Join Our Team
Join our team incubating the critical AI safety & security organizations needed in the age of transformative AI.
No Open Roles
We currently do not have any open roles. The Incubation Program Lead and Talent Lead roles described below closed on 5 October. If you would like to submit a late application, please email us at info@catalyze-impact.org
About Catalyze Impact
Catalyze Impact is a nonprofit start-up with the mission to incubate the critical AI safety organizations needed to reduce catastrophic AI risk and help secure a flourishing future.
Our Team
Our small entrepreneurial team combines a deep caring for others and AI safety with pro-activity, and strong generalist skillsets. We are mission-driven and highly ambitious about the positive impact we aim to create. We are committed to creating an environment where everyone in our team can thrive. We foster an open feedback culture, create space to learn and develop professionally, and have genuine care for one another. We have a culture of high ownership and a can-do mindset, where everyone sees ideas they contribute come to life, influences the organization’s direction, and is happy to jump in where needed to advance the mission.
Our Theory of Impact
AI capabilities are advancing at a remarkable pace, already surpassing expert human performance across various domains [1, 2] and on a trajectory to autonomously handle week-long tasks within 2-4 years [3]. However, this transition to having powerful AI systems won't go well by default. Close to half of AI researchers give at least a 10% probability to AI causing catastrophic outcomes such as human extinction [4], and industry leaders including OpenAI's Sam Altman, Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton, and Turing Award winner Yoshua Bengio, warn of catastrophic risks from advanced AI systems [5].
The AI safety ecosystem remains critically underdeveloped for this challenge. We estimate that only a few thousand people work on AI safety. While the funding exists, there is a key bottleneck: not enough talented founders are building the AI safety organizations we urgently need to fill key gaps. We address this by making it easier for talented AI safety-focused entrepreneurs to decide on a highly impactful organization direction, and quickly get access to the network of co-founders, expert mentors, and funders that they need to make their organization a success.
Track Record & Plans
Our pilot program demonstrates our approach works. We received >200 applicants and incubated 11 organizations, with participants reporting the program either enabled the founding of their organization or accelerated their progress by an average of 11 months. These organizations are now tackling challenges ranging from AI control tooling to hardware security. We are scaling to multiple programs annually starting in 2026, each targeting the most critical gaps in the AI safety ecosystem.
Incubation Program Lead
Overview
Lead the management, execution and scaling of Catalyze Impact's flagship AI safety incubation programs. You will join us as one of our first employees, building the infrastructure that will enable the next generation of AI safety organizations at a time where scaling the AI safety ecosystem is pivotal. You'll have the opportunity to take on expanding responsibilities and help shape our trajectory as we scale, and could even grow into a co-founder role if the fit is right.
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Location:
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Strong preference for the Bay Area (visa sponsorship expected from 2026; role can start remote until then). It’s a plus if you already have work authorization for the US.
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London is possible but less preferred, and will likely require ~1.5 – 3 months per year of travel.
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Exceptional candidates may work remotely if able to travel ~1.5 – 3 months per year and maintain overlap with 4–7 PM UTC.
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Compensation: $75k - $150k, depending on experience, location and needs. Some flexibility for exceptional candidates.
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Contract: We’re offering a 1-year, full-time contract to start. Ideally you would start in early November 2025. Very strong preference for you to start by the end of the year.
Core Responsibilities
You will lead the end-to-end delivery of Catalyze’s incubation programs, making sure of excellent program delivery and finding ways to scale the impact of the programs with each iteration.
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Program design & impact measurement: Drive the program’s impact and improvement by measuring outcomes (participant satisfaction, funding results, organizational impact) and iterating on the program’s design for each cycle.
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Program delivery management: Oversee and organize program operations including international participant logistics, managing contractors, and coordination with external mentors, speakers, advisors, and funders.
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Scale the program: Design and manage scalable systems and processes to support program growth, while identifying and resolving bottlenecks down the road.
