Chief Program Officer or Managing Director - Golden Gate Institute for AI

Golden Gate Institute for AI | San Francisco Bay Area or Washington, DC

Posted November 2026. Applications will be processed on a rolling basis; we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

We are hiring a senior leader, and are open as to finding either a Chief Program Officer or Managing Director. Check out the role options below and tell us which (or if both!) fits you.

About Golden Gate

AI is changing the world faster than any technology in history, and decision-makers are struggling to keep up. The speed of change exceeds the speed at which information propagates through society. The Golden Gate Institute for AI was founded to address this problem.

We are a nonpartisan think tank that convenes key players from every relevant sector of the AI ecosystem, from frontier labs to DC policymakers, from venture capitalists to labor groups. In a virtuous cycle, we are able to attract high-caliber participants to our events because we are known for high-value convenings, thoughtfully designed to build connections and disseminate ideas. Our events are unique for the breadth of people we bring together and the quality of the discussions that take place.

Activities range from our flagship conference The Curve down to smaller, private events such as workshops and congressional briefings. Key players come to us with proposals for important convenings because they know we are trusted across the ecosystem. We both build and leverage our network by publishing accessible analysis, including on our blog Second Thoughts, to help leaders navigate the AI transformation.

Comments about our events:

• “If I lived my whole life like this, it would be a bigger productivity boost than AI. I’ve had five amazing conversations in the last hour.” Dean Ball, OpenAI (Former White House OSTP)
• “I spent a few days at The Curve and I am humbled and overjoyed by the experience - it is a special event, and I hope they preserve whatever lightning they’ve managed to capture in this particular bottle.” Jack Clark, Anthropic
• “The Curve sits at the Pareto frontier of professionally useful and pure fun, making it the single best AI conference in a super competitive field. It is easily the highlight of my year.” Sam Hammond, AI Policy Director, Foundation for American Innovation
• “...probably the most concentrated gathering of leading AI thinkers across a diverse range of fields anywhere in the world.” Adrian Brown, Windfall Trust (LinkedIn, Oct 5.)

For every event we run, there are ten valuable opportunities we don’t have capacity for. We are building our capacity to meet the moment.

Golden Gate is led by Steve Newman, creator of Google Docs and a serial entrepreneur, and Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, a longtime leader at the nexus of technology, democracy, and social innovation.

The Role: Two Options

For either the Chief Program Officer or the Managing Director, you’ll grow and manage our program team so Steve and Taren can focus on fundraising, thought leadership, and external relationships. A Chief Program Officer would serve as a peer to the head of our operations unit. A Managing Director will also manage our business ops and program ops leads, while delegating more of the program strategy to senior program team leaders.

What You’ll Do

In either role:

• Hire, develop, and manage a strong program team – aiming for 5-10 staff and/or fellows by end of 2027
• Work with our founders – President and CEO – to develop and shape organizational strategy
• Drive strong project management across our portfolio of events, including conferences like The Curve and The Loop, workshops, briefings, and more
• Shepherd the development, testing, and launch of other program work – such as fellowship programs, research projects, government affairs, public writing and speaking, and offerings for partners to leverage our network
• Support our CEO’s fundraising efforts by networking, tracking funding opportunities, managing funder relationships, and writing grant proposals and reports
• Manage up to our founders to involve them in key decisions and leverage their networks and other resources in service of the mission

Also, as Managing Director:

• Line-manage the head of our business operations unit, who manages HR, finance, technical operations, and compliance functions, as well as team meetings, offsites, and planning processes
• Develop and manage our program operations team, which pulls off our amazing events (a Chief Program Officer might do this as well, depending on interest and experience)
• Own the organization’s budget and annual planning, with support from the business operations team
• Build and steward team culture and norms; lead staff meetings and retreats with support from the business operations team

What We're Looking For

For either role:

• Substantial management and leadership experience, including experience with setting org strategy and building culture

Strong written and verbal communication

• Excellent interpersonal skills, including giving and receiving feedback; self-aware and direct communicator
• Bridge-builder: Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships with people from different worldviews – and specifically across different parts of the AI ecosystem
• Mission-aligned: low ego, impact-driven, deep curiosity about AI’s trajectory and impacts, and desire to foster more constructive AI discourse
• Startup experience: Demonstrated success in fast-moving, high-growth work environments
• AI fluency: Early adopter of AI productivity tools; keen to work in an AI-first organization

Especially for Chief Program Officer:

• Deep knowledge of the AI discourse, from the podcasts, Substacks, and debates to the key people and fault lines
• A love of events, with experience designing conferences or convenings and strong judgment on agendas, speakers, and facilitation
• Relevant networks among policymakers, AI labs, or other key parts of the AI ecosystem

Especially for Managing Director:

• Executive experience as an executive director, COO, managing director, or similar role managing cross-functional teams
• Operational, HR, and financial fluency to manage a strong operations team well
• A culture builder who designs the norms, practices, and systems that keep a growing, cross-functional team aligned, and holds people accountable with care
• Enough technical fluency to work effectively with our tech ops team on product development and CRM management

Big pluses for either: think tank background; deep experience running great events; fundraising experience; nonprofit governance experience; experience leading teams with diverse worldviews.

Compensation & Logistics

• Salary: SF Bay Area ranges (will be adjusted for candidates in other locations), depending on experience: Chief Program Officer $215K-$350K; Managing Director $250K-$350K. For truly exceptional candidates we might be able to go above these ranges.
• Benefits: Health insurance, 401K, generous PTO
• Location: San Francisco Bay Area or Washington, DC preferred; remote considered for exceptional candidates within the US who can travel to the Bay Area, DC, and occasionally other places for ~4 days/month. Candidates must be authorized to work in the US; we are unable to sponsor visas.
• Start date: As soon as possible, of course :-) (Realistically hoping for Jan-Feb 2027.)