Operations Assistant
Salary: The starting salary for this role is $73,500. Our salaries are benchmarked to peer organizations and for the cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area, where GiveWell is based.
Benefits: Read about the benefits we offer here.
Location: Oakland, California.
Flexibility: This role requires the ability to work in person at the office, although some flexible arrangements, including flexible hours and periodic work-from-home days, can be accommodated.
Visa Sponsorship: Please note that for this position, we're currently not accepting applications from candidates who need authorization to work in the U.S.
Timeline: We're reviewing applications on a rolling basis.
The Role
As an Operations Assistant you will get to interact with people across the organization and will be responsible for a wide range of activities based on evolving organizational needs. You will support other operations staff as needed in addition to owning your own portfolio of tasks. Specific duties may vary based on personal skills and experience but will likely include the following types of activities:
- Event planning: Researching, planning, and facilitating remote, in-person, and hybrid events (multi-day events, off-site retreats, the annual holiday party, quarterly team events, happy hours, etc.) to support GiveWell’s social cohesion goals.
- Office management: Maintaining and coordinating COVID safety protocols for our Oakland office, planning and executing various office improvement and beautification projects (e.g., coordinating vendors to install plants or soundproof conference rooms), and executing day-to-day management of the office.
- Administrative support: Providing administrative support to management on an as-needed basis (scheduling, managing travel arrangements, maintaining contact databases, etc.).
- Ad hoc facilities and operational support: Purchasing equipment, handling guests and deliveries, assisting in onboarding new staff, troubleshooting staff and office issues, managing organization swag, and helping maintain overall office organization and cleanliness.
About You
Note: Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job. Here’s a secret: there's no such thing as a "perfect" candidate. GiveWell is looking for exceptional people who want to make a positive impact through their work and help create an organization where everyone can thrive. So whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this role would make you excited to come to work every day.
We expect you will be characterized by the below qualities and would be eager to grow and develop your abilities across these areas. We are actively building the operations team, so there are lots of opportunities for excellent performers to grow into more senior roles. We encourage you to apply if you would use the majority of these characteristics to describe yourself:
- Mission-motivated. You want to contribute to GiveWell’s most pressing needs and get things done, even when it’s not glamorous. Any job is your job if it helps the team succeed. You derive satisfaction from helping others.
- Conscientious and attentive to detail. You are thoughtful about your approach and perform high-quality work, with or without supervision. You exhibit meticulous attention to detail, including the fine print, and don’t cut corners. (This doesn’t mean you never make mistakes, but you learn from them and rarely repeat one.)
- A strong communicator. You are proactive about communicating, receptive to feedback, and willing to provide feedback to others. You communicate productively in both oral and written exchanges and can synthesize large amounts of information into clear and digestible written formats. You are responsive, professional, and able to engage effectively with co-workers, management, and vendors alike.
- Ability to effectively manage projects and take initiative. You can independently carry out projects from start to finish, keeping the big picture in mind while getting the detailed tasks across the finish line. You see yourself as responsible for results and proactively seek to troubleshoot problems and identify improvements.
- Effective at time management and organization. You are highly productive. You keep your work organized and are able to successfully juggle multiple projects and prioritize a wide variety of responsibilities.
- Curious, flexible, and good-humored. You thrive on variety and can adapt to shifting priorities, wearing multiple hats. You enjoy and want to contribute to a general positive attitude.
Physical Requirements: This job requires the ability to lift and move up to 45 lbs. as well as other physical abilities required to actively participate in office management.
To apply
Apply here. We only accept applications through our website.
We plan to respond to all submissions. Please contact givewell-jobs@givewell.org with any questions.
About GiveWell
GiveWell is motivated by the simple question: how can we do as much good as possible?
In our efforts to answer this question, we search for and recommend outstanding philanthropic giving opportunities. We currently focus on global health and poverty alleviation programs in the lowest-income parts of the world because that is where we've found we can have the greatest impact, according to our criteria.
Our primary impact is achieved by directing funding to our recommended charities. We rigorously vet and recommend a short list of top charities that meet our criteria of being evidence-backed, cost-effective, transparent, and in need of more funding. Our nine current top charities work on death-averting and life-improving programs.
Based on our recommendations, donors have given more than $800 million to our recommended programs since our founding in 2007. In 2020 alone, GiveWell donors contributed more than $170 million to our recommendations, which we estimate will avert between 29,000 and 48,000 deaths and provide parasitic worm treatments for over 12 million children.
We also direct funding to promising opportunities, such as projects whose impacts are less directly measurable but might be even greater than those of our recommended charities.
Our operations team supports critical organizational functions and is integral to the success of our mission to direct hundreds of millions of dollars to the best giving opportunities we can find.
Additional Information
If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at givewell-jobs@givewell.org.
As part of our dedication to the diversity of our staff, GiveWell is committed to the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity and to making employment decisions based on merit and value. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing Equal Employment Opportunities, as well as all laws related to terms and conditions of employment. We desire to maintain a work environment free of harassment or discrimination due to sex, race, religion, color, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, citizenship, physical or mental disability, marital status, familial status, ethnicity, ancestry, status as a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, age, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.
We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.