Operations Manager

Astralis Foundation is looking for an Operations Manager to strengthen the operational backbone of a rapidly growing organisation. This is a broad generalist role for someone who enjoys solving practical problems, improving imperfect systems and making it easier for an ambitious team to do its best work.

Our goal for 2027 is to make $100M in grants to help the AGI transition go well for society. Astralis focuses on areas of AGI grantmaking that we believe are unusually neglected, often because other funders are not well positioned to provide funding. Currently, that includes European AI policy and AI safety field-building in Asia. We are keen to expand beyond those areas to wherever we can have the greatest impact.

You will report to Paige Henchen (COO).

What you'll do

In this role, you'll support core operational functions across the organization, including:

• General org operations: tech support (e.g. Slack, Google Workspace), vendor and contractor management, office/remote-work logistics

• Supporting finance and grantmaking processes

• Supporting People Ops workstreams alongside our Head of People Ops, including onboarding

• Managing cross-entity coordination between Stiftelsen Astralis (our Swedish foundation) and Astralis Foundation Ltd (our UK company)

• Supporting event logistics for team retreats, board meetings, and donor convenings

• Anything else that supports the org's operational needs as we grow

What we're looking for

We're looking for someone who combines operational excellence with outstanding judgment and the ability to work independently. The qualities we expect to matter most:

• Background: At least two years of experience in operations, consulting, project management, people ops, or administration. Nonprofit or grantmaking experience is a nice-to-have, not a requirement.

• Excellence: You hold yourself to high standards, backed by a track record of success in high-performing environments, and you sweat the details.

• Proactivity: You have an eye for gaps. You notice important things nobody's working on and form views on how to make progress. You have a bias toward action: you’re comfortable launching things from scratch rather than waiting for instructions.

• Reliability: What you say will get done, gets done. You manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously without dropping balls.

• Communication: You're a strong written and verbal communicator with reasoning transparency. You succinctly explain the "why" behind your solutions rather than just stating conclusions.

• Service orientation: You're motivated to go the extra mile to understand what your stakeholders need and to meet those needs.

• Directness: You'll mesh with Astralis's "radical candor" culture: supportive and kind, while also direct and candid with feedback.

• Mission alignment: You care about making transformative AI safe and broadly beneficial.

• Bonus: Experience working across multiple legal entities or jurisdictions; Swedish language skills.

We welcome candidates from a range of backgrounds. If you're unsure whether to apply, such as if you meet some but not all of the criteria, please err on the side of applying.

You'll enjoy working in operations at Astralis if:

• you want to have unusually high impact.

• you thrive in an environment where prioritization is essential. As a small and fast-growing organization, we can't do everything, so we focus on what adds the most value.

• you're excited by the possibilities of a blank page.

• you want to move fast and build things with little bureaucracy, while taking care with risk and compliance.

• you enjoy working in a kind, impact-focused, low-ego environment.

• you're energized by empowering others to do their best work and are keen to grow and flourish yourself.

About Astralis

Astralis Foundation is a Europe-based, multi-donor foundation focused on funding initiatives to ensure the secure and beneficial development of AI. We leverage our unique identity to deploy where other funders can't, such as in European policy and Asia.

Key numbers:

• Astralis was founded in late 2024. In our first 18 months, we raised and deployed >$30M to >15 grantees working in neglected areas of AI safety.

• In 2026 alone, we have already mobilized >$60M, and we plan to mobilize a total of ~$100M by the end of the year. We expect our growth to continue on this trajectory through 2027.

• We are supported by over 20 donors.

The Shared Horizons fund is our most significant initiative to date: a dedicated vehicle for non-US AI governance funding. You can learn more about Astralis here.

Location, Compensation, and Benefits

Location: Remote, with preference for candidates in Brussels, Stockholm, London, New York, or San Francisco due to ability to co-locate with other team members. Must be able to overlap with the San Francisco time zone at least 3 working hours per day.

• Please note that unfortunately, we are unable to sponsor visas in any jurisdiction at this time.

• We're currently able to hire in a limited set of countries, including (but not limited to) Austria, Belgium, Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

• If your location isn't among the above-listed countries, we would need to investigate whether we can hire an employee in that jurisdiction, and we unfortunately may not be able to move forward with your application. Please contact us if this is a concern for you.

Annual Salary: $115,000 USD or the equivalent in local currency.

Travel: You will likely need to travel approximately 3 weeks per year for team retreats, conferences, meetings, etc.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive global benefits program, including supplemental health, dental, and vision coverage, as available (varies by country), as well as pension / retirement contribution

• Generous flexible time off, including:

  • At minimum 25 of paid time off + public holidays

  • Four months of parental leave and support

  • Other paid and unpaid leave

• Professional development allowance in the equivalent of $4,000 USD annually

• Technology stipend in the equivalent of $3,000 USD renewed every 3 years

• Relocation stipend covering costs if relocating to San Francisco, London, Stockholm, or New York

• Reasonably flexible work hours and schedule

  • Open to 0.8 FTE part-time schedule

Application Process

Our hiring process for this role will include:

• An initial application, including a resume and short answer questions

• A screening interview with a member of the operations team (30 minutes)

• An interview with the hiring manager (45 minutes)

• A round of interviews for finalists

  • A meet-and-greet with potential colleagues on the operations team (30 minutes)

  • A final interview with the hiring manager (45 minutes)

• Reference checks

We plan to accept applications until Friday, August 28th. We will begin inviting candidates to interview as soon as we start receiving applications, so please apply as soon as possible.

We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds to apply. We particularly welcome applications from underrepresented groups and will provide accommodations as needed.

We will provide extensive opportunities for you to learn what you need to know about the role, our staff, projects, and leadership. Please let us know what questions you have, and we will do our best to answer them.

For further information, please contact hiring@astralisfoundation.org.