About the role
We're hiring a Program Launch Lead / Director to build HIP's next programs. You'll build, test and adjust as you go, during development and while running the first rounds yourself, with the goal of handing each program over to our programs team once it's running well.
This role is for someone entrepreneurial who enjoys building something new and optimizing for high impact. This is a role with real ownership from day one, on a small, high-trust team.
We're considering two levels for this role:
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Program Launch Lead: you'll focus on building and launching our two-hour introductory course and our super-scalable careers program, the next version of our self-guided Career Impact Track. Once they're running well, you can choose to stay with them or move on to the next thing HIP builds.
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Program Launch Director: you'll join our leadership team and, rather than starting from a set brief, research what professionals considering a high-impact career change need, test for product-market fit, and decide what HIP builds first and then build, run and adapt it yourself until it clearly works. Once a program is running well, you'll hand it over and move on to the next one, for example an AI-powered version of the Talent Directory, a headhunting service for hard-to-fill senior roles, or a placement program.
Let us know in your application which level you're aiming for. We'll also discuss this with you during the process.
What you'll do
As Program Launch Lead
Working closely with our Director of Programs, you'll:
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Build our new programs: design and launch our new programs, such as the two-hour "start here" course for professionals who are new to high-impact careers, as an easy first step into HIP's programs, and our super-scalable careers program, a platform that tens of thousands of professionals can use for their high-impact career transition, replacing our current self-guided Career Impact Track.
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Build, test and adjust: run the first rounds of each program yourself, track sign-ups, completion, giving pledges and career changes, and use what you learn to decide what to change, keep or stop.
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Hand over well: set each program up so our programs team can run it after your initial rounds of testing and adapting, with clear processes, measurement from day one, and AI enablement by design.
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Stay or build what's next: once the programs run well, either keep running and improving them, or move on to scope, test and launch HIP's next programs, such as an AI-powered version of the Talent Directory, a headhunting service for hard-to-fill senior roles, or a placement program.
As Program Launch Director
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Market research: find out what professionals considering a high-impact career change actually want and need, and how we can best support them, so we build the right programs.
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Product-market fit: design and run the tests that tell us whether a program works before we scale it, and decide when it's ready.
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What to build first: set the strategy for which programs HIP builds and in what order, together with our Executive Director and Director of Programs.
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Build, test and adjust: build and launch what we decide on, run the first rounds yourself, track sign-ups, completion, giving pledges and career changes, and keep adapting the program until it clearly works.
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Hand over and move on: set each program up so our programs team can run it, with clear processes, measurement from day one, and AI enablement by design, then move on to the next one.
What success looks like
In your first month
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You'll get up to speed on our programs, including the IAP and the Career Impact Track, and talk to alumni and participants about what they need.
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As Program Launch Lead, you'll have a plan for building the two-hour course and a high-level plan for the super-scalable careers program.
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As Program Launch Director, you'll have a research plan for what professionals need from our new programs.
By month three
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As Program Launch Lead, you'll have launched the two-hour course, started building the super-scalable careers program and begun testing it with early users.
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As Program Launch Director, you'll have shared first research findings and a proposal for what we build first.
By month six
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As Program Launch Lead, you'll have launched the super-scalable careers program, with measurement in place from day one, and started implementing the first learnings from running it.
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As Program Launch Director, you'll have launched the first program you chose, with a clear view of its product-market fit, and started implementing the first learnings from running it.
About you
We think you'll thrive in this role if you:
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Are entrepreneurial: you've built a program, product or initiative from scratch, and you enjoy the building phase most.
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Have taken a product, program or service to product-market fit: you've tested early versions with real users and changed course based on what you learned.
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Are comfortable with ambiguity, and can take an idea to a working first version quickly.
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Have a strong sense for what makes a program engaging and useful for the people in it.
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Are data-minded and enjoy experimenting to find out what works.
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Set programs up so that others can run them well.
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Are comfortable using (or excited to learn) AI tools like Claude Code.
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Are excited about helping experienced professionals move into high-impact careers.
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Work well in a remote, fast-paced, small team setting.
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Are fluent in English.
