Application Guide
How to Apply for Head of the Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund
at Centre for Effective Altruism
🏢 About Centre for Effective Altruism
The Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) is a unique nonprofit that serves as the backbone of the effective altruism movement, coordinating and supporting a global community focused on solving the world's most pressing problems. Working at CEA means you'll be at the heart of a high-impact, intellectually rigorous, and collaborative environment where your work directly amplifies the efforts of thousands of EA community members.
About This Role
As Head of the EA Infrastructure Fund, you'll lead the strategic allocation of resources to build and strengthen the global EA community, supporting students and young professionals to become world-class researchers, entrepreneurs, and leaders. This role is critical in ensuring that funding goes to the highest-impact projects and that CEA's programs evolve based on feedback and evidence, making it a high-leverage position for shaping the future of the EA movement.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might start with reviewing grant applications and discussing them with the team, followed by a meeting with a grantee to provide feedback and support. Afternoon could involve analyzing impact data from past grants, updating fund strategy documents, and collaborating with other CEA teams to align on community-building priorities. Throughout the day, you'd engage in asynchronous communication with remote colleagues and external partners.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Centre for Effective Altruism Is Looking For
- Proven experience in fund management or resource allocation, ideally within a high-impact or philanthropic context, with a track record of making evidence-based decisions.
- Deep alignment with effective altruism principles, including a commitment to using reason and evidence to do the most good, and familiarity with key EA concepts like cause prioritization and cost-effectiveness.
- Strong collaborative skills and a supportive, learning-focused mindset, with experience mentoring or fostering growth in others, especially in a remote team environment.
- Strategic thinking ability to improve CEA's programs and overall strategy, with comfort using data and feedback loops to iterate and improve.
📝 Tips for Applying to Centre for Effective Altruism
Explicitly connect your past experience in fund management or resource allocation to EA concepts, showing how you've applied cost-effectiveness or impact evaluation in previous roles.
Demonstrate your understanding of CEA's specific programs (e.g., the Infrastructure Fund, Community Building Grants) by mentioning them in your cover letter or resume, and suggest how you might improve them.
Highlight any experience working remotely or with distributed teams, and emphasize your communication and self-management skills.
Show that you've engaged with the EA community beyond just reading about it—mention attending EA events, contributing to EA forums, or volunteering for EA-aligned projects.
Provide concrete examples of how you've used feedback to improve a strategy or program, as the role emphasizes continuous improvement and collaborative growth.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Your motivation for working at CEA specifically, not just EA in general, and how your skills in fund management can advance CEA's mission.", "Your experience with evidence-based decision-making and resource allocation, with specific examples of high-impact choices you've made.", 'Your ability to foster a supportive and learning-oriented environment, perhaps through mentoring or team-building experiences.', 'Your strategic vision for the Infrastructure Fund—how you would prioritize funding to maximize community growth and long-term impact.']
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Read CEA's annual reports and blog posts to understand their current strategy, key programs, and recent changes or challenges.
- → Familiarize yourself with the EA Infrastructure Fund's past grants and impact evaluations to see what types of projects have been funded and why.
- → Follow discussions on the EA Forum about community building and infrastructure to understand current debates and priorities in the EA community.
- → Research CEA's values and culture, including their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and how they foster a supportive environment.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Overemphasizing personal career goals or generic leadership experience without connecting them to EA-specific impact and CEA's mission.
- Proposing radical changes to the fund's strategy without first demonstrating an understanding of its current operations and rationale.
- Showing a lack of familiarity with EA concepts or using buzzwords incorrectly, which signals insufficient engagement with the community.
📅 Application Timeline
⏰ Deadline: August 11, 2026
We recommend applying at least a few days early to avoid last-minute technical issues.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Centre for Effective Altruism!