Events Program Leads – Special Events and Virtual Programs

We're hiring two program leads into our Events team: a Special Events Lead and a Virtual Events Lead.

Since the underlying skill set is similar across both roles, we encourage you to indicate interest in either or both. We'll evaluate you across your preferred roles, and will finalize placement later in the round.

ABOUT CEA

The Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) stewards the movement of people putting effective altruism principles into practice to solve the world's most pressing problems. We're working to build a flourishing future by applying evidence, reason, and compassion to challenges like global poverty, animal suffering, and existential risks.

Our work centers on growing and supporting a global community of people who rigorously analyze where they can do the most good and take action on those insights. Current strategic priorities include increasing understanding of effective altruism and its principles, growing the number of people who are motivated by EA principles to take significant action to address pressing problems, and diversifying funding sources for high-impact work.

We had significant success in 2025, building momentum within CEA. Our headcount grew from 42 to 66 core staff. Program participation (e.g., events, courses, groups) grew [link for members] by 20-25% year over year. We merged [link for members] with EA Funds [link for members] and are rapidly scaling up our capacity for grantmaking and associated fundraising

In 2026, we've maintained ambitious momentum [link for members] while building the foundations for a step-change in the wider EA ecosystem's growth trajectory from 2027 onwards.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Events Team runs CEA's convening portfolio. EA Global is our flagship conference series, bringing more than 4,000 attendees to San Francisco, London, and New York each year. EAGx events are community-organized conferences that CEA funds and supports, with 10 EAGx events and at least 23 EA Summits running across more than 26 countries in 2026. Both the Special Events and Virtual Events roles sit alongside these programs and will build out new parts of the portfolio.

Special Events is a new CEA team that uses small, carefully designed events to bring the right people together around what matters most for EA’s impact right now. Where EA Global connects thousands, Special Events convenes 20 to 60 people with a specific goal in mind. That might be senior leaders coordinating on strategy, parts of the ecosystem that would benefit from comparing notes, donors deepening their engagement with EA Funds, or journalists and others who shape how EA is understood building relationships with the community. Some of these events will directly advance CEA’s own priorities. Others will be community-wide convenings that no single organisation is positioned to run. The Meta Coordination Forum is the best-known example of this work so far, bringing together leaders in the EA community to coordinate on key issues. The team has a deliberately broad remit. Rather than running a fixed calendar, it will identify where the right room could make the biggest difference and take an opinionated view on what each event should achieve.

Virtual Programs builds on our strong track record with virtual events, including EAGxVirtual and EA Connect 2025, which reached over 2,600 attendees and was our largest event to date. Virtual events are far more accessible to attendees, much cheaper to run, and can be planned on much shorter timelines than in-person conferences. We think a significantly larger virtual portfolio could be one of the most important levers we have for growing the EA movement – both by offering high-absorbency introductory experiences for people newly interested in EA, and by providing low-cost ways to keep the community connected and coordinated as it grows.

SPECIAL EVENTS LEAD

The Special Events Lead designs and produces small, high-stakes convenings for the people shaping effective altruism. These events are largely one-shot: unlike a conference series that iterates several times a year, you often only get one attempt to get a convening right. You'll also be CEA's face to the people you invite – many are senior figures in the EA community, and a call with you is often their first impression of the event. Work might include:

• Using your knowledge of the EA community to identify where a new event would add value, and proposing it

• Setting the goals for each convening, building the attendee list and the selection criteria behind it, and shaping content, sessions, and facilitation

• Serving as the main point of contact for attendees and partner organizations, securing participation from people with limited availability, and navigating sensitive interpersonal and organizational dynamics

• Owning logistics end-to-end – venue selection, vendor negotiation, travel, accommodation, catering, AV, budgets, and onsite run-of-show

• Setting up follow-up processes that capture what came out of each event, and contributing to funding proposals and impact reporting

VIRTUAL PROGRAM LEAD

The Virtual Program Lead owns CEA's virtual events portfolio. This means treating virtual events as products to be designed, tested, and iterated, rather than as online versions of our in-person formats. In contrast to Special Events, this role is about running many events, learning quickly, and scaling what works. Work might include:

• Developing and owning a view on which virtual products we should run, who they serve, and how they fit alongside EAG, EAGx, and Summits

• Translating high-level aims (e.g., "give newcomers a compelling first experience of the EA community") into concrete event designs, thinking critically about what virtual formats can do that in-person formats can't

• Designing events as experiments – defining success in advance, measuring attendee outcomes rigorously, and improving or retiring products quickly

• Overseeing end-to-end execution of large virtual events, including platforms, speakers, marketing, volunteers, and attendee experience, often on short timelines

• Managing external contractors from the outset

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

Across both roles, we're looking for people who

• Own a program end to end. You'll be accountable for a portfolio of events, from deciding what they're for through to running them and reporting on what they achieved.

