What You’ll Do

1. Identify and support exceptional people

• Build targeted lists for priority talent pools (frontier AI researchers, philosophers with technical depth, top company and institution founders).
• Run communications that are personal: sharp, relevant, and grounded in what Cosmos can offer.

2. Assess and route people into the right pathway

• Serve as the connective voice for Cosmos Institute’s network, ensuring top talent feel supported and linked across the ecosystem.
• Track and accelerate top builders trajectories; run high-signal 1:1s and small salons
• Partner with program leads to ensure high-quality selection decisions and candidate experience.

3. Deliver value to the network

• Make introductions that unlock projects, jobs, mentors, collaborators, funders, and institutional support.
• Create opportunities for aligned people to publish, speak, and share work (e.g., guest essays, events, podcasts, partner sessions).
• Cultivate a trusted alumni network that loops back into future cohorts and events.
• Support key community moments around cohorts and events so people develop strong relationships and accelerate their trajectories.

4. Run the network operating system

• Build and maintain the shared database of people, interactions, and next actions.
• Track simple metrics (top-of-funnel sources, conversion into programs, engagement over time) and turn them into decisions.
• Systematize recurring workflows and automate the boring parts (scheduling, follow-ups, updates) to free up your time for high-touch work.

Why It’s Exciting

• Direct exposure to top AI thinkers and builders: engage daily with exceptional founders, researchers, and thinkers.
• Impact: help directly support dozens of new ventures, projects, and research initiatives aimed at advancing human flourishing.
• Creative autonomy: design new approaches, run your own experiments, and help define how Cosmos’ network develops.
• Mentorship: work directly with Brendan McCord, a network of seasoned founders and researchers, and a world-class team.

Key Attributes

• High-energy connector: you like meeting great people, and you follow through.
• Taste and judgment: you can tell the difference between “impressive on paper” and “actually exceptional.”
• Systems-minded: you naturally turn messy relationship work into a few clean processes.
• Comfortable across worlds: you can speak with researchers, founders, funders, and philosophers.

Qualifications

• 3–7+ years in a role like: accelerator/fellowship programs, talent development, community building, partnerships, founder networks, or high-touch operations / generalist roles.
• A track record of building relationships that lead to outcomes (hires, collaborations, program cohorts, publications, funded projects).
• Strong writing and messaging instincts (you can make a subtle idea legible without flattening it).
• Comfort with lightweight data tracking, efficient “startup-style” process design, and using AI to move faster.

Desirable

• Strong network in frontier AI research, top startup ecosystems, or philosophy/political economy circles.
• Experience designing small, high-quality events (salons/dinners/retreat-style programming).
• Familiarity with Cosmos themes and ideas (you have a point of view on AI systems that promote human autonomy, enhance truth-seeking, and resist central control).

We’re open to exceptional candidates with fewer years of experience who have demonstrated strong judgment and sourced truly exceptional people. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification.

Benefits

• Intellectual community: Symposium and seminar access, engagement with frontier AI researchers, philosophers, and exceptional founders.
• Creative autonomy: Shape how Cosmos’s network develops at an institution doing work that matters.
• Compensation: Competitive globally; exact range shared during interview process.
• Benefits: Comprehensive medical coverage and 401(k) matching. Unlimited PTO. Work travel, tech and AI use covered.
• Growth path: Potential to quickly take on more responsibility as Cosmos scales.

Hiring Process

You’ll have an initial interview, a case study, and final conversation with our founder before we make an offer.

Apply

Submit your CV and a few short answers via the link below. Applications are reviewed as they arrive; we’re aiming to hire quickly and will move fast for the right candidate.

Apply here

What You’ll Do

1. Build Our Operational Infrastructure

• Build and maintain operational infrastructure across Cosmos—including payroll coordination, compliance, vendor management, and reporting.
• Establish the operational cadence: planning cycles, reporting structures, and accountability systems that work across a distributed team.
• Own HR systems and processes: Deel migrations, contractor setup, onboarding, and international payroll/PEO coordination.
• Manage our fiscal sponsor transition and ongoing compliance coordination across entities.

2. Enable Program Delivery

• Support operational delivery for seminars, fellowships, grants cycles, and formation-focused programs. Ensure people experience Cosmos as organized, responsive, and thoughtful.
• Support the team leading the Academy launch, including coordination with an on-the-ground operations lead for physical space, curriculum logistics, and student support.
• Create reusable playbooks for key activities and workflows.

3. Build the Systems Layer

• Choose and maintain the core tool stack (docs, project tracking, CRM, file structure).
• Manage vendor relationships, contracts, and operational budgets; coordinate with finance on reporting.
• Build lightweight dashboards that give leadership visibility without bureaucracy.

4. Establish Continuous Improvement

• Turn every cycle into a better one: collect feedback, find what needs improving, improve the process.
• Identify what should be systematized versus what should remain judgment-driven.

Why It’s Exciting

• Active institution-building: You’re building the operational foundation for an institution working across many aspects of new and important issues.
• Direct partnership with the founder: Work closely with Brendan McCord on high-judgment decisions that shape how Cosmos operates and scales.
• Intellectual community: Engage with exceptional founders, researchers, and thinkers. Attend events and seminars on cutting-edge ideas.
• Shape the function: Define what operations at Cosmos becomes as we scale.

Who You Are

• High ownership. You take responsibility for outcomes. When something isn’t working, you find ways to fix it and communicate proactively.
• Exceptional follow-through. You say you’ll do something, and it happens. You track what matters, catch what’s slipping, and close loops.
• Systems thinker. You naturally see repeated work and turn it into a template, checklist, or automation. You build infrastructure that systematizes what is needed while exercising judgment throughout.
• Comfortable across contexts. You can coordinate with academics, founders, researchers, and institutional partners.
• Detail-obsessed in the right way. You sweat the parts that affect quality or trust, and let go of the parts that don’t matter.