For the Program Launch Director level, we're also looking for:
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Experience in market research, user research or product strategy.
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A track record of deciding what to build, and what not to, based on evidence.
These aren't required, but would be highly beneficial:
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Experience designing and running online courses, cohort-based programs or learning communities.
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Familiarity with the high-impact careers space.
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Experience in career transition coaching.
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Growth experience, e.g. user acquisition, onboarding or funnel optimization for a product or program.
Not sure you tick every box? We'd still love to hear from you. Many excellent candidates will bring other strengths and experiences that make them a great fit for this role.
We're committed to building a diverse team and especially encourage candidates from backgrounds that are underrepresented in our field to apply. If you're excited about our mission, please don't hesitate to throw your hat in the ring!
Role details
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Hours: ideally full-time, but we're open to part-time arrangements for outstanding applicants.
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Location: fully remote, from anywhere. Ideally you'll have at least 2 hours of overlap with 9am to 6pm Central European Time, and reliable internet access.
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Travel: you'll need to be comfortable traveling for 3 to 5 in-person conferences and co-working sessions per year.
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Start date: as soon as possible, ideally by February 2027, but we're open to a later start for the right candidate.
What we offer
Salary
Our typical full-time salary range is $60,000 to $80,000 USD pre-tax, depending on location, experience and fit for the role (prorated for part-time). For outstanding candidates, salaries up to $90,000 USD may be considered. At the Program Launch Director level, our typical full-time salary range is $80,000 to $100,000 USD, and salaries up to $120,000 USD may be considered for outstanding candidates.
Benefits
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A chance to help shape an ambitious nonprofit at a pivotal moment in its growth, focused on supporting professionals to do as much good as possible.
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A high-autonomy culture: real ownership of your projects and decisions, with clear goals and supportive check-ins.
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A fully remote team with flexible hours.
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A generous self-managed time off policy, including 30 days' vacation (local public holidays included).
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A $1,000 USD tech stipend for work and office equipment.
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A collaborative, caring team that values respect and a healthy work-life balance.
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Plenty of opportunities for growth and professional development.
Our hiring process
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Application: apply by Sunday, November 1. We'll get back to you within two weeks of the deadline.
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Test task: selected candidates complete a test task of about 3 hours.
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Interviews: shortlisted candidates have 1 or 2 virtual interviews with our Director of Programs and/or Executive Director, followed by reference checks.
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Offer: we aim to make an offer by mid-December, for a start as soon as possible, ideally by February 2027.
About High Impact Professionals
High Impact Professionals (HIP) is an international nonprofit that helps experienced professionals use their careers to work on the world's most pressing problems. We've helped more than 140 professionals move into high-impact roles and facilitated more than $5 million in counterfactual impact. Our 2025 impact report has the detail.
More funding is coming into high-impact work, and organizations are hiring faster than they planned to. Since 2025 our team has grown from 2 to 5 staff, and over the next two years we plan to grow to around 14, run twice as many rounds of the IAP with twice as many participants in each, launch new programs, and support hundreds of career transitions a year.
Impact Accelerator Program. Structured career transition support that has helped over 100 experienced professionals move into high-impact roles, joining organizations like GiveWell, Epoch AI, MATS, Rethink Priorities and Shrimp Welfare Project, founding high-impact charities, or serving on the boards of impactful nonprofits. We've grown it from 19 participants in 2023 to 350 in 2026, while only doubling the team size.
Talent Directory. Over 5,500 professionals keen to join high-impact organizations. Since May 2026 our automated matching has supported over 120 organizations with around 350 roles, and the directory has helped over 30 professionals land a role at a high-impact organization.
Pledge Club. We've inspired over 130 professionals to take a giving pledge, including 39 🔸10% Pledges, representing millions in future donations to high-impact causes.
We've done this with a remote team that was just 1.6 FTE until this year, supported by a community of IAP alumni facilitators and partners and an increasingly automated operations stack. Your work here will have real counterfactual impact, and your contribution will be visible from day one.
HIP was incubated through Ambitious Impact's Charity Entrepreneurship program in 2021 and has since received funding from organizations like Coefficient Giving and EA Funds, as well as individual donors.
Questions?
We're