Jobs and Careers
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Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
FathomSF Bay Area, United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 30 Mar 2026
About the role
About Fathom
Fathom is an AI non-profit building the solutions we need to thrive in an AI world. Our mission is to find, build, and scale the solutions needed for our transition to a world with AI. We push to go beyond conceptualizing solutions—striving to actually make them happen.We do this work through extensive convening, listening, and research, paired with a culture of execution, operational excellence, and a builder's mindset. With $25 million in initial funding, we're positioned to turn this vision into reality by building a team that brings together deep subject matter expertise with a "doer" mindset to create and build together the world we collectively want to see.Position Overview
The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will play a pivotal role in leading Fathom's technical strategy and initiatives, with immediate focus on successfully launching our Multi-stakeholder Regulatory Organization (MRO) project. This executive position requires a visionary leader who can translate complex technical concepts into actionable standards and policies, build robust technical partnerships, and establish Fathom as a thought leader in the AI governance space. The CTO will work closely with the executive team to ensure that Fathom's technical initiatives align with our mission of shaping responsible AI governance.Key Responsibilities
Strategic Influence and Thought Leadership
- Represent Fathom and the MRO in public and private forums, advocating for the organization's goals and promoting the adoption of standards and robust audits and evaluations
- Provide strategic guidance for the MRO's development and long-term sustainability through the lens of technical requirements and forward-looking AI capabilities
- Maintain a forward-looking perspective to continuously refine technical strategy, ensuring that the organization remains at the forefront of AI innovation and safety
- Identify the technical needs of the MRO and recruit talent and/or initiate projects (such as RFPs for specific research) to fulfill these needs
- Contribute to Fathom's overall technical vision and strategy beyond the MRO project
Technical Governance Leadership
- Form and engage with an independent board of AI experts and industry leaders to establish gold standards of care for AI companies
- Lead efforts to set gold standards in AI safety and evaluations, including:
- Mapping standards to current law
- Identifying the most impactful gold standards for reasonable care
- Determining best practices to assess adherence to standards
- Developing new evaluation or auditing capabilities when needed
- Establish frameworks for collecting critical information from AI companies to track standards
- Develop "audit the auditor" mechanisms to ensure accountability and maintain integrity in standards evaluation
- Translate technical concepts into policy recommendations that are implementable and effective
Technical Partnerships and Ecosystem Development
- Lead initiatives to stimulate the creation and growth of a technical marketplace for evaluations, safety organizations, tools, and research
- Oversee grantmaking programs to fill gaps in AI safety and evaluation capabilities and catalyze innovation
- Build and maintain strong relationships with AI industry leaders, startups, academic institutions, and international bodies
- Recruit top technical talent to work on Fathom and MRO initiatives
- Identify strategic partnership opportunities to enhance Fathom's technical capabilities and impact
Research, Collaboration, and Interdisciplinary Engagement
- Serve as a key liaison among technical experts in academia, industry, and public policy
- Provide technical expertise and authorship for reports and papers, including mapping legal requirements to technical requirements
- Drive collaborative research and pilot projects that validate and refine gold standards for AI safety
- Engage diverse stakeholders to integrate emerging insights and technical innovations into standards development
- Collaborate with the research team to ensure technical accuracy and relevance of Fathom's publications
Qualifications
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