Policy Advisor to the OECD on Global Risks

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Key details

Location: Oxford or remote work from within the United Kingdom or United States (both Oxford and remote roles would include some travel to Paris OECD Headquarters)
Salary: £60,000 to £70,000 depending on skills and experience. There may be scope to go beyond this range for exceptional candidates.
Position type: Full-time (flexible arrangements will be considered), 12-month contract
Ideal start date: January/February 2024 (flexible)
Applications close: 11:59pm GMT Tuesday 12 December 2023

Apply here.

Position description

We are seeking an experienced policy advisor and project coordinator to support Longview’s work advising the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on emerging global risks. This role will focus on policies to manage existential risks, which are risks that could result in human extinction or similarly catastrophic outcomes. The OECD’s body of work on existential risks seeks to learn the lessons from the global policy responses to climate change and nuclear weapons, and proactively develop policies to manage other potential emerging global existential risks, such as those from AI and from pandemics.

If your application is successful, you would be hired by Longview Philanthropy to work full-time as a consultant embedded within the OECD’s Strategic Foresight Unit, within the Office of the Secretary General. This policy advisor would work with and be managed by our Senior Policy Advisor to the OECD.

Longview Philanthropy is a charity that advises philanthropists how to have the greatest positive impact with their donations. We focus on global challenges that could transform our future for many generations to come, including safely navigating emerging technologies. Longview has identified the OECD’s work on managing emerging global risks as particularly impactful work, and this role will act as an expert consultant to the OECD to support this work.

The OECD is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries. Together with governments, policy makers and citizens, the OECD works on establishing international policy cooperation, evidence-based international standards and delivering policy recommendations to its Members and Partners. The OECD is one of the leading international organisations for international cooperation on the governance of emerging technologies and global challenges. For instance, the OECD AI Principles were the basis for the AI principles adopted by the G20, which have guided the development of AI policies in G20 countries.

This role is a combination of a policy advisor and project coordinator role. In this role, you would advise the OECD on managing and anticipating emerging global risks. All of the work is subject to the oversight and approval of the OECD’s member countries. To achieve this, you would help to coordinate and advise on workstreams across the following policy areas:

  • AI Governance: Work with the OECD AI Policy Observatory to inform the work of the Expert Group on AI Futures, analyse the OECD’s AI Incident Database, contribute to meetings of the Working Party on AI Governance, develop AI policy recommendations, and liaise with experts on AI from government, industry and civil society.
  • Biotechnology Governance: Work with the OECD’s Working Party on Bio, Nano, and Converging Technology to identify opportunities for governments to proactively invest in pandemic resilience and prevention and manage potential risks from synthetic biology technologies.
  • Government Risk Management: Work with the OECD’s High Level Risk Forum to help develop a framework for the management of emerging critical and existential risks. This framework would allow government risk managers to assess how well they are managing potential emerging risks and identify gaps in their preparedness.
  • International Regulatory Cooperation: Work with the OECD’s Regulatory Policy Committee to identify best practices for international regulatory cooperation to manage global existential risks, including assessing existing relevant international agreements.
  • Anticipatory Governance: Work with the OECD’s Public Governance Committee to develop best practices for handling uncertainty and engaging with the private sector to manage global existential risks.

The role requires an individual that combines strong project management skills with an understanding of public policy and an interest in work to reduce global risks. The successful candidate will work collaboratively with various internal and external stakeholders to develop, promote and implement policy initiatives aimed at anticipating and managing global existential risks.

Apply here.

Key responsibilities

  • Work with a cross-functional team across the OECD to develop research and deliver multilateral meetings related to global risk management.
  • Coordinate a range of intersecting projects, including developing and managing workflow plans to ensure different projects stay on track.
  • Advise and engage with relevant OECD Committees and Working Parties to produce OECD recommendations to address global risks.
  • Make decisions to ensure there is a cohesive strategic direction and pathway to positive impact for each project.
  • Prepare and present updates and analysis to senior stakeholders and various other internal and external audiences.
  • Analyse and interpret complex data related to global risks.
  • Stay informed about the latest research, trends, and policy developments related to global risk governance.
  • Engage with experts from governments, academia, industry, and civil society to identify best practices and opportunities for collaboration to manage global existential risks.

We expect that in this role to require a combination of project coordination work and analytic work.

Apply here.

Preferred qualifications, experience & skills

Please note, the following list are not hard requirements, given the wide range of skillsets that may be useful in this role. Please consider applying even if cannot clearly demonstrate all the skills listed below.

  • Demonstrated ability to lead large, cross-functional projects or initiatives.
  • Strong communication and presentation skills, with an ability to articulate complex issues to diverse audiences.
  • Experience in public policy, international relations, risk management, emerging technology policy, or related fields.
  • Experience translating research and expert input into actionable policy proposals.
  • Understanding of global existential risks and potential strategies for their mitigation.
  • Experience engaging with government or intergovernmental organisations.
  • Ability to work collaboratively and build strong relationships with various stakeholders.

Apply here.

Location, benefits, and how to apply

Location requirements

Ideally, the successful candidate would work from Longview’s office in Oxford, where the existing Senior Policy Advisor to the OECD is located. However, we will also consider applicants seeking to work remotely from locations within the United Kingdom. We are able to sponsor UK visas for successful applicants.
This role will require some business travel to the OECD headquarters in Paris. Ideally, applicants should be willing to spend roughly one work week every two months in Paris, though this requirement is flexible. Travel expenses will be covered by Longview. There will also be opportunities to travel internationally to attend relevant conferences and events.

Working hours

This role is a full-time position for a roughly 40-hour work week. You will have flexibility in setting your working hours, though sometimes specific events like multilateral meetings may require work to occur at a specific time. We encourage a healthy work-life balance and will seek to support this balance.

Benefits

This position includes the following benefits:

  • £2,400 annual professional development allowance
  • £5,000 annual wellbeing allowance
  • 10% pension contributions (can be taken as salary instead)

If you work from our UK Offices or from the USA, this position also includes the following benefits:

  • Private health insurance, including vision and dental
  • Income protection insurance

How to apply:

Complete this application form by 11:59pm GMT Tuesday 12 December 2023.