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Support the search for great founders: Collaborate with our Talent Lead in the participant recruitment & selection process, including interviews and final admission decisions.
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Engage with our founders & ecosystems: Engage deeply with our participants, the AI safety community, and other relevant communities.
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(Optional) Coach AI safety founders: Support participants in our programs by sharing insights from your areas of expertise.
About You
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Mission-driven: You care deeply about reducing catastrophic AI risks and building towards a great future. You are energized by pursuing ambitious, impactful goals that can meaningfully advance AI safety.
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Project & people management skills: You have solid project and people management skills, and are good at coaching people to help them develop.
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Entrepreneurial mindset: You're excited to build processes from scratch, take on diverse challenges, be pro-active, and have an ownership mentality.
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Travel/in-person availability: You are ideally able to work from the Bay Area (see location section above for more details). If not, you are comfortable with international travel for program delivery and in-person time with the team for ~1.5 - 3 months annually.
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[Strong plus] You have worked for a VC, funder or incubator, have founded an organization before, have experience fundraising, were an early employee at a start-up, and/or have scaled an organization or project in the past.
We strongly encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all criteria above!
What We Offer
An opportunity for outsized impact: You'll play an important role in resolving one of the key bottlenecks in AI safety - getting talented founders the resources and networks they need to build impactful organizations.
Great people to work with: The Catalyze team is highly impact-oriented but also cares a lot about positive working relationships. We’re eager to learn, have a strong feedback culture, and foster a can-do mindset. The founders you will interact with also tend to be great: extremely competent, idealistic and friendly people.
A pivotal role in the organization: The first people at an organization play a very important role in an organization’s trajectory. You would join the organization as its second or third hire, which gives you lots of leverage and opportunities.
Personal and career development: As an early team member, you gain experience in lots of different types of work, and with quickly increasing responsibility as the organization scales. We also cover the costs of attending relevant conferences, workshops, and work trips to enable you to develop relevant skills and network.
Start-up flexibility: We’re flexible regarding when and how you prefer to work. You’ll have to look hard to find red tape here; rather, we find practical and flexible ways to do what needs doing.
Ample vacation time: On top of public holidays, we offer 25 paid vacation days per year.
Health & well-being support: We offer unlimited sick leave and a comprehensive healthcare plan if you’re based in the US, or an equivalent if located elsewhere.
US Visa sponsorship: We plan to establish an office in the US by the end of this year and expect that most likely we will be able to sponsor visas there starting in 2026.
Apply
Applying takes between 20-40 minutes. We will be evaluating applicants starting mid-September 2025, and expect to make an offer around late October 2025.
Application process
Initial application form
Work test (~3 hours, paid)
Interview (45 mins)
Work trial (2-3 days, paid)
Offer
Equal Opportunity
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our organization. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, disability, or any other protected characteristic. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels respected, supported, and able to thrive.
If you have any questions about the role, email info@catalyze-impact.org
Talent Lead
Overview
Lead the identification and selection of exceptional founders for Catalyze’s AI safety incubation work. You will join us as one of our first employees, building the infrastructure that will enable the next generation of AI safety organizations at a time where scaling the AI safety ecosystem is pivotal. You'll have the opportunity to take on expanding responsibilities and help shape our trajectory as we scale, and could even grow into a co-founder role if the fit is right.
-
Location:
-
Strong preference for the Bay Area (visa sponsorship expected from 2026; role can start remote until then). It’s a plus if you already have work authorization for the US.
-
London is possible but less preferred, and will likely require ~1.5 – 3 months per year of travel.
-
Exceptional candidates may work remotely if able to travel ~1.5 – 3 months per year and maintain overlap with 4–7 PM UTC.
-
-
Compensation: $75k - $150k, depending on experience, location and needs. Some flexibility for exceptional candidates.
-
Contract: We’re offering a 1-year, full-time contract to start. Ideally you would start in early November 2025 (we have limited flexibility on this).
