safety bill (CA SB 1047) which is co-sponsored by our sister organization the CAIS Action Fund, and running a large compute cluster which has hosted over 300 researchers and produced 91 AI safety research papers. Our founder and Director, Dan Hendrycks, is a leading AI researcher (contributed the most widely used LLM benchmark and has over 25,000 citations) and AI Safety Advisor to xAI.We are seeking an experienced and highly skilled Head of Communications who is passionate about our mission to advance and promote the field of AI safety.

As Director of Communications, you will have the unique opportunity to shape and lead CAIS’ communications strategy, directly influencing global discussions within the AI safety community. The ideal candidate is both strategic and adaptable, excelling at crafting and executing communications strategies while remaining agile in the ever-evolving AI safety landscape.

The salary range for this role is $140K-$170K and is located in San Francisco, CA.

Key Responsibilities

Brand Management: Ensure the CAIS brand is well-defined and consistently reflected across all communications and externally-facing work.
Strategic Leadership: Collaborate with the leadership team to co-design and shape communications goals and strategies aligned with CAIS’ objectives and the broader AI safety discourse.
Insights and Intelligence Management: Stay up-to-date on the dynamic AI and AI safety conversation, informing and adjusting our strategies as needed.
Impact Identification: Recognize and pursue opportunities where CAIS can significantly impact, adapting communications goals and tactics in response to shifting landscapes.
Strategy Execution: Lead the execution of CAIS’ communications strategy, including defining and pursuing a portfolio of strategic initiatives to educate and inform key target audiences.
Content Development: Oversee content creation and management across multiple channels, including digital, print, social media, annual reports, and video. Ensure alignment with both internal and external stakeholders.
Media Relations: Manage all media-related activities, including developing relationships with media outlets, preparing spokespersons, creating press materials, and identifying media opportunities to advance CAIS’ communications strategy.
Metrics and Evaluation: Develop and implement metrics to track the effectiveness of messaging and strategy, selecting appropriate tools for this purpose if needed.
Team Management: Lead a team of 2-4 contractors and employees, serving as the primary contact for our communications firm.

Character and Experience

Leadership: Independent, proactive, and self-sufficient, with a strong ability to lead and inspire others.
Conscientious: Demonstrates a strong work ethic and dedication to the mission, ideally driven by a passion for AI safety.
Experience: A minimum of 3-5 years in a similar role, in an agency, within a company, startup, or non-profit/advocacy role. Candidates from communications consulting or advocacy backgrounds are also encouraged to apply.
Experience with controversial or politically sensitive issues is beneficial.

Competencies

AI Policy Fluency: Must be well-versed in current AI policy issues, capable of communicating key points at various levels of sophistication, from broad public messaging to advanced policy discussions.
Effective Communication: Exhibits unparalleled fluency and impact in both written and verbal communication, leaving audiences engaged and eager to hear more.
Strategic and Adaptable: Demonstrates the ability to think strategically and adapt to uncertainty or novelty, applying a flexible understanding of communications to navigate genuinely new situations.
Art Direction: The candidate should be adept at guiding artists, designers, and other creative professionals.
Creativity: Ideally, the candidate will contribute to brainstorming and implementing creative strategies, showing a willingness to engage in novel, unique projects (such as the CAIS statement).

Benefits include:

Health, dental, vision insurance for you and your dependents
Competitive PTO
401(k) plan with 4% matching
Free lunch and dinner at the office
Commuter benefits
Personalized ergonomic technology set-up
Access to some of the top talent working on technical and conceptual research in the space

$140,000 - $170,000 a year

If you have any questions about the role, feel free to reach out to hiring@safe.ai.

The Center of AI Safety is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Some studies have found that a higher percentage of women and underrepresented minority candidates won't apply if they don't meet every listed qualification. The Center for AI Safety values candidates of all backgrounds. If you find yourself excited by the position but you don't check every box in the description, we encourage you to apply anyway!

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Director of Communications