The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is hiring a full-time AI Industry Associate/Lead, a remote role with a preference for Europe, to develop a vision for a pro-human path for AI development built on controllable, verifiable, human-centred AI tools. FLI is open to a range of seniorities, and the exact title and scope will reflect the successful candidate's experience. At Youth Works Hub, we reviewed the vacancy: applications close on 15 November 2026.
A Pro-Human Path for AI: What This Role Is About
The AI Industry Associate/Lead will develop a vision for AI framed around controllable, verifiable, human-centred AI tools, as opposed to the development and adoption of maximally autonomous general AI systems. The role will also engage with policymakers on how AI innovation and safety regulation can go hand in hand.
🎚️ Seniority: open to a range of seniorities; the exact title and scope will reflect the successful candidate's experience
📋 Reporting line: the role reports to FLI's Head of European Policy and Research
🕒 Contract: full time
Who Is the Future of Life Institute?
FLI educates and engages lawmakers, key stakeholders and the general public about transformative technologies and their implications. It advocates for policies and approaches that mitigate catastrophic risks while advancing positive futures for humanity.
Founded in 2014, FLI is an independent non-profit working to steer transformative technology towards benefitting life and away from extreme large-scale risks. Its work includes grantmaking, educational outreach and policy engagement, and it has been featured in The Washington Post, Politico, Vox, Forbes, The Guardian, the BBC, The Economist and Wired.
The Fork in the Road FLI Wants to Address
According to FLI, humanity stands at a fork in the road with AI. One path races to replace humans as creators, caregivers, decision-makers and workers, threatening the economy, security, civil liberties, democracy and the human experience. A better path exists: trustworthy, controllable AI tools that amplify human capability, strengthen institutions and help solve problems we cannot solve alone.
This role focuses on developing and advocating a credible strategy for AI that does not depend on building maximally general, autonomous systems to replace humans wholesale. Instead, the aim is an economically powerful alternative rooted in reliable, verifiable, controllable, human-directed and purpose-driven AI.
Your Responsibilities
📐 Strategy development (as Lead): develop a rigorous argument that a credible AI strategy need not depend on building or adopting maximally general, autonomous AI systems.
🛰️ Tracking industry developments: monitor and support non-hyperscaling technical paths, including efficient/smaller models, open-source and open-science AI, physical AI/robotics, and high-value industrial and scientific data applications.
🤝 Engaging stakeholders and building coalitions: interface with policymakers interested in exploring sovereign AI strategies, including Brazil, Canada, EU Member States and the EU's AI Office in Brussels.
📝 Translating strategy into concrete asks: produce policy-ready recommendations for policymakers.
Required Qualifications
🧠 An experienced technology strategist, ideally in AI policy; this could be within industry, at a start-up or within the policy space.
⚙️ Sufficient technical fluency in advanced AI (capabilities trajectories, agentic systems, evaluation and verification methods) to engage credibly with technical experts and to hold a position against the prevailing scaling consensus.
🌐 Experience engaging policymakers outside of the US and China, or a demonstrated capacity to do so.
Skills and Qualities FLI Is Looking For
✍️ Excellent written and spoken communication, able to produce policy-ready analysis and to represent FLI in expert and/or high-level settings
🔄 Proven experience translating technical concepts to non-technical audiences
🧩 Stakeholder management and partnership building skills, ideally across institutions, industry and international partners
🚀 Independence and initiative: comfortable owning a strategy line and moving quickly in a fast-changing field
🎯 Alignment with FLI's mission of mitigating catastrophic risk while advancing positive futures
Preferred Qualifications
🎓 A graduate degree in a relevant field: economics, computer science or a technical AI discipline
💼 Previous experience at a tech start-up, or similar experience of how things get done in the technology industry
🏭 Background in, or close knowledge of, a safety-sensitive industrial sector where reliability is a hard operational requirement rather than a preference
🔬 An existing network among frontier AI researchers and relevant policymakers
Location and Start Date
📍 Location: FLI is happy to consider candidates in any location, but prefers those based in or willing to relocate to Europe.
