About Open Philanthropy

Open Philanthropy is a philanthropic funder and advisor; our mission is to help others as much as we can with the resources available to us. We stress openness to many possibilities and have chosen our focus areas based on importance, neglectedness, and tractability. In addition to Science and Global Health R&D, our current giving areas include Navigating Transformative Artificial Intelligence, Global Health and Development, Global Public Health Policy, Farm Animal Welfare, and Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness. In 2024, we recommended $650 million to high-impact causes, and we’ve recommended over $4.5 billion in grants since our formation.

About the team

The Science and Global Health R&D team supports transformational scientific discovery and the development of new vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other tools to improve global health outcomes. We are particularly interested in R&D efforts targeting diseases with a large global health burden, as well as initiatives to make these products more affordable and accessible worldwide.

Our team currently consists of four grantmakers (Heather Youngs, Chris Somerville, Katharine Collins, Ray Kennedy), who are led by Jacob Trefethen and supported by Rafael Dib. Our team awards $100 million+ annually. In 2026, we plan to spend tens of millions of dollars on Strep A vaccine development, and we’re looking for someone to help lead our efforts to expand funding in this area.

About the role

We are seeking a Program Officer to join our Science and Global Health R&D team. This person will report directly to Katharine Collins and work closely with her to execute, expand, and refine her existing grantmaking strategies in global health R&D, which currently include Strep A, malaria, and global health vaccine development.

The role will primarily involve leading grant investigations to identify and evaluate high-impact opportunities for advancing Strep A vaccine development, with the primary goal of reducing the burden of rheumatic heart disease. It offers the opportunity to engage deeply with cutting-edge biomedical research and global health product development efforts, involving independent analytical research and building relationships with grantees and experts in the field.

Over time, the Program Officer could take on increasing responsibility within the portfolio as they build experience and judgment.

The position is best suited to a scientifically trained researcher who combines strong technical understanding with strategic thinking about how to achieve the greatest global health impact.

Based on our experience, the strongest Program Officers can often bring adjacent experience and fresh perspectives rather than deep prior specialization in a single area. We therefore encourage applications from candidates with strong scientific backgrounds, even if they have not previously worked directly on Strep A. While the primary focus of this role will be advancing Strep A vaccine development, there may be flexibility depending on the candidate’s expertise and team priorities. The Program Officer may also contribute to grantmaking in malaria or other global health vaccine areas.

Key responsibilities

• Researching and leading grant investigations

  • Review scientific literature and analyze data to assess technical feasibility and potential impact of new opportunities.

  • Identify and evaluate promising vaccine R&D efforts in academic, nonprofit, and industry settings.

  • Conduct interviews with grantees, scientific experts, and partner organizations to inform grant recommendations.

  • Prepare detailed grant write-ups and supporting analyses for internal decision-making, including back-of-the-envelope calculations (BOTECs).

• Grant follow-up and portfolio management

  • Track project milestones and evaluate progress against objectives.

  • Conduct grantee check-ins and contribute to renewal or follow-up decisions.

  • Help synthesize lessons learned from existing grants to refine future strategy.

• Strategic and analytical support

  • Work closely with Katharine Collins to execute, expand, and refine the portfolio grantmaking strategies.

  • Identify emerging scientific opportunities and potential gaps in current vaccine development pipelines.

  • Contribute to planning and strategy documents, internal analyses, and donor communications.

• External engagement

  • Represent Open Philanthropy at scientific meetings, conferences, and workshops.

  • Develop relationships with external partners, including researchers, funders, and product development organizations.

Who we’re looking for

You might be a good fit if you have:

• Experience (5+ years not including time on master's degree or Ph.D.) in a field relevant to vaccine development, immunology, microbiology, infectious disease, or another biomedical research discipline. A strong candidate will also have experience with, and/or deep knowledge of preclinical research and/or clinical trials.

  • Ph.D. in a relevant field is preferred, though not strictly required.

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, including the ability to assess scientific data and reason quantitatively about potential impact.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to clearly communicate complex scientific concepts and your views.

• Creativity and willingness to think broadly about paths to impact, such as innovative trial designs and pathways, and improved coordination and engagement between key stakeholders.