Core Responsibilities
You will lead the end-to-end recruitment and selection of exceptional founders for Catalyze's incubation programs, ensuring we identify and attract the most promising AI safety entrepreneurs. As a growing startup, you'll have the opportunity to take on expanding responsibilities and help shape our trajectory as we scale.
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Recruitment strategy & execution: Own our outreach campaigns, headhunting efforts, conference representation, and identification of promising talent pools to build a strong pipeline of potential founders.
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Selection process leadership: Continuously improve our application processes, conduct interviews, and make final admission decisions together with the rest of the team, ensuring we select excellent participants.
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Online presence & marketing: Manage Catalyze's recruitment marketing materials and online presence to effectively attract mission-aligned founders.
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Ecosystem engagement: Represent Catalyze at conferences and gatherings, build relationships with advisors and contractors who can help improve our talent pool, and coordinate projects with ecosystem partners to improve our pipeline and pool of potential AI safety founders.
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Metrics & optimization: Track recruitment and selection performance, continuously iterating to improve both the quality and quantity of our applicant pool.
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(Optional) Coach AI safety founders: Support participants in our programs by sharing insights from your areas of expertise.
About You
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Mission-driven: You care deeply about reducing catastrophic AI risks and building towards a great future. You are energized by pursuing ambitious, impactful goals that can meaningfully advance AI safety.
-
Talent search/selection skills: You have skills in talent recruitment, selection, building talent pipelines, hiring, or headhunting.
-
Project & people management skills: You have solid project and people management skills, and are good at helping people develop professionally.
-
Entrepreneurial mindset: You're excited to build processes from scratch, take on diverse challenges, be pro-active, and have an ownership mentality.
-
Travel/in-person availability: You are ideally able to work for us from the Bay Area (see location section above for more details). If not, you are comfortable with international travel for program delivery and in-person time with the team for ~1.5 - 3 months annually.
-
[Strong plus] You have founded an organization before, were an early employee at a start-up, have founder search experience, have strong public speaking skills, and/or are well-connected in the AI safety or tech entrepreneurship ecosystems.
We strongly encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all criteria above!
What We Offer
An opportunity for outsized impact: You'll play an important role in resolving one of the key bottlenecks in AI safety - identifying and attracting the talented founders who will build the next generation of critical AI safety organizations.
Great people to work with: The Catalyze team is highly impact-oriented but also cares a lot about positive working relationships. We’re eager to learn, have a strong feedback culture, and foster a can-do mindset. The founders you will interact with also tend to be great: extremely competent, idealistic and friendly people.
A pivotal role in the organization: The first people at an organization play a very important role in an organization’s trajectory. You would join the organization as its second or third hire, which gives you lots of leverage and opportunities.
Personal and career development: As an early team member, you gain experience in lots of different types of work, and with quickly increasing responsibility as the organization scales. We also cover the costs of attending relevant conferences, workshops, and work trips to enable you to develop relevant skills and network.
Start-up flexibility: We’re flexible regarding when and how you prefer to work. You’ll have to look hard to find red tape here; rather, we find practical and flexible ways to do what needs doing.
Ample vacation time: On top of public holidays, we offer 25 paid vacation days per year.
Health & well-being support: We offer unlimited sick leave and a comprehensive healthcare plan if you’re based in the US, or an equivalent if located elsewhere.
US Visa sponsorship: We plan to establish an office in the US by the end of this year and expect that most likely we will be able to sponsor visas there starting in 2026.
Apply
Applying takes between 20-40 minutes. We will be evaluating applicants starting mid-September 2025, and expect to make an offer around late October 2025.
Application process
Initial application form
Work test (~3 hours, paid)
Interview (45 mins)
Work trial (2-3 days, paid)
Offer
Equal Opportunity
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our organization. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, disability, or any other protected characteristic. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels respected, supported, and able to thrive.
If you have any questions about the role, email info@catalyze-impact.org