Operations Associate, Science Projects

The Opportunity

The foundation is seeking an Operations Associate to join our Science Projects team within the Science Program. The foundation’s Science Program fosters pathbreaking scientific discovery and a vibrant ecosystem for science.  Our Science Projects team aims to identify and support researchers in various scientific fields that can drive significant advances.

Operations Associates at the foundation provide operational and administrative support for program staff. In this role, you will provide support to the Science Program, with primary focus on Science Projects, across the full grant lifecycle from development through management, by coordinating day-to-day operations, strengthening team processes, and supporting financial and grantmaking workflows. You will also contribute to budget management, monitoring and evaluation, and the team's planning efforts.

This role suits a collaborative, detail-oriented professional who enjoys bringing structure to complex work, anticipating needs, and enabling others to do their best work. The position blends team operations, grantmaking support, financial coordination, project management, and process improvement to keep people, information, and priorities aligned as the program advances its goals.

This Operations Associate reports to the Program Officer that oversees Science Projects, with a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Science Program Manager on operational and financial management. The role also involves close collaboration with others in the Science Program and across the foundation.

This role is based in Palo Alto, California, at the foundation’s main office. We operate under a hybrid work model that combines flexibility with meaningful in-person collaboration. Staff are required to work and reside within a reasonable driving distance of the Palo Alto office, and this role will work onsite in Palo Alto a minimum of four days each month. Additional on-site presence is required during the weeks of the May, August, and November board meetings and periodically throughout the year as business needs require.

What You’ll Do

Team Operations

• Develop and implement processes, timelines, analyses, and templates to support and enhance team operations, in particular regard to grant submissions, internal deadlines, team deliverables, spending, and management of active grants. Use good judgment, with understanding of context, to identify priorities and strengthen team operations.
• Manage internal team processes ensuring that tasks and responsibilities are clear, and deadlines are met.
• Facilitate team coordination, work plans, internal functional relationships, knowledge management, and tracking and accountability of action items.
• Track operating budget and grantmaking allocations, ensuring informed financial decisions of the Program Officer and regular coordination with the Program Manager.
• Exercise judgment within defined internal grant procedures and practices to determine appropriate courses of action. Serve as key internal contact for the team, solving problems and consulting with Grants Administration and Program Manager as needed.
• Collaborate with the Program Officer in the formulation and implementation of team processes and, with the Program Manager and other Associates, in the development and implementation of program-wide processes (e.g., grant submission flow, grant sign-off, grant document templates).
• Coordinate team activities, organize team meetings and calendars, maintain meeting agendas, create and distribute meeting notes and synthesis documents, maintain action items for the team and carry out other adm