Head of People
About Us
FAR.AI is a non-profit AI research institute working to ensure advanced AI is safe and beneficial for everyone. Our mission is to facilitate breakthrough AI safety research, advance global understanding of AI risks and solutions, and foster a coordinated global response.
We’re structured to support that work from early research through real-world adoption:
Independent by design. We can pursue what's most impactful based on our theory of change and share what we find publicly.
A portfolio approach. Rather than focus on one single direction, we run diverse bets across the safety stack. We take promising ideas from initial experiments to deployment, informed by red-team partnerships with frontier labs and governments.
Serious infrastructure for ambitious research. A dedicated engineering team runs our compute cluster and experiment-scaling stack, so researchers spend their time on research instead of on infra.
Setting the standard. Our events convene key decision makers; our red-team works with frontier developers and governments; and our communications inform the public. Together, this drives adoption and sets the new standard in safety.
Since our founding in July 2022, we've grown to 50+ staff, published 40+ academic papers, and convened leading AI safety events. Our work is recognized globally, with publications at premier venues such as NeurIPS, ICML including a Best Paper Honorable Mention in 2026, and ICLR, and features in the Financial Times, Nature News, Wired Magazine and MIT Technology Review. We conduct pre-deployment testing on behalf of frontier developers such as OpenAI and independent evaluations for governments including the EU AI Office and publish the AI Security Leaderboard based on our red-teaming expertise. We help steer and grow the AI safety field through developing research roadmaps with renowned researchers such as Yoshua Bengio; running FAR.Labs, an AI safety-focused co-working space in Berkeley housing 40+ members; and supporting the community through targeted grants to technical researchers.
The Role
We are hiring a Head of People to build the systems, team, and culture that will carry FAR.AI from 40 people to 75+ over the next 12 months, across multiple geographies and entities. You’ll have the unique opportunity to build our people operations function, crafting and executing the systems, processes, and culture that will support our continued growth. This means taking ownership of the entire employee lifecycle, from talent acquisition and onboarding to employee engagement, retention, and beyond.
You’ll report to the COO and work closely with our leadership team and other department leads, bringing structure to everything people-related and creating an environment where employees can do their best work. If you’re an impact-driven leader who has built and scaled People functions in fast-moving organizations and are looking for your next organization to make a mark on, this is the role for you.
Why This Role / Why Now
FAR.AI is entering a pivotal phase of growth, backed by over $40M in funding and expanding opportunities to shape how advanced AI systems are developed and governed. Our work spans technical research, policy, and operations, including partnerships, such as red-teaming frontier models with leading AI companies and governments. As the scope and impact of our work accelerate, we are leveling up our operational capacity.
As FAR.AI 's Head of People, you will lay the foundation that enables everything we do, from talent acquisition, people operations, culture, and employee engagement. FAR.AI runs the events, programs, HR, communications, and community spaces that connect the global AI safety ecosystem. If you join our operations team, you're not supporting a company; you're building the institutional backbone of a field that didn't exist five years ago. You'll work with policymakers, Turing Award winners, and frontier lab experts, and you'll help define how the organization scales through a critical growth phase.
For people leaders who enjoy building, proactive problem solving, and rolling up their sleeves to get things done, this is a rare opportunity to drive long-term societal impact.
If this sounds like you, then we would love to hear from you!
Key Responsibilities
Own and build the People function across the following areas:
People operations and infrastructure. Own HRIS, payroll coordination, employee lifecycle (onboarding through offboarding), ATS, immigration, and the systems and policies that make day-to-day people operations smooth and consistent across geographies.
Talent acquisition. Own the hiring end-to-end: pipeline strategy, sourcing, employer brand, candidate experience, interview design, and offer process. Partner with hiring managers to scope roles tightly and fill empty seats with top talent. Analyze recruitment data and market trends to inform future hiring strategies.
Performance and management systems. Build and maintain the practices that make managers effective, including quarterly performance reviews, professional development, and a no-surprises approach to underperformance.
Compensation and benefits. Own compensation philosophy, leveling, benchmarking, and benefits administration across the US and other geographies, including EOR.
People compliance. Own employment compliance across jurisdictions, including federal and state requirements in the US and other countries where FAR.AI employs staff.
Culture and employee experience. Steward the practices, rituals, and feedback processes that keep FAR.AI a place where talented people do their best work. Oversee initiatives to foster a positive, inclusive, and high-performance work environment. Help us stay connected by coordinating quarterly team events, including offsites, team-building activities, and social gatherings.
A People partner to the organization. Resolve people ops inquiries and issues with empathy and efficiency. Be a trusted advisor to the CEO, President, and COO on org design, compensation, leveling, succession, and sensitive personnel decisions.
Team leadership. Hire, develop, and manage the People team as it grows. Model the management standard you expect of others.
Must-Have Qualifications
7+ years of progressive experience in HR or People, including at least 3 years leading a People team or a major sub-function.
Proven results filling difficult seats with top talent in full-cycle recruiting, preferably with technical roles. Has employed innovative strategies for sourcing and building an employer brand.
Demonstrated experience scaling a people function through significant headcount growth. The organization is doubling year-on-year.
Hands-on experience owning or substantially building at least three of: HRIS implementation, performance management systems, compensation frameworks, hiring infrastructure, or international employment via EOR.
Operator mindset and comfortable building out systems, processes, and teams. Biased toward simple solutions over heavy process. Comfortable with ambiguity and can independently drive the people function.
Strong judgment on sensitive personnel matters, with a default toward direct, candid, and respectful communication.
Natural relationship builder with strong interpersonal skills. The ability to build trust and collaborate effectively with candidates and internal stakeholders. Crafts thoughtful and effective messages that pitches FAR.AI ’s mission and opportunities compellingly.
Nice-to-Have Qualifications
Experience in fast-paced environments. You've worked in startups, nimble nonprofits, or high-growth teams before and can adapt to change quickly.
Technical acumen or familiarity with AI or related technical fields, allowing you to engage credibly with candidates and work effectively with technical staff and leadership.
Direct experience employing staff internationally, including via EOR.
Experience building or running a global compensation philosophy across countries.
Experience building systems, processes, and culture in a hybrid or remote environment.
Experience contributing to an impact-driven organization or passionate about AI safety.
Benefits*
Health Insurance - 94% of Insurance premium paid by Organization commencing within 1 month after your start date
Retirement - 401(k) plan with up to 2% match
PTO - 25 days Paid Time Off per year, accrued weekly and up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year
Paid Leave - Paid Bereavement, Family, Medical and Pregnancy Disability Leave
WFH Stipend & Equipment - Work computer and stipend provided for eligible employees
Catered Meals (Berkeley Office Only) - Catered lunches and dinners on workdays at our office
*(Available only to full-time employees located in the US)
Logistics
You will be a full-time employee of FAR.AI, a 501(c)(3) research non-profit.
Location: Berkeley, CA (onsite/hybrid) or Remote, based in the US.
Hours: Full-time (40 hours/week).
Hiring process: A phone screen, a hiring manager interview, a task test, in-depth interviews with the team, followed by reference checks.
If you have any questions about the role, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Otherwise, if you don't have questions, the best way to ensure a proper review of your skills and qualifications is by applying directly via the application form. Please don't email us to share your resume (it won't have any impact on our decision). Thank you!