---
title: 'Business Operations Manager at Constellation Institute'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/business-operations-manager-constellation-institute-berkeley-8wmbsgw004ap'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-17'
---

# Business Operations Manager at Constellation Institute

- **Company:** Constellation Institute
- **Location:** Berkeley, CA
- **Compensation:** $150k–$195k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-10
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-17
- **Apply:** https://jobs.gem.com/constellation-institute/am9icG9zdDrkyoQjX0vAzNq_DpbyfRoc

## Job description

## About the Role

As our Business Operations Manager, you'll lead a talented team, report directly to our Director of Business Operations, and have visibility across the organization. As a support function delivering on a time-sensitive and critical mission, this role will help the team make fast decisions with sound financial information, while building the financial rigor and compliance that a field under increasing scrutiny demands. We're looking for a seasoned financial operator who leads and collaborates well, in an environment that moves as quickly as the field we work in.

## Key responsibilities

Team Leadership:

- Lead and grow a small team of Business Operations generalists: coaching, performance management, workload balancing, and holding the team accountable for quality.
- Ensure process documentation is current, clear, and genuinely useful.
- Shape and update key BizOps policies, including billing and expense policies.

Finance and Accounting:

- Own month-end close and day-to-day accounting, working closely with our external accountants and the BizOps team.
- Lead annual budgeting process.
- Regularly report close to real-time budget vs actuals for team budgets.
- Own the annual financial audit and 990 filing, start to finish.
- Manage banking relationships and account administration.
- Build and maintain rolling cash flow projections.
- Support grant management for off-cycle funding.

Organizational partnership

- Partner with program and event leads so BizOps needs are built into planning and programs operate quickly and efficiently.
- Provide support to partner organizations as they build or strengthen their own business operations functions
- Take on additional BizOps projects as they come up, from negotiating a vendor contract to standing up a grant making system.

Experience:

- 5+ years working in non-profit finance, with at least 2 years in a leadership role- An ideal candidate has worked with a $20M+ budget with high transaction volume and complexity
- 3+  years supervising a team of 2 or more
- A "get to yes" mindset, paired with the judgment to know when and how to effectively deliver a no
- Experience building intuitive tools in Google Sheets or Excel for non-financial audiences
- Good judgment on speed vs. precision tradeoffs
- Experience with QuickBooks Online and [Bill.com](http://bill.com) / Divvy

## Skills

- Financial planning and analysis
- Business forecasting and program modeling
- Clear communication across internal teams and external stakeholders (auditors, accountants, vendors)
- Comfortable owning accounting operations directly, not just overseeing them
- Excellent time and project management

## About Constellation Institute

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Constellation Institute is a non-profit independent research center that develops talent, supports key organizations, and creates coordination space to ensure transformative AI is developed, deployed, and governed safely.
- **Entity Type**: Private (501(c)3 Nonprofit)
- **Headquarters**: Berkeley, California, United States
- **Founded**: Not publicly available (likely recent, based on operational trajectory)
- **Founders**: Not publicly available

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: AI Safety & Security Research, Talent Development, Field Building
- **Target Customers**: Researchers, founders, and organizations working on AI safety; the broader AI safety ecosystem (nonprofits, academia, industry, government)
- **Mission/Purpose**: To ensure transformative AI is developed, deployed, and governed safely by reducing risks through talent development, supporting key players, and creating space for coordination [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/about)

