The Role
Supports accounting, bookkeeping, accounts payable and receivable, budgeting, cash flow reporting, tax filings, audits, compliance, and financial administration. Builds scalable operational processes, improves organizational systems, coordinates external service providers and auditors, and supports partner organizations with finance and accounting services. The role requires strong judgment, organization, communication, discretion, and flexibility in a mission-driven AI safety nonprofit.
Summary Generated by Built In
About Constellation
About the level
How to Apply
Constellation is an independent research center that brings together people throughout the AI safety ecosystem to accelerate insight, research, and talent through better cooperation. Unlike a conference or summit, Constellation operates continuously, in the form of a physical workspace as well as conference-style talks, workshops, and training bootcamps. Continuous operation allows for relationships and conversations to develop over time, meaningfully fostering trust, collaboration, and shared insight. It also makes Constellation a natural field-building hub by rapidly inspiring, orienting, and connecting people who are newer to the field.
Based in Berkeley, CA, our shared workspace hosts over 300 people per week across dozens of AI safety organizations in nonprofits, academia, industry, and government. Hundreds of other researchers spend time at Constellation for shorter visits each year. We believe this is the strongest and highest-output network of AI safety researchers in the world; dozens of participants in past Constellation programs have gone on to safety-focused roles at companies such as METR, Redwood Research, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and the US and UK Safety Institutes.
About the roleAs a Business Operations Generalist, you’ll be part of the operational backbone ensuring we stay compliant, financially sound, and operationally excellent while enabling a growing team and ecosystem of people working on AI safety.
You’ll support accounting, finance, compliance, and audit processes with opportunities to lead specific areas and initiatives.Throughout, you'll build systems that scale without breaking. This role requires someone who can balance competing demands, proactively spot risks before they become problems, and is decisive when balancing compliance requirements with organizational and ecosystem needs.
You’ll be the bridge between the business operations team and the rest of Constellation, synthesizing input from many stakeholders and translating it into action. You’ll work in a community of intelligent and highly mission driven people operating at the technical frontier.
Key Responsibilities
Accounting & Finance
- Support day-to-day accounting and bookkeeping operations, ensuring accuracy and timeliness
- Support Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable (incl. grant tracking)
- Manage inbound support requests and financial administration for programs
- Support budgeting processes, cash flow reporting, and financial planning to inform organizational decision-making
- Prepare and file Form 990 and other required tax documentation
- Support the annual nonprofit audit process from start to finish, coordinating with external auditors
Process Building & Operational Excellence
- Build, document, and continuously improve operational processes across business functions
- Create systems that increase team capacity and reduce bottlenecks
- Support organizations in our network with services, such as finance and accounting
- Make thoughtful tradeoff decisions between compliance and organizational needs, clearly communicating the reasoning
Legal & Compliance
- Support broader Business Operations team in operationalizing compliance, such as materials distribution and review
We're open to hiring at either the Generalist or Senior Generalist level depending on the experience and background of the candidate we find. To give a sense of how we'd think about the difference:
- Generalists own their day-to-day responsibilities end-to-end, resolve support requests reliably and efficiently, and identify improvements within their areas over time.
- Senior Generalists bring greater independence to their work, taking on more ambiguous or complex problems, contributing to how systems and processes are designed, and exercising stronger judgment on higher-stakes issues.
You don't need to decide which level to apply for — we'll work that out together as part of the process.
Skills & Experience:
- 4-6 years of experience in business operations, accounting, finance, or a related field; ideally with nonprofit business experience
- Working knowledge in accounting and bookkeeping
- Experience managing or coordinating with external service providers
- Proficiency with spreadsheets, accounting software, and financial management tools (e.g. Quickbooks Online and BILL.com)
Bonus Qualifications:
- Experience with nonprofit audits and tax filings (Form 990)
- Experience working as an accountant or bookkeeper
- Experience working in organizations under 200 people, ideally across different organizational stages
- Experience leading cross-functional projects
You may be a good fit if you:
- Thrive in environments where you’re building systems while simultaneously running them
- Are reliable and organized
- Are highly conscientious and detail oriented, while also prioritizing practical organizational needs
- Are an active listener who asks clarifying questions and incorporates feedback to improve processes
- Have excellent verbal and written communication, and can adjust framing and tone depending upon the audience
- Notice when something looks off and speak up about potential risks
- Think quickly on your feet and handle sudden context changes or new tasks with flexibility
- Exercise discretion with sensitive and confidential information
- Flexible to grow in your duties with new organization-level strategic direction
- Are driven by the importance of AI safety work and excited to enable the people doing it
Note: the compensation range below spans two different job levels.
Compensation & BenefitsThe base pay range for this role is $102,000 – $158,000 per year.
Our benefits are hard to beat! They include:
- Healthy lunches and dinners catered by our amazing kitchen team
- Unlimited snacks & drinks
- Generous vacation policy
- 401(k) with employer match
- Employer-paid commuter benefits
- High-quality health, dental, and vision insurance
- Friendly and supportive team
- Regular interaction with AI safety researchers and thought leaders
This is a full time, on-site role. Our Berkeley office is a few steps from the nearest BART (metro) and bus stop. On-site parking is also available.
The ideal candidate for this role will have some combination of the skills and experiences described above. If you are not sure if you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply anyway. Beyond the qualifications outlined, our priority is building a team that will help humanity safely navigate the development of transformative AI. If you would be excited to do this work, we’d love to consider you.
We value diversity in all respects and base our hiring decisions on the needs of the organization and individual qualifications. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age or disability.
Submit your resume and answer the application questions. We may use AI to assist in the initial screening of applications, including to detect whether candidates have used AI models in drafting their application. Final hiring decisions are always made by a human in our team.
Skills Required
- 4-6 years of experience in business operations, accounting, finance, or a related field
- Working knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping
- Experience managing or coordinating with external service providers
- Proficiency with spreadsheets, accounting software, and financial management tools, such as QuickBooks Online and BILL.com
- Experience with nonprofit audits and tax filings, including Form 990
- Experience working as an accountant or bookkeeper
- Experience in organizations under 200 people and across different organizational stages
- Experience leading cross-functional projects
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The Company
What We Do
Constellation Institute is a non-profit independent research center dedicated to ensuring transformative AI is developed, deployed, and governed safely. It accelerates progress in AI safety by fostering collaboration across the ecosystem, bringing together experts from nonprofits, academia, industry, and government. Through its Berkeley-based research center and curated programs, it provides the infrastructure and talent development needed to navigate advanced AI risks.
