Chief of Staff

We're open to hiring this role at different levels. Title and compensation will be commensurate with experience and expected scope. We do not offer visa sponsorship.

Active Site is a nonprofit researching the intersection of AI and biosecurity. AI models are rapidly becoming more capable in biology, amplifying the risk of accidental or intentional misuse. We conduct uplift studies, observing participants in real-world wet labs to measure how AI augments human performance in biological experimentation. We use our findings to advance the science of risk assessment and implement concrete mitigations that safeguard the future of AIxBio. Read more about our work in the Economist, the New York Times, our preprint, and substack.

Active Site is hiring its first Chief of Staff. This is a senior generalist role that owns the operational, organizational, and coordination infrastructure of a fast-moving research nonprofit.

You'll help run complex in-person studies, grow our team, manage projects, and build internal systems to scale our impact.

You will primarily build and implement things that do not yet exist at Active Site. You will proactively identify what is broken before anyone asks you to and fix it. This is a role that thrives in ambiguity, and the best candidates will excel at operating under uncertainty

• Strategy and execution. Run our planning and coordination cadence. Translate high-level priorities into clear owners, timelines, and follow-through. Identify where things are getting stuck and remove the blockers. Be the person who makes sure decisions actually get implemented.

• Cross-functional projects. Own initiatives that do not fit neatly inside a single function: new study launches, new program buildouts, tooling rollouts, process overhauls. Scope, sequence, and deliver them end to end.

• Study operations. Partner with researchers to turn study plans into operational reality. Own the logistics of in-person uplift studies, in particular recruitment and screening processes. Build repeatable systems so each study runs more smoothly than the last.

• People and HR. Build and run our people function. Onboarding, offboarding, employment documentation, benefits administration, hiring coordination. Develop the policies and infrastructure a growing team needs. Know when to bring in outsourced support.

• Finance. Own project-level budgeting. Coordinate with external bookkeepers, accountants, and legal partners to keep everything accurate and on time.

• Internal systems. Build and implement the operational infrastructure that makes Active Site work at scale. Documentation, workflows, knowledge management, internal tooling. Use AI and automation to reduce manual overhead and increase organizational leverage.

• Within the first 3 to 6 months, you have set up a consistent system for project tracking and updates. You have led the full operations plan for one in-person study, including recruitment, screening, participant communications, logistics, day-of coordination, and post-study wrap-up. Vendor relationships are organized, financial planning and operations are sound, and HR infrastructure is in place.

• Within the first year, you have run a full planning cycle with clear tracking and follow-through. Multiple studies have run in parallel without operational strain. You are trusted to own high-stakes decisions independently.

• 3 or more years of experience in a fast-paced, high-ownership environment, such as a startup or early-stage research organization

• Strong fluency with AI tools, automation, and modern project management and productivity tooling.

• Demonstrated range across operational domains, including at least some exposure to HR, finance, or project operations.

• Exceptional judgment: you make good decisions with limited information and know what warrants escalation.

• Experience working closely with senior leadership or founders.

• Experience designing automated solutions to operational problems.

• A genuine default toward action and comfort operating under ambiguity.

• Background in a research organization or scientific environment.

• Familiarity with human subject studies

• Exposure to nonprofit finance, grant management, or compliance.

• Enthusiasm about or experience in biosecurity and AI safety

This is an in-person role based in our Cambridge, MA office.

During periods when we are running in-person studies, this role is expected to be on-site five days per week from 9 AM-5 PM to support study execution, coordination, and day-of operations.

During periods without active studies, there is increased flexibility to work from home and maintain a hybrid sc