Global Aid Policy - Program Associate

Open Philanthropy is a philanthropic funder and advisor; our mission is to help others as much as we can with the resources available to us. We stress openness to many possibilities and have chosen our focus areas based on importance, neglectedness, and tractability. Our current giving areas include potential risks from advanced artificial intelligence, global health and development, scientific research, global public health policy, farm animal welfare, and biosecurity and pandemic preparedness, among others. In 2024, we recommended $650 million to high-impact causes, and we’ve recommended over $3.9 billion in grants since our formation.

About the Global Aid Policy team

The Global Aid Policy program, launched in 2022 and led by Norma Altshuler, seeks to increase the amount and the impact of wealthy countries’ foreign aid.

As a team, we are unusually flexible about our policy agenda. We’re open to any approach that could substantially increase the quantity and/or quality of aid and other forms of development finance that can improve people’s health and well-being. Our grantmaking is not restricted by sector or geography. We fund a wide range of tactics, including lobbying, incubating new advocacy and research organizations, and directly supporting analytical capacity within aid agencies.

Examples include supporting faith and business leaders advocating to protect aid levels, backing think tanks to develop high-impact policy reforms, and funding technical support to help aid agency leaders design and implement evidence-based programs. We’ve made grants in more than ten donor countries across Europe and East Asia, and we’ve also increased our U.S. policy grantmaking in response to recent changes in U.S. foreign aid policy. You can learn more about our work here.

We expect our geographic focus and policy agenda will evolve over time, based on where we think we can do the most good. We’re looking for colleagues who are excited about contributing to this evolution.

About the role

You’ll work closely with our Senior Program Officer, Norma Altshuler, and our Senior Policy Advisor, Hetty Kovach, to support their work and help them get more done. The role combines strategic analysis with essential operational support, and contributes to both grant decisions and program efficiency. A successful candidate will be enthusiastic about both aspects of the role.

Strategic and analytical work (~80%)

• In close collaboration with program staff — especially Norma — help identify and assess grant opportunities. This will involve speaking with leaders in the field to identify promising grantees, analyzing whether a grant will cost-effectively advance our program’s priorities, writing up your reasoning for making specific grants, and monitoring grantee progress. Over time, you will take increasing responsibility for these efforts, including recommending and overseeing your own grant portfolio.
• Conduct back-of-the-envelope calculations (i.e. BOTECs) to inform grant and strategic decisions, estimating the social return on investment of different opportunities
• Help draft grant writeups for other program staff and manage check-ins with grantees
• Contribute to program strategy discussions and help evaluate new policy priorities

Operational and administrative support (~20%)

• Lead the program’s operational work, including tracking our budget and pipeline and coordinating with Open Philanthropy’s operations team
• Handle behind-the-scenes administrative tasks that enable Norma, Hetty, and other senior staff to focus on high-impact work, including by finding ways to help Norma save time and work more efficiently
• Support meeting coordination and execute on follow-ups

There is substantial room for growth for strong performers in this position. The person who previously held this role eventually led our grantmaking in two high-priority donor countries, and managed relationships in those countries with senior government officials and leaders in civil society. Depending on your skills and background, you may conduct research to inform the program's policy priorities and/or represent the program externally. Even as you take on more responsibilities, however, the bulk of this role will likely involve working with and supporting other program staff.

For a look at what life as a Program Associate might be like, see Sam Anschell’s entry in our “Day in the Life” series.

Who might be a good fit

You might be a great fit for this work if you have:

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, especially the ability to quickly grasp complex issues, identify and evaluate key questions, and make clear recommendations.
• Good written and verbal communication skills. This includes communicating in a clear, information-dense, and calibrated way, with good reasoning transparency.
• The ability to identify tradeoffs and use evidence to inform your decisions.
• An interest in pragmatically analyzing the most cost-effective ways to maximize our impact. You will conduct back-of-the-envelope calculations (BOTECs) that estimate the social return on investment of different grant opportunities. You don’t need to have experience with this kind of work, but you do need to show strong capacity to quantitatively estimate benefits with imperfect information.
• Project management skills that elevate team performance, and the habit of taking ownership over the outcome of a task, including poorly scoped tasks that require first-principles thinking.
• Interpersonal skills. You will need to be able to build rapport and relationships with Open Phil colleagues, grantees, and advisors, and sometimes communicate about sensitive topics.
• Capacity to manage up. You should be willing to ask questions if you are confused, and push back on conclusions you disagree with or don’t understand, even if they come from your manager or someone else more senior than you.
• The ability to learn quickly, rapidly build new skills, and learn about new contexts (e.g. the policy process in a country you may not know much about).
• The capacity to work effectively with ideologically and culturally diverse partner organizations across multiple countries.
• Relevant experience, ideally in or adjacent to policy work. This could come from at least a year or two working in government or in other policy positions, such as at a think tank or advocacy group; it does not need to be in aid policy specifically, though that is a bonus, as is knowledge of or experience in U.S. policy and politics. Candidates without policy experience will be more competitive if they have experience in global development.
• Ability to travel at least several times a year (though the extent to which you’ll actually need to will depend on how the work evolves).
• Excitement about our mission, and enthusiasm about taking on any task that furthers it.

The ideal candidate for this position will possess many of the skills and experiences described above. However, there is no such thing as a “perfect” candidate. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Role details & benefits

Compensation: Baseline of $126,233.59 (includes base salary of $109,768.34 plus an unconditional 401(k) grant of $16,465.25 for U.S. hires). Figures assume a remote location, with upward adjustments for Bay Area or Washington, D.C.

Location: Remote in many countries, with strong preference for Bay Area–based hires (relocation support available). We’ll also consider candidates in Washington, D.C. or elsewhere if willing to travel periodically. Must have heavy overlap with Pacific business hours.

Benefits: We offer excellent health coverage, dental/vision/life insurance, four weeks PTO, paid family leave, strong support for professional development, and flexible policies around expenses and remote work.

Full details on compensation, benefits, and policies are available in the complete job description.

We aim to employ people with many different experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who share our passion for accomplishing as much good as we can. We are committed to creating an environment where all employees have the opportunity to succeed, and we do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.

Please apply by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on October 5, 2025 to be considered.