Special Projects Director

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Take ownership of the overall strategy and roadmap for the Special Projects Program.

• Determine which projects will join, graduate, or spin off from fiscal sponsorship and develop decision-making frameworks.

• Manage the program’s value proposition and Theory of Change with input from RP leadership.

• Assess the incoming project pipeline and actively seek out new fiscally sponsored opportunities.

• Serve as the program's representative to prospective projects, funders, and peer fiscal sponsors.

• Investigate new service lines, such as regranting structures.

• Create a formal project risk assessment framework that addresses financial, employment, legal/reputational, and leadership risks.

• Act as the senior escalation point for HR, finance, and compliance issues.

• Develop a project graduation framework and establish spin-out milestones.

• Maintain a fair and sustainable fee model while tracking quarterly revenue against forecasts.

• Determine when to expand capacity, add future roles, and implement management layers as the program scales.

• Directly supervise Special Project Managers through weekly one-on-one meetings, performance feedback, coaching, and professional development.

• Monitor team capacity and wellbeing, address skip-level and interpersonal issues, and engage People & Culture when necessary.

• Document and standardize processes for onboarding, offboarding, financial reporting, and risk review.

• Set and track team OKRs.

• Maintain strong relationships with funders, project directors, and RP departments.

• Ensure project directors are satisfied with the support they receive.

• Report to Chief Operations Officer Carolyn Footitt and collaborate with Finance and People & Culture teams.

• Travel approximately 3–4 times a year for conferences and team or company retreats.

⛳️ Requirements

• Professional-level proficiency in English; all application materials must be submitted in English.

• Minimum commitment of 35 hours per week; preference for candidates available for full-time, 40-hour workweeks.

• Significant experience in an operational role, such as HR, legal, finance, or general operations.

• Working knowledge of US 501(c)(3) regulations and their impact on organizational decisions.

• Familiarity with the effective altruism landscape and at least one RP cause area: AI safety/global catastrophic risk, animal welfare, or global health and development.

• Ability to quickly adapt to new domains.

• Experience in people management, including overseeing managers within a scaling team.

• Proven project/program management experience across large, diverse portfolios.

• Strong strategic thinking and systems evaluation capabilities.

• Excellent judgment and decision-making skills, including risk identification and opportunity assessment.

• Skills in business development and relationship management.

• Solution-oriented mindset and ability to improve processes.

• Social perceptiveness and cultural competence in a remote, multi-country team environment.

• Adaptability and willingness to seek expertise when necessary.

• Clear written and verbal communication skills.

• Strong prioritization, attention to detail, self-motivation, and the ability to achieve an 80/20 understanding of unfamiliar topics quickly.

• Desired: familiarity with fiscal sponsorship, especially Model A structures.

• Desired: experience in financial forecasting, budgeting, and designing fee or pricing models.

• Desired: knowledge of nonprofit and employment regulatory environments in the UK and US.

• Desired: experience with a PEO like Justworks or an EOR such as Remote.

• Desired: proficiency with project management software such as Asana.

🏝️ Benefits

• Flexible work hours and location.

• Comprehensive global benefits package, varying by country.

• Generous paid time off, including unlimited vacation, organization-wide breaks, unlimited personal/sick leave, and parental leave.

• Parental leave of 4–9 months, either paid or unpaid.

• Technology stipend of $2,000 USD equivalent every 3 years for work and office equipment.

• Monthly budget of $40 USD equivalent for AI tools.

• Professional Development Budget of $5,000 USD per year.

• Access to workshops and training sessions.

• 10% of work time dedicated to professional and personal development.

• Paid work-related travel, including one annual all-staff Mega Team Retreat and relevant conferences.

• Virtual co-working spaces, including a private Rethink Priorities Focusmate group.

• RP Peer Support Program for New Employees.

• Paid skills assessment for candidates who progress.

• Collaborative leadership team with minimal administrative bureaucracy.

• Additional benefits at the discretion of RP Leadership.

• A caring team that values respectful work relations and promotes a healthy work-life balance.