The Horizon Institute for Public Service is seeking a full-time Senior Program Associate (Events) to help manage our rapidly growing events portfolio and maximize the productivity of our team.

As Senior Program Associate (Events), you will help us significantly expand our workshops portfolio and run several happy hours, retreats, and webinars in 2026. These programs involve many hundreds of attendees and dozens of senior policy speakers and government officials. You will also help us pilot a new events-heavy program for mid-career AI policy leaders, which will become a flagship Horizon program if successful. Finally, you will manage our office to foster a positive and productive working environment for our growing team.

Competitive applicants will likely have completed at least a bachelor's degree and have some relevant experience with organizing in-person and virtual events, implementing complex programs, and organizational operations. If you think the role is a great fit for your skills and interests, we encourage you to apply even if you don't have previous experience in this exact field. Our hiring process is designed to test for aptitudes and skills, not specific resume markers or past experience. Previous experience in US policy or emerging technology is helpful, but not required.

Our mission

The Horizon Institute for Public Service is a non-profit that supports the next generation of public servants with expertise in emerging technologies.

Emerging technologies, like biotechnology and artificial intelligence, are rapidly reshaping our world. The US government plays an essential role in developing and governing new technologies, crafting policies to take advantage of their benefits and avert the risks they pose. But policymakers' ability to stay ahead of the curve depends on access to the requisite expertise. And right now, that expertise is sorely lacking.

Since our launch two years ago, Horizon has helped hundreds of experts explore and launch critically needed careers in public service focused on emerging tech areas such as AI and bio. Through our fellowship program, we've helped 75+ subject-matter experts fill vital roles at top think tanks, congressional offices, and federal agencies. Our online emergingtechpolicy.org career resource has reached 70,000+ users. We've also helped more than 1,000 individuals through our online seminar series, workshops, and 1-1 advising calls, and participated in the first-ever government AI hiring fair. You can read more about our work here.

About the role

The Senior Program Associate (Events) will be a key member of a tight-knit, high-performing team at a fast-paced, growing organization. The role will be managed by Mikaela Saccoccio, Director of Programs and Events. It offers a significant opportunity for impact and personal growth, combining project management and systems design with community organizing and relationship management to supercharge our ability to help talented individuals transition into impactful policy careers. It's an excellent platform for advancing to project and program management, chief of staff, or senior events and operations positions at other high-impact nonprofits, government offices, or industry.

Responsibilities

• Events Management (70%)

  • Project manage our webinar series and happy hours, including developing detailed timelines, creating and maintaining task lists, leading project coordination meetings with stakeholders, delegating tasks, and managing competing priorities to ensure seamless execution of multiple concurrent events in order to help educate our broader network about tech policy and strengthen connections within our fellowship community.

  • Manage event logistics and provide comprehensive on-site workshop support, including hiring and overseeing vendors, researching and recommending accommodation, transportation, and catering, and creating user-friendly run-of-show documents that outline event flow and contingency plans. During events—which typically happen in the evenings and on weekends and may involve occasional travel—arrive early, execute setup and cleanup, and troubleshoot issues and own the solutions to ensure a positive participant experience and a light lift for others on staff. Your role supporting workshops will help enable dozens of career transitions per year.

  • Support attendee and speaker communications throughout the event lifecycle, including helping develop and