Oath Technologies is a new research organization building tools for oversight of advanced AIs. As AIs become more powerful, it will become more difficult to understand and monitor their behavior. Oath is building oversight tools based on formal verification: rather than monitor AIs directly, humans define unambiguous rules, and AIs must provide trustworthy mathematical evidence of compliance. In this way, Oath will help keep humans safe and in control as AI advances.
Oath is a Focused Research Organization (FRO) incubated and fiscally sponsored by Convergent Research. Convergent has incubated 12 FROs spanning mathematics, astrophysics, neuroscience, climate, biology, and AI, including the Lean FRO (formal mathematics and verification) and E11 Bio (whole-brain circuit mapping). Oath is led by CEO Dr. Mike Dodds, and is based in Berkeley, CA.
Role Summary
The Chief of Staff is a founding generalist role and one of the earliest hires in the Oath Technologies FRO. The scope is deliberately broad and will cover hiring, operations, financial management, vendor and partner management, and whatever else the Oath organization needs in its earliest and most formative period. The Chief of Staff will work closely with CEO Mike Dodds to grow the research team and design the organization. As the team grows, the role will evolve, but at the start it is genuinely all-of-the-above.
We plan to build an Oath team of around six people by the end of year one, growing to a steady state of around twelve people by year three. Oath's team will be focused on research and engineering, and our organizational design will be built to support rapid iteration and pivoting as AI capabilities change. The Chief of Staff will help build the operational infrastructure that makes that kind of rapid pivoting possible.
As the team grows, we expect this role to grow with it, most likely into a Head of Operations or COO-type position, or into oversight of a small operations team, as the work requires. There's no fixed template for this yet, since it depends heavily on who fills it and how the organization's needs evolve.
Primary Responsibilities
Convergent Research liaison Our fiscal sponsor provides HR, legal, finance, and payroll infrastructure and limited support, and many of these responsibilities are shared with their staff. The Chief of Staff will own coordination with Convergent Research, fulfill all FRO-owned responsibilities, and oversee the handoff when specific responsibilities move into the FRO.
Operations and finance. Own budget management and tracking, financial reporting & oversight, and expense management, working with Convergent's finance function. Build operational systems. Work with the incubator space that initially hosts Oath, and later stand up an Oath-specific office in Berkeley, CA.
Hiring and onboarding. Run our Year 1+ hiring pipeline. Source candidates, drawing on Mike's network, Convergent's recruiting connections, and the formal-methods and AI-safety community. Design and coordinate the interview process. Onboard new hires.
People management. The Chief of Staff will have no reports at first: this is a peer, operational partner role to the CEO. As the team grows, they will own People Ops fundamentals (compensation, evaluation, culture setting), and be the first port of call for people issues in partnership with Convergent Research.
Vendor and partner administration. Manage relationships with R&D contractors. Administer other vendor relationships (compute, legal counsel, recruiters). Handle logistics for partner and funder engagement as it comes up.
Board & stakeholder management. Plan and create materials for Board of Directors meetings, Strategic Advisory Board meetings, donor updates, and other engagements.
Qualifications
A high degree of comfort operating without a playbook and a history of getting whatever needs to be done, done.
Experience at an early-stage organization, ideally in a founding or organizational design role.
Comfort operating across hiring, operations, finance, vendor management, and people management, with support from our fiscal sponsor, Convergent Research.
Excellent organizational and project management skills, with the ability to juggle multiple priorities.
Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and build consensus.
HR/ People Operations experience.
Experience working with research and/or engineering teams delivering ambitious results.
Knowledge of AI risks generally, and alignment with Oath's mission to counter AI risks.
A broad enthusiasm for deeply technical topics, and a passion for ideas.
Previous C-suite/COO titles, or previous seniority of any kind. We will select primarily for ambition, demonstrated skill, trajectory, and alignment to mission.
AI/ML or formal methods technical skill or experience.
We don't expect one person to arrive with all of the below. If you have several of these and a track record of picking up the rest quickly, we want to hear from you.
Helpful, but not required:
Affirmatively not required:
Skills Required
- Comfort operating without a playbook and a history of getting whatever needs to be done completed
- Experience at an early-stage organization, ideally in a founding or organizational design role
- Comfort operating across hiring, operations, finance, vendor management, and people management
- Excellent organizational and project management skills, including the ability to juggle multiple priorities
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and build consensus