• Strong interpersonal skills and comfort engaging with partners from a wide range of disciplines, institutions, and cultural contexts.

• Comfort with hits-based giving — funding projects that may have a low probability of success but a large potential upside.

• Ability to travel periodically (e.g. for conferences, grantee meetings, and team gatherings).

• Ability to overlap with U.K. and U.S. Pacific Time several hours per week for team meetings and grantee calls (see more in the role details section below).
  

Preferred, but not required

• Experience in Strep A research

• Experience with vaccine development for Strep A or other infectious diseases, such as malaria, or familiarity with translational R&D and product development processes.

• Knowledge of the global health R&D ecosystem, including funders, product development partnerships, and regulatory pathways.
  

We also expect all staff to model our operating values of ownership, openness, calibration, and inclusiveness.

The ideal candidate for this position will possess many of the skills and experiences described above, but having all of them is not necessary. There is also no such thing as a “perfect” candidate. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we would strongly encourage you to apply.

Grantmaking experience is not required, and many strong candidates will lack it. You do not need to know about grant structures or traditional philanthropic reporting requirements to excel in this position.

Application process and timeline

Deadline to apply: December 4th, 2025, 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time

Process:

• Submit an application.

• Selected candidates will be invited to complete a paid work test in December.

• Those shortlisted will be invited to initial remote interviews.

• We’ll conduct final interviews along with reference checks.

• We expect to make an offer in February.

Start date: We’d like a candidate to start as soon as possible after receiving an offer, but have flexibility on the exact date.

We are unable to provide feedback during the early stages of the process, including work tests, due to capacity; however, all applications will be carefully reviewed by our team. Thank you for your understanding.

Role details & benefits

• Compensation: The baseline compensation for this role is $188,255.37, which would be distributed as a base salary of $165,255.37 and an unconditional 401(k) grant of $23,000.00 for U.S. hires.

  • All compensation will be distributed in the form of take-home salary for internationally based hires.

• Time zones and location: You can work remotely in this role. While much of our team is based in the U.S. and U.K., we are open to hires who can overlap with the U.K. and U.S. for team and grantee calls.

  • 5-10 hours/week overlap with the U.K.

  • 2-4 hours/week overlap with U.S. PT for weekly team calls

    • Our team meeting currently takes place every Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:00 PM BST.

  • We are happy to consider candidates based outside of the U.S., and to consider sponsoring U.S. work authorization. However, we don’t control who is and isn’t eligible for a visa and can’t guarantee visa approval.

  • We are open to considering support for candidates to relocate to the UK if time zones prove challenging. Please note that we are not currently able to sponsor visas for the UK, but we can provide a stipend to help cover relocation or visa-related costs for candidates who are independently eligible to live and work there.

• Benefits: Our benefits package includes:

  • Excellent health insurance (we cover 100% of premiums within the U.S. for you and any eligible dependents) and an employer-funded Health Reimbursement Arrangement for certain other personal health expenses.

  • Dental, vision, and life insurance for you and your family

  • Four weeks of PTO recommended per year

  • Four months of fully paid family leave

  • A generous and flexible expense policy — we encourage staff to expense the ergonomic equipment, software, and other services that they need to stay healthy and productive

  • A continual learning policy that encourages staff to spend time on professional development, with related expenses covered.

  • Support for remote work — we’ll cover a remote workspace outside your home if you need one, or connect you with an Open Phil coworking hub in your city

  • We can’t always provide every benefit we offer US staff to international hires, but we’re working on it (and will usually provide cash equivalents of any benefits we can’t offer in your country)

• Note: U.S.-based program staff are typically employed by Open Philanthropy Project LLC, which is not a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. As such, this role is unlikely to be eligible for public service loan forgiveness programs.

We aim to employ people with many different experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who share our passion for accomplishing as much good as we can. We are committed to creating an environment where all employees have the opportunity to succeed, and we do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or have any other questions about applying, please contact jobs@openphilanthropy.org.

We may use AI to assist in the initial screening of applications, but every application is carefully reviewed by a human before any decisions are made.

You can opt out of AI being used on your application by emailing jobs@openphilanthropy.org to let a member of the team know. Opting out will not impact your application.