Senior Research Manager

Lead a sub-team of Research Managers to scale research management capacity. Manage and develop Research Managers, ensure scholars achieve milestones, and contribute to strategic development. May also directly manage scholars. Requires 3+ years management experience and 2+ years in a technical industry.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

MATS Research aims to find and train talented individuals for what we see as the world’s most urgent and talent-constrained problem: reducing risks from advanced artificial intelligence. Our mission is to maximize the impact and development of emerging researchers through mentorship, guidance, and resources. We believe that ambitious researchers from a variety of backgrounds have the potential to contribute to the fields of AI alignment, control, security, and governance research.

Through our research fellowship, we aim to provide the mentorship, financial support, and community necessary to aid this transition. Please seeour website for more details.

We are generally looking for candidates who:

• Are excited to work in a fast-paced environment and are comfortable switching responsibilities and projects as the needs of MATS change;
• Are self-motivated and can take on new responsibilities within MATS over time.

The MATS Research Management team supports the development of AI safety researchers through personalized support, strategic, structured guidance, and iterative feedback. Research Managers play a pivotal role in accelerating scholar growth, facilitating high-quality research, and guiding participants toward impactful AI safety careers.

Senior Research Managers multiply that impact even further: as they transition from direct research management with scholars and mentors to leading teams, they initially manage 3-4 Research Managers, helping the program scale while furthering research quality.

As a Senior Research Manager, you will lead a sub-team of Research Managers, ensuring that scholars and mentors achieve program milestones while scaling RM capacity. The exact balance of the role (including team size and whether you'll have direct scholar responsibilities) will be tailored based on organizational priorities and your experience.

This structure enables each Research Management sub-team to support roughly 20-64 scholars depending on mentor and scholar needs. The role offers a unique opportunity to shape the next generation of AI safety researchers while developing advanced leadership capabilities in a high-impact field.

We welcome applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds, and strongly encourage you to apply if you fit into at least one of these profiles:

• Experienced team managers, especially those with technical or governance backgrounds
• Experienced professionals in the fields of technical research, governance research, and/or research management
• Engineering product/project managers from tech-focused organizations or a STEM industry

If you do not fit into one of these profiles but think you could be a good fit, we are still excited for you to apply!

• Manage, guide, and develop Research Managers
• Hold weekly 1-1s with allocated Research Managers to track scholar progress, provide actionable feedback and/or guidance to research managers, and drive their professional growth
• Contribute to the development of Research Management processes and research excellence; work with the team to pilot and document new processes and resources that can later be rolled out program-wide
• Own sub-team metrics (scholar feedback, milestone completion, mentor feedback) and present findings in cohort retrospective
• Ensure scholars managed by your sub-team complete essential milestones, meet mentor goals, and are connected to appropriate resources
• Sync weekly with the Research Director and/or London Director to keep overall research-support strategy coherent, request resources, and surface scholars and projects at risk
• Support team hiring and performance management processes
• Flag researcher conflicts and/or community-health concerns promptly to the Community Lead
• Direct Research Management
• Partner with mentors to clarify research goals and help accelerate their mentorship process
• Research manage scholars: conduct regular 1-1 coaching, troubleshoot blockers, and uphold high standards on research outputs
• Strategic Development
• Spearhead internal projects - past projects have included the development of new scholar milestones and piloting new support initiatives
• Build, improve, and maintain the systems and infrastructure that MATS requires to run efficiently
• Provide input into strategy discussions

• 3+ years of management experience
• 2+ years of professional experience within a technical industry
• Proven ability to give structured feedback, manage up/down, and resolve interpersonal friction professionally
• Working knowledge of and enthusiasm about AI-safety sub-fields
• Excitement about improving research…