Head of People

Head of People

Berkeley, California (preferred) or Hybrid

About us

METR is a non-profit doing empirical research to test for whether frontier AI models possess the capability to permanently disempower humanity. We develop scientific methods to assess these risks accurately, and work with frontier AI companies (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic), and government agencies to deploy these assessments. Our work helps ensure the safe development and deployment of transformative AI systems.

Some highlights of our work so far:

  • Establishing autonomous replication evaluations: Thanks to our work, it’s now an industry norm to test models for autonomous capabilities (such as self-improvement and self-replication).
  • Pre-release evaluations: We’ve worked with OpenAI and Anthropic to evaluate their models pre-release, and our research has been widely cited by policymakers, AI labs, and within government.
  • Early commitments from labs: The safety frameworks of Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Anthropic all credit or endorse our work in developing responsible scaling policies.
  • Our work has been internationally recognized, e.g. by the UK government, President Obama, and Time Magazine.
  • Inspiring lab evaluation efforts: Multiple leading AI companies are building their own internal evaluation teams, inspired by our work.

We are a motivated, fast-paced, growing team (currently ~20 people). Candidates should be excited about working entrepreneurially in a rapidly changing environment while helping to strengthen the organization's operational rigor.

About the role

We are seeking a People Lead who will be responsible for attracting and retaining our talent across roles. The People Lead will build out and manage our recruitment processes, develop practices to improve our ways of working and culture, and oversee efficient design and execution of our payroll and benefits. The ideal candidate will be able to manage and prioritize multiple projects effectively, and be excited to design foundational systems to effectively scale a small, fast-moving, mission-driven team.

This role would report to the CEO, and manage 1-2 team members, including our current HR manager.

Responsibilities

  • Consistently meet our ambitious staffing goals through hiring and retention
  • Staff recruitment
    • Design and implement recruitment plans for technical and nontechnical roles - including drafting and advertising open roles, designing review processes, and hosting decision meetings
    • Ensure we hire high-quality candidates who are a strong fit for our needs through participating in candidate reviews, including resume screening, work test grading, and interviews
    • Build a deep talent pool and pipeline for future roles
  • Staff training, retention, and culture
  • Manage onboarding - ensure new staff have what they need to succeed, including by working with hiring managers and creating the org-wide systems we need to support new staff
  • Lead our efforts on culture-building, staff experience, and performance management & retention.
  • Work with managers across the team to ensure they have what they need to be excellent managers
  • Drive a strong METR culture that supports our talent attraction and retention, including through socials / celebrations / retreats
  • Ensure we have the most effective possible benefits package, and that staff experience with payroll and benefits is seamless, including overseeing execution of payroll and benefits, HR compliance, addressing staff questions and supporting as needed

Qualifications

Leadership

  • You are output-oriented, excited to see projects through to successful completion
  • You possess high attention to detail
  • You are able to manage a high volume of tasks, prioritizing your time effectively
  • You are skilled in working with senior leaders to shape and execute on recruiting and people priorities

Communication

  • You are able to communicate effectively in verbal and written form with internal stakeholders and job candidates
  • You are able to manage laterally - You can easily work with hiring managers, providing the support needed to make sure processes are being followed and building strong relationships with them over time to refine their processes
  • You are approachable and an efficient point of contact: people feel comfortable approaching you with a range of problems, and come away energized and trusting their problem will be resolved.
  • You are able to build strong, trusting relationships with people across a range of identities and teams

Culture

  • You are keen to grow your role and the impact you drive at METR, seeking truthful feedback, and adapting as the organizational needs evolve
  • You value clear, honest communication
  • You thrive in fast-paced and changing environments
  • You work well with a range of people and are able to adapt to, and help to shape the culture, across the technical and non-technical teams
  • You are excited about this job and our work! You are keen to build excellent systems to recruit & retain highly talented people on the METR team.

Salary range: $275k - $315k

We are open to less senior candidates, who would be paid in a lower band (approx. $180k - $240k) for a role with narrower scope.

Logistics

  • Deadline to apply: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, but we will likely stop accepting applications on August 15th.
  • Location: This role would be in-person out of our beautiful coworking space in Berkeley, CA. We’re open to hybrid for exceptional candidates.
  • Visas: We sponsor visas! However, we aren't able to successfully sponsor visas for every role and every candidate. But if we make you an offer, we will make every effort to get you into the United States, and we retain an immigration lawyer to help with this.
  • Successful candidates will likely complete a paid work test, 2 rounds of interviews, and an in-person trial. Registering interest is short/quick — there’s just a single required question, which can be answered with a few bullet points.

Benefits include

  • Platinum health insurance and dental insurance for you and your dependents
  • Unlimited PTO (most staff take 4-6 weeks off per year)
  • Catered lunch, dinner, and snacks at the beautiful downtown Berkeley coworking space, shared with other organizations in the AI safety ecosystem.
  • Generous stipends for productivity and ergonomics, professional development, and mental health
  • 21 weeks parental leave
  • Relocation stipend for moving to the Bay Area

Some studies have found that a higher percentage of women and underrepresented candidates won't apply if they don't meet every listed qualification. METR values candidates of all backgrounds. If you find yourself excited by the position but you don't check every box in the description, we encourage you to apply anyway!

We are committed to diversity and equal opportunity in all aspects of our hiring process. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Apply for this job

We encourage you to apply even if your background may not seem like the perfect fit! We would rather review a larger pool of applications than risk missing out on a promising candidate for the position. If you lack US work authorization and would like to work in-person (strongly preferred), we can likely sponsor a cap-exempt H-1B visa for this role.

We are committed to diversity and equal opportunity in all aspects of our hiring process. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We welcome and encourage all qualified candidates to apply for our open positions.

Register interest here!