Expression of interest: writer-researcher

About 80,000 Hours

80,000 Hours’ mission is to get talented people working on the world’s most pressing problems.

In 2025, we are planning to focus especially on helping explain why and how our audience can help society safely navigate a transition to a world with transformative AI.

Over a million people visit our website each year, and thousands of people have told us that they’ve significantly changed their career plans due to our work. Surveys conducted by our primary funder, Open Philanthropy, show that 80,000 Hours is one of the single biggest drivers of talent moving into work related to reducing global catastrophic risks.

Our most popular pieces get over 10,000 unique visitors each month, and are among the most important ways we help people shift their careers towards higher-impact options.

The role

In this role, you would:

• Research and write new articles for the 80,000 Hours website, e.g. articles explaining particular issues within AI risk reduction for a popular audience (e.g. an explainer on misuse, or government abuse of AI technology)
• Survey and interview experts in the issues we prioritise to inform our career advice
• Update or rewrite core articles with new information and resources or to appeal to new audiences
• Write substantive newsletters for an audience of over 500,000 people
• Continually learn from analytics and user feedback what kinds of framings are most clear and engaging
• Manage and edit external expert contributors to write articles

Who we’re looking for

For this role, we’re looking for:

• Strong knowledge of catastrophic risks from AI and ideally also effective altruism
• Experience in writing, research, communications or community-building focused on AI
• An exceptional aptitude for — and ideally a track record of — compelling and informed writing
  • We want someone who can turn research notes or a brief into writing that is simultaneously interesting, easy to read, nuanced, precise, accurate, and clear — and maybe even funny.
  • We want someone who can figure out what’s true, what’s unknown, and what’s relevant for career decisions given a complex and changing situation with our top priority problems, often amidst expert disagreement.
• The ability to learn quickly and independently
• Excitement and flexibility to work on whatever projects are highest priority in a fast-paced and highly collaborative environment
• A good fit with our cultural values
  • For example, we are a small team trying to do difficult and ambitious things — this means we often pitch in on lots of aspects of one another’s work, and really value teamwork, kindness, cooperation, and good communication!

Helpful backgrounds include AI safety research and communication, other AI research and communication, EA nonprofits, think tanks, academic or nonprofit research, blogging, journalism, nonfiction writing, podcasting, and social science.

We’re aware that factors like gender, race, and socioeconomic background can affect people’s willingness to apply for roles. We’d like to especially encourage people from underrepresented backgrounds to apply!

Salary, hours, location, and benefits

The salary will vary based on experience and the responsibilities you take on, and will be calculated according to a formula that is transparent to all primary staff at 80,000 Hours.

Staff can work flexible hours. We encourage staff to work whatever schedule (consistent with full time status) will allow them to be most personally effective.

We’re especially interested in people who can work in the US, and especially from Berkeley.

To express interest in the role, please fill in this form.