• Combine strategic thinking with strong execution. You can think clearly about what good community-building looks like, and then personally make it happen – venues, vendors, platforms, budgets, and the many details in between.

• Work with a high degree of independence. You'll work closely with the Head of Events to set direction, then have substantial autonomy in how you get there.

• Want to build a team. You'll start with support from contractors and other Events sub-teams, and we expect you to hire and manage team members as your program grows.

• Sprint when it counts. Events have hard deadlines. You're willing to go heads-down around the time of event delivery.

You might be a great fit if you

• Have designed and produced events. You've built an event from the ground up and you've also run one – you know how a program gets shaped and what it takes to deliver a high-quality attendee experience.

• Know the EA community. You understand the key organizations, people, and ideas, and what different audiences – from newcomers to senior leaders – need from an event.

• Think about impact, not just execution. You can articulate the theory of change behind an event, make clear trade-offs between competing goals, and use evidence to decide what to do next.

• Manage complex projects well. You've run operationally complex projects with fixed deadlines and many moving pieces, and you can move quickly without dropping quality.

• Have management experience. You've managed contractors, volunteers, or team members, and are excited to build a team.

• Communicate clearly and credibly. You write well, adapt to different audiences, and represent your organization professionally.

For the Special Events Lead role, we'd additionally expect

• Deep EA context. You know who the key people are, what the live debates are, and why a given person being in the room matters.

• The ability to represent CEA to senior people. You come across as professional, credible, and trustworthy on a first call with someone whose time is valuable, and you handle sensitive conversations well.

• A "get it right the first time" approach. You're thorough, you anticipate what could go wrong, and you sweat the details that shape a participant's experience.

For the Virtual Program Lead role, we'd additionally expect

• Strategic and product thinking. You can reason from a high-level aim to a specific design, and you treat events as products to be tested and improved.

• A data-informed, iterative mindset. You're comfortable defining success metrics, interpreting attendee data, and changing course based on what you learn.

We believe that the perfect candidate for these roles may not tick every box. If either role interests you, we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet all the criteria or aren't sure of your exact role fit.

OTHER INFORMATION

• This is a full-time, remote position. We prefer applicants able to work between US Pacific Time and CET. We have an office in Oxford, UK, that you'd have access to. Both roles will involve meaningful overlap with UK working hours.

• Start date: As soon as possible; ideally by early 2027, but flexible for the right candidate.

• Reports to: Robert Harling, Head of Events

• Compensation

• US: base salary of $120,000 – $165,000, and a 10% unconditional 401k contribution.

• Other locations: for candidates outside the US, base salary is converted to local currency using a fixed exchange rate, and total compensation is adjusted based on the cost of employment and fixed local benefit costs to create an equivalent package.

• Benefits globally include private health insurance, flexible work hours, a $6,000 annual professional development allowance, a $6,000 mental health support allowance, extended parental leave, ergonomic equipment, 25 days of paid vacation, and more.

• These roles will involve travel. There are likely 3–10 trips per year to attend team retreats and in-person events, including international travel. This will be on the higher end for the Special Events Lead and on the lower end for the Virtual Program Lead.

We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. We especially encourage applications from self-identified women and people of colour who are excited about contributing to our mission. The Centre for Effective Altruism is an equal opportunity employer. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or have any other questions about applying, please contact [link for members]

CEA participates in E-Verify for US employees.

We are committed to protecting your data. See our privacy policy [link for members] for more information.

EVALUATION PLAN

We expect the process to include the following steps, subject to minor changes:

• Application

• Test task 1

• Short interview

• Test task 2

• Final interviews (3–4)

• (possible) 1–2 day work trial

• Reference checks