Qualifications

• 5-10+ years in operations, chief of staff, or similar roles with meaningful scope and responsibility.
• Experience building the operations functions at a small-but-complex organization (5-30 people) that scaled.
• Has personally touched payroll, HR systems, vendor management, and compliance. Has exposure beyond program management.
• Track record managing across multiple entities, business units, or programs.
• Comfort using AI to accelerate your work, while applying high judgment and attention to detail.

Desirable

• Nonprofit experience; international payroll/PEO familiarity.
• Familiarity with the AI research, startup, or philosophy/political economy landscapes.
• Interest and aptitude for taking on broader scope across Cosmos entities under established cross-entity arrangements.

We’re open to exceptional candidates with fewer years of experience if they’ve built operational infrastructure at a fast-scaling organization. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification.

Benefits

• Intellectual community: Symposium and seminar access, engagement with frontier AI researchers, philosophers, and exceptional founders.
• Creative autonomy: Shape a new function at an institution doing work that matters.
• Compensation: Competitive globally; exact range shared during interview process.
• Benefits: Comprehensive medical coverage and 401(k) matching. Unlimited PTO. Work travel, tech and AI use covered.
• Growth path: Potential to quickly take on more responsibility as Cosmos scales.

Hiring Process

You’ll have an initial interview, a case study, and a final conversation with our founder before we make an offer.

Apply

Submit your CV and a few short answers via the link below. Applications are reviewed as they arrive; we’re aiming to hire quickly and will move fast for the right candidate.

Apply Now

What You’ll Do

1. Run Finance End-to-End

• Own AP/AR: invoices, reimbursements, contractor/vendor payments, and collections as needed.
• Maintain the general ledger, bank and card reconciliations, and a reliable month-end close.
• Produce monthly reporting: budget vs. actuals, cash position, burn/runway, and program-level spend.

2. Build the Finance Systems Stack

• Set up and manage our in-house finance function.
• Select and implement a core accounting tool plus a clean chart of accounts and tracking structure.
• Implement encumbrance accounting if useful (tracking committed-but-not-yet-spent dollars so we don’t over-allocate budgets).

3. Strategic Budgeting, Forecasting, and KPI Dashboards

• Own annual budgeting and rolling forecasts (scenario planning, program expansions, hiring plans).
• Build a small set of KPIs that leadership actually uses (e.g., program unit costs, grant throughput, operating cadence metrics).
• Partner with internal technical talent as needed to build or integrate a lightweight finance intelligence layer.

4. Nonprofit-Grade Compliance and Audit Readiness

• Lead the relationship with an external audit/CPA firm for GAAP reporting, annual filings (including Form 990), and best-practice oversight.
• Ensure correct tracking for: restricted vs. unrestricted funds; program vs. admin vs. fundraising categories (important for 990 and donor transparency); grants/subgrants and required reporting.
• Build lightweight, documented internal controls (approvals, audit trail, segregation-of-duties workarounds for a small team).

5. Be a Finance Partner to the Team

• Help program leads plan budgets for fellowships, seminars, and grant rounds.
• Support fundraising with clean, credible numbers (runway, program costs, reporting readiness).
• Make finance approachable: clear docs, fast responses, calm execution.

Why It’s Exciting

• Active institution-building: You’re building the finance foundation for an institution working across many aspects of new and important issues.
• Direct partnership with the founder: Work closely with Brendan McCord on high-judgment decisions that shape how Cosmos operates and scales.
• Intellectual community: Engage with exceptional founders, researchers, and thinkers. Attend events and seminars on cutting-edge ideas.
• Shape the function: Define what operations at Cosmos becomes as we scale.

Key Attributes

• Practical, builder mindset: you experiment, measure impact, and exercise strong judgment.
• High integrity: you treat donor and grant dollars with real seriousness.
• Hands-on operator: you’re happy to process transactions and design better systems.
• Clear communicator: you make finance understandable to non-finance teammates.

Qualifications

• 4-7+ years in accounting/finance; CPA (or equivalent professional accounting qualification) required.
• Experience owning month-end close and building simple, reliable reporting.
• Comfortable implementing tools and processes (chart of accounts, approvals, documentation).
• Comfort using AI to accelerate your work, while applying high judgment and attention to detail.

Desirable

• Experience navigating related-party transactions and nonprofit compliance.
• Experience implementing and managing finance software (Xero, QuickBooks, or similar).
• Interest and aptitude for taking on broader scope across Cosmos entities under established cross-entity arrangements.

We’re open to exceptional candidates with fewer years of experience if they’ve demonstrated strong financial judgment and hands-on capability. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification.

Benefits

• Intellectual community: Symposium and seminar access, engagement with frontier AI researchers, philosophers, and exceptional founders.
• Creative autonomy: Build finance from scratch at an institution doing work that matters.
• Compensation: Competitive globally; exact range shared during interview process.
• Benefits: Comprehensive medical coverage and 401(k) matching. Unlimited PTO. Work travel, tech and AI use covered.
• Growth path: Potential to quickly take on more responsibility as Cosmos scales.

Hiring Process

You’ll have an initial interview, a case study, and a final conversation with our founder before we make an offer.

Apply

Submit your CV and a few short answers via the link below. Applications are reviewed as they arrive; we’re aiming to hire quickly and will move fast for the right candidate.

Apply Now