The posting
ABOUT ASTERA:
Astera is a private foundation on a mission to steer science and technology toward a better future. We believe the coming years will bring an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancement as exponential progress in AI converges with central advances in other fields to accelerate innovation. This inflection point provides an unparalleled opportunity to fundamentally rethink the institutions, systems, and tools that drive progress. We have committed a $3.5B endowment to that work and fit the form of our support to the function it serves: grants, investments, and in-house research programs. We accept meaningful risk in the research we back and expect some of it to fail because transformative ideas are rarely the ones already proven. Our projects, and the foundation itself, operate like high-velocity startups, with a high performance bar and competitive compensation to match. We are searching for leaders who are compelled by the challenge of driving high-impact change in the way science is funded, conducted, and communicated. You can read more about our mission, vision, and programming at astera.org/vision http://astera.org/vision.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Open Science Operations Lead is the day-to-day leader of Open Science at Astera, reporting to the Head of Open Science. You'll be the first point of contact for open science questions from staff, grantees, and the open science community. You'll own how Astera's open science policy works in practice, run the intake of outside ideas and partnerships, and build and manage a small team. You should be comfortable adopting and operationalizing the current open science policy https://astera.org/open-science-policy/ and vision throughout Astera.
This is a leadership role, not a strategy-setting one. The Head of Open Science sets the strategy, policy, and scientific focus areas. Your job is to turn them into reality across a fast-growing organization, use good judgment on the long tail of cases the policy doesn't spell out, and know which decisions to escalate. It's also a hands-on role: alongside leading the team, you'll do much of the operational and administrative work yourself. You'll work closely with the Head of Open Science's Chief of Staff, Astera's DC-based policy lead (who owns government partnerships), and The Stacks team.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Lead and grow the team
- Hire, manage, and develop the Open Science team, including sourcing candidates, conducting initial interviews, coordinating interview logistics, and synthesizing feedback.
- Set priorities, give feedback, and own performance for your reports.
- Onboard new staff, residents, fellows, and grantees into Astera's open science practices and expectations.
Own the open science policy in practice
- Help make open science central to how Astera works. Partner with program and team leads across the organization so their work is shared openly, and shared well.
- Be the first point of contact across Astera for questions about the open science policy and how it applies.
- Use judgment on edge cases. Hold teams to the policy, and go further: help them build open science into how projects are designed from the start, not bolted on at the end. Escalate the decisions that need the Head of Open Science.
- Build the training, documentation, and lightweight processes that help teams work openly by default.
Run Open Science operations
- Run day-to-day operations for Open Science: track initiatives, manage priorities across multiple workstreams, and follow through on action items.
- Build and maintain lightweight systems (intake tracking, decision logs, meeting notes, CRM-style records) so activities and relationships stay organized and transparent.
- Spot operational gaps or bottlenecks in open science programs and propose improvements to workflows, documentation, or coordination.
- Draft summaries, briefing documents, and internal notes on open science initiatives, partnerships, and decisions.
Run intake and evaluation
- Be the primary contact for researchers, tool builders, and organizations pitching open science tools, platforms, or initiatives to Astera.
- Screen proposals, test whether they hold up, and bring clear recommendations to leadership.
- Keep track of open opportunities and relationships so nothing goes unanswered.
Community & partnerships
- Act as a liaison between Astera and members of the open science community, including researchers, tool developers, funders, and collaborators.
- Build trusted relationships with external stakeholders through thoughtful communication, responsiveness, and follow-through.
- Represent Astera’s open science values and priorities clearly and consistently in external interactions.
- When appropriate, attend meetings, workshops, and events on behalf of the Head of Open Science, capturing context, decisions, and next steps.
- Communicate outcomes and recommendations back to leadership clearly and accurately, exercising good judgment about when to escalate questions or decisions.
SCOPE OF THE ROLE
This role is:
- Leading Open Science day to day across Astera, with real ownership of your team and your areas.
- Broad and varied: policy questions, community relationships, evaluating new ideas, and the operations that hold it all together.
- A chance to shape how open science works in practice at a foundation that takes it seriously.
- Close partnership with a Head of Open Science who has a clear, strongly held vision.
What goes to the Head of Open Science: considerations around the open science policy, navigating complex collaborations, public positions on Open Science at Astera, and anything that would set a precedent.
QUALIFICATIONS:
REQUIRED:
- Minimum Bachelor’s degree AND 5+ years of full-time work experience in research, research operations, program leadership, or similar, including 2+ years directly managing people.
- A background in science, open science, or both. You understand how research is actually done and shared.
- Real conviction about and demonstrated familiarity with open science concepts and ecosystems (e.g., open access, open data, open tools, preprints, research infrastructure).
- Strong judgment: you know when to decide, when to escalate, and how to explain the difference.
- Clear, concise writing and reasoning. You can turn a messy situation into a clear recommendation.
- Self-directed, high-agency with operational range. You get things done across many areas at once and are comfortable with ambiguity.
- High judgment and discretion when representing the organization or leadership externally.
- Excellent communication skills, capable of engaging both technical and non-technical audiences.
PREFERRED:
- Experience interfacing with researchers, tool builders, or funders in open science or research infrastructure contexts.
- Prior experience operationalizing institutional policies through training, documents, or other materials.
- Prior experience conducting interviews, evaluating proposals, or supporting hiring processes.
- Comfort synthesizing complex information into clear summaries and recommendations.
- Experience working closely with senior leadership or serving in a coordinating or “right-hand” role.
- Strong interest in the future of scientific institutions, incentives, and knowledge production.
LOCATION
This role is in-person at our office in Emeryville, CA.
Astera Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive team.
