Research Program Associate, AI Safety

About this role

ABOUT CAMBRIDGE BOSTON ALIGNMENT INITIATIVE

The Cambridge Boston Alignment Initiative http://cbai.ai (CBAI) is a nonprofit research organization working to advance research and education directed towards ensuring that society navigates a safe and beneficial transition to advanced AI systems. Our work takes the form of producing original research efforts and accelerating AI safety research through fellowship programs.

Our inaugural summer fellowship cohort has already published a spotlight paper at the Mechanistic Interpretability Workshop at NeurIPS, accepted papers at ICLR, and some of our fellows have joined Goodfire and Redwood Research. After a successful 2025 launch, we're rapidly scaling in 2026. We will host multiple fellowship cycles (Fall, Spring, and Summer), double the fellowship cohort, and quadruple our team.

Refer us candidates https://airtable.com/app4zWdbexhJgyBwp/pagLKlt1Zh0RV163y/form, and receive $5,000 if we hire them.

THE ROLE

You'll work closely with our Research Managers, mentors, and program leadership to design and continuously improve the structures that enable fellows to do their best research. This is a program-building role: you'll develop the systems and frameworks that govern how fellows are matched with mentors, how research goals are scoped and tracked, how progress both for the fellows and the program is assessed, and how fellows get unblocked when they need it. You won't be managing fellows day-to-day, but you'll be shaping the environment in which that relationship thrives.

PROGRAM DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT (0.6 FTE)

- Design and iterate on the systems, ranging from improving CBAI's fellow selection process to program deliverables

- Identify high-potential outreach channels and methods and own the outreach campaign for future iterations

- Develop structured program evaluation frameworks to assess fellow progress and program effectiveness across cohorts

- Identify and implement structural improvements between fellowship cycles, drawing on fellow, mentor, and research manager feedback

- Support the design and execution of fellowship events, including speaker series and poster days, in coordination with program leadership

FELLOW & MENTOR EXPERIENCE (0.4 FTE)

- Design and manage the mentor onboarding experience, ensuring mentors have clear expectations, the right resources, and a smooth entry into the fellowship

- Develop feedback mechanisms that surface issues early and create strong communication loops between fellows, mentors, and program leadership

- Support research managers in navigating complex fellow or mentor situations that require program-level input

- Design supplementary programming that strengthens the fellowship's intellectual environment (e.g., reading groups, lightning talk series, workshop sessions, and similar structures that complement fellows' primary research work)

ABOUT YOU

We expect you to be characterized by most of the qualities listed below.

You understand what good research support looks like. You've been close enough to serious intellectual or analytical work — whether in academia, policy, consulting, or a research organization — to know what separates an environment where researchers thrive from one where they flounder. You don't need to be a researcher yourself, but you need to have seen the process from the inside.

You think in systems. You naturally ask: what structure would make this work better? You can look at a program, identify the friction points, and design solutions that are simple enough to actually work. You have a track record of building processes that others find useful rather than burdensome.

You're an excellent communicator. You write clearly, explain things concisely, and give feedback that moves things forward. You're proactive when you notice a problem and direct when something needs to be said.

You're organized and conscientious. You keep complex, multi-stakeholder projects on track, follow through reliably, and maintain clear documentation. You're receptive to feedback and improve your approach based on what you learn.

Interpersonally excellent. You're a strong collaborator and stakeholder manager. You know how to work across Research Managers, mentors, fellows, and leadership without creating friction, and you take pride in helping others do their best work.

Mission-motivated. You are strongly aligned with CBAI's mission and are familiar with AGI safety and catastrophic AI risks. You want to contribute meaningfully to reducing AI catastrophic risks and are passionate about accomplishing as much as possible.

Curious and adaptable. You're genuinely interested in AI safety research even if you're not a researcher yourself. You actively seek out tools and approaches that can improve fellowship effectiveness and stay current on developments relevant to the program.

The ideal candidate will have meaningful experience designing or improving programs, initiatives, or organizational systems. Experience in research-adjacent environments (labs, think tanks, or similar) is a strong plus. What matters most is that you've built things that worked and improved the work of others as a result.

NICE TO HAVES

- Previous involvement in AI safety, field-building, or research acceleration programs

- Experience in research program coordination or academic administration

- Familiarity with how research fellowships or grant programs operate

However, there is no such thing as a "perfect" candidate. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply.

WHY THIS ROLE MAY NOT BE THE RIGHT FIT

We want to be transparent about what this position entails so you can make an informed decision about whether it's right for you:

You're building infrastructure, not doing research. Your job is to design the systems and conditions that let fellows do excellent research, but not to contribute to the research itself.

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