## Products & Services
- **Astra Fellowship**: A fully-funded, in-person program pairing emerging researchers with senior advisors in technical safety, governance, strategy, or field-building [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/)
- **Visiting Fellowship**: A lightly-structured 3–6 month funded fellowship for full-time AI safety researchers to connect with the Constellation network and work from the Berkeley research center [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/)
- **Generator Residency**: A three-month, in-person residency for AI safety generalists starting in Summer 2026 [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/)
- **Incubator**: Office space, operational support, and access to an expert network for the next wave of organizations working on advanced AI risks [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/)
- **Research Center**: An independent research center in Berkeley, CA where exceptional researchers, forecasters, and operators collaborate on the hardest problems in AI safety and security [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/about)
- **Convening Programs**: Curated events to upskill talent, build shared understanding, and strengthen collaboration across the field [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not applicable (Nonprofit)
- **Annual Revenue**: Not publicly available (nonprofit, funded by donations/grants)
- **Total Funding**: Not disclosed (nonprofit, 501(c)3 status confirmed)
- **Headcount**: **43 employees** with a monthly headcount growth of **+18.4%** [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/constellation-institute)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: No formal investors; network includes talent sourced from top AI safety organizations (Redwood Research, MATS Research, FAR.AI, GovAI, Center for AI Safety, University of Cambridge) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/constellation-institute)
- **Growth Signals**: 12 active job postings; monthly job posting growth of +20.0%; LinkedIn follower growth of +10.3% per month; workforce distributed across 5 countries (US, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Poland) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/constellation-institute)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Network-First Model**: Deeply embedded in the AI safety ecosystem, regularly collaborating with top researchers and thought leaders
- **Field-Building Focus**: Not just research—actively incubates new organizations and places talent in high-impact roles, creating moats through ecosystem ownership
- **Beautiful Physical Workspace**: Operates a dedicated research center in Berkeley, providing a unique collaborative environment for in-person work [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/careers)
- **Full-Stack Support**: Covers the entire lifecycle of AI safety work—from talent identification and fellowship training to organizational incubation and scaling

## Strategic Focus
- **Current Priorities**: Scaling up the talent pipeline (Astra Fellowship, Generator Residency), incubating new organizations, and facilitating field-wide coordination. Strong emphasis on in-person collaboration at the Berkeley research center.
- **Direction for Growth**: Expanding the number of fellows and residents, broadening the range of research supported (from technical safety to policy and governance), and deepening connections across the global AI safety community [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/about)

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Mission-driven, friendly team deeply driven by the work; regular collaboration with top AI safety researchers and thought leaders [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/careers)
- **Remote/Hybrid Policy**: Not explicitly stated, but the emphasis on the "beautiful physical workspace" in Berkeley and in-person programs suggests a strong preference for on-site work; however, the workforce is distributed across 5 countries, indicating some remote flexibility [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/constellation-institute)
- **Perks**:
  - Flexible time-off policy that encourages regular recharging
  - Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
  - Generous 401(k) employer match
  - Employer-paid commuter stipend (public transportation + on-site parking)
  - Delicious, healthy lunches and dinners every weekday, plus unlimited snacks & drinks [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/careers)
- **Hiring Process**: Transparent and respectful—phone screen, work test reflecting actual job tasks, interviews with teammates, and a focus on mission alignment [constellation.org](https://constellation.org/careers)
- **Engineering/Hiring Focus**: Currently hiring for operations, program coordination, events, IT/data, facilities, and talent mobilization roles; strong focus on generalists and operators who care about AI safety [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/constellation-institute)

## Sources
1. [Constellation Institute Careers Page](https://constellation.org/careers)
2. [Constellation Institute Homepage](https://constellation.org/)
3. [Constellation Institute About Page](https://constellation.org/about)
4. [Constellation Institute LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/constellation-institute)
5. [Built In Company Profile](https://builtin.com/company/constellation-institute)

## Other roles at Constellation Institute

- [Constellation Cook](https://feeny.ai/job/constellation-cook-constellation-institute-berkeley-ck4e3q5jevpg) — Berkeley, CA
- [People Operations Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-coordinator-constellation-institute-berkeley-fc14s4a6c9xp) — Berkeley, CA
- [People Operations Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-specialist-constellation-institute-berkeley-86rnkdr8xq7d) — Berkeley, CA
- [Operations Generalist](https://feeny.ai/job/operations-generalist-constellation-institute-berkeley-7a3s67d4re44) — Berkeley, CA
- [IT Coordinator / IT Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/it-coordinator-it-specialist-constellation-institute-berkeley-nwt5qegqdxp1) — Berkeley, CA
- [Business Operations Generalist](https://feeny.ai/job/business-operations-generalist-constellation-institute-berkeley-g9wx7pz5dhj7) — Berkeley, CA
- [Operations Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/operations-coordinator-constellation-institute-berkeley-z6vfxgt5tndz) — Berkeley, CA
- [Research Program Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/research-program-coordinator-constellation-institute-berkeley-hgs82507h9yv) — Berkeley, CA
- [Expression of Interest - Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/expression-of-interest-operations-constellation-institute-berkeley-2jq0e88nqkt8) — Berkeley, CA
- [Expression of Interest - Programs](https://feeny.ai/job/expression-of-interest-programs-constellation-institute-berkeley-gv01vjj81pjx) — Berkeley, CA