🗓️ Start date: as soon as possible after accepting an offer.
⏳ Deadline note: FLI may move this role to rolling applications after the 15 November 2026 deadline.
How FLI Works as a Team
FLI is a largely virtual organisation, with a team of approximately 40 people distributed internationally, mostly in Europe and the US. The whole team meets in person twice a year. FLI has four offices:
🌉 Campbell, California
🏛️ Brussels, Belgium
🎡 London, UK
🗽 Washington DC
Compensation and Benefits
Exact compensation varies depending on experience and geography. Exact benefits depend on location, but typically include:
🏖️ 25 days of PTO per year
👶 Paid parental leave
🖥️ A work from home allowance for the purchase of office supplies or equipment
📚 A professional development budget
🩺 Location dependent, FLI may also cover health insurance and pension contributions
Some of FLI's Achievements
📜 Superintelligence Statement: an open letter calling for a prohibition on the development of superintelligent AI until there is strong public buy-in and scientific consensus that it can be developed safely and controllably. It has been signed by more than 130,000 people, including Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, Steve Wozniak, Richard Branson, Steve Bannon, Prince Harry and Susan Rice.
🧭 The Asilomar AI Principles: one of the earliest and most influential sets of AI governance principles.
🤲 The Pro-Human AI Declaration: a document with five guidelines on how AI development must be centred on humanity first, created during a meeting of bipartisan civil society groups spanning faith, labour and think tanks.
🎞️ "How would a nuclear war between Russia and the US affect you personally?": a scientifically accurate simulation of the consequences of nuclear war, with over 6 million views and a feature in Time Magazine.
📊 AI Safety Index: an objective rating of AI companies on key safety and security domains, as judged by experts in the field.
How to Apply
📄 Apply through FLI's website by uploading your resume.
✏️ Add a short answer (200 words or less) to: describe a time when you successfully persuaded a group of people to change course. What was your strategy and what actions did you take concretely?
🗺️ Add a short answer (200 words or less) to: how can and should states not exporting major AI models pursue "sovereign AI"?
🚫 Email applications are not accepted.
FLI aims to be an inclusive organisation and proactively seeks applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds. If you are passionate about FLI's mission and think you can succeed in this role even if you do not check all the boxes, FLI still encourages you to apply. You can find more jobs on Youth Works Hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the FLI AI Industry Associate/Lead role remote?
Yes. The role is listed as Remote (Europe). FLI considers candidates in any location but prefers those based in or willing to relocate to Europe.
What seniority level is FLI hiring for?
FLI is open to a range of seniorities. The exact title (Associate or Lead) and the scope of the role will reflect the successful candidate's experience.
What will the AI Industry Associate/Lead focus on?
Developing and advocating a credible AI strategy that does not depend on maximally general, autonomous systems, tracking non-hyperscaling technical paths, engaging policymakers on sovereign AI strategies, and producing policy-ready recommendations.
What experience is required?
Experience as a technology strategist, ideally in AI policy, technical fluency in advanced AI, and experience (or demonstrated capacity) engaging policymakers outside the US and China.
What do I need to submit?
Your resume plus two short answers of 200 words or less each: one about persuading a group to change course, and one about how states not exporting major AI models should pursue sovereign AI.
Can I apply by email?
No. Applications must be submitted through FLI's website; email applications are not accepted. Questions about the role can be sent to FLI's jobs admin address.
What benefits does FLI offer?
Benefits depend on location but typically include 25 days of PTO, paid parental leave, a work from home allowance, a professional development budget and, depending on location, health insurance and pension contributions.
Will applications stay open after the deadline?
The deadline is 15 November 2026. FLI may move the role to rolling applications after that date.
Deadline
⏳ 15 November 2026
Links
📝 Application form: https://jobs.lever.co/futureof-life/83c98c80-8756-4738-9cad-bb82f36e5432/apply
📧 Questions: jobsadmin@futureoflife.org
