Job description
Open Philanthropy is seeking a highly organized and detail-oriented Finance Operations Associate to help manage our day-to-day finance processes and support the organization as we continue to grow. This is a great fit for someone who thrives on operational excellence, enjoys working behind the scenes to support high-impact work, and wants to contribute to a mission-driven organization.
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.
Our current giving areas include potential risks from advanced artificial intelligence, scientific research, 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 billion in grants since our formation.
About the Finance Team
The Finance Operations Team oversees accounting and internal financial controls at Open Philanthropy. Our team primarily manages day-to-day internal finance operations and supports a small portion of tax-exempt compliance work. While we work closely with external bookkeepers and tax consultants, we are the ultimate owners of Open Philanthropy’s financial processes, and we strive to achieve operational excellence.
The Finance team’s expertise enables the rest of the organization to operate efficiently. Open Philanthropy often pursues unconventional funding opportunities, which means we encounter more organizational complexity than most other funders. The finance team helps to mitigate those risks by adhering to governance and compliance best practices. We work to model Open Philanthropy’s operating values of ownership, openness, calibration, and inclusiveness, and to put our mission first.
As of August 2025, the team consists of four members: Jake Schwarber (who this role will report to), Phillip Greene, Josephine Williams, and Stacey Heras.
About the role
As part of the Finance team, you would assist with all aspects of our day-to-day finance operations and help build more sustainable processes to support organizational growth.
Your responsibilities would include:
Helping to manage our shared finance inbox, which includes processing invoices, troubleshooting finance-related questions from staff and contractors, and helping to coordinate with other teams on collaborative projects. [40%]
Day-to-day management of our accounts payable process, including collection of relevant information and paperwork to ensure a smooth experience for our vendors and internal stakeholders. [20%]
Assisting with the review of staff expense reports and period-end close. [20%]
Onboarding Open Phil contractors, and continually looking for ways to improve our contractor process. [10%]
Assisting with the implementation of new tools and software to make Open Phil’s finance operations more efficient. [10%]
Open Philanthropy has more than doubled in size in recent years, and we expect that growth to continue. As the organization continues to scale, the scope of this role is likely to evolve.
If you’d like a sense of what a role on the Finance team can look like in practice, you can read this “day in the life” post from Phillip Greene. (Please note this was written in 2024 and does not perfectly replicate the scope of this role.)
Who might be a good fit
We’re open to candidates with a range of experience (likely 2-5 years) working in the fields of finance or accounting. We’re also open to applicants who have worked in operations or project management at a startup, tech, or management consulting company.
You might be a great fit for this role if you:
Are extremely organized and detail-oriented in your work; you rarely let anything fall through the cracks.
Are comfortable managing a high volume of questions, emails, and tasks; you’re good at balancing day-to-day responsiveness with carving out focused time for deeper or ad hoc projects.
Are a transparent, professional, and empathetic written communicator; you can break down complex finance and accounting concepts in an accessible way, and effectively tailor your message to the recipient.
View internal and external stakeholders as customers, and want to ensure that every interaction with you or your team leaves them feeling well supported.
Are always looking for systems, tools, and strategies to save time and effort – especially for repetitive processes. You take satisfaction in building solutions that work smoothly behind the scenes, even if most people never notice them.
Are proficient in Google Sheets, including the ability to utilize advanced functions and efficiently analyze financial data.
Are interested in learning the ins and outs of finance operations at a growing, mission-driven organization.
While not required, we’d be excited to see candidates who have experience with any of the following:
Accounts payable processes, expense report review, and/or period-end close.
Familiarity with the IRS accountable plan rules.
Familiarity with the US banking system and/or experience working in treasury operations, including maintenance of the accompanying internal control framework.
Implementation of new finance and accounting software, or the management of similarly complex projects.
The ideal candidate for this position will possess many of the skills and experiences described above. However, there is 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. Above all, we are looking for people motivated to contribute to our mission of helping others as much as we can with the resources available to us. Whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this role would make you excited to come to work every day.
Role details & benefits
Compensation: Compensation for this role will be $116,977.12. This would be distributed as a base salary of $101,719.24 and an unconditional 401(k) grant of $15,257.89.
- These compensation figures assume a remote location; there would be geographic adjustments upwards for candidates based in the San Francisco Bay Area or Washington, D.C.
Time zones and location: You can work remotely. While we are not able to sponsor visas for this role, we are open to hires outside the U.S. in areas with at least 5-10 hours of overlap per week with East and West coast U.S. business hours.
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 Philanthropy coworking hub in your city.
We can’t always provide every benefit we offer U.S. 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).
Start date: We’d ideally like a candidate to start as soon as possible after receiving an offer. We expect to make offers by late October.
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 [email protected].
Please apply by 11:59 pm Pacific Time on Sunday, 24 August 2025 to be considered.
U.S.-based Operations staff are typically employed by Open Philanthropy Project LLC, which is not a 501©(3) tax-exempt organization. As such, this role is unlikely to be eligible for public service loan forgiveness programs.
AI/ML notice: Open Philanthropy may use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies, including natural language processing and predictive analytics, to assist in the initial screening of employment applications. These AI/ML tools assess applications against characteristics and qualifications relevant to the job requisition. These tools are designed to help identify potentially qualified candidates, but they do not make automated hiring decisions. The AI/ML-generated assessments are one of several factors considered in the hiring process. Our human recruiting team will thoroughly evaluate your skills and qualifications to determine your suitability for the role.
If you prefer not to have your application assessed using AI/ML features, you may opt out by reaching out to [email protected] and letting us know. Opting out will not negatively impact your application, which will be reviewed manually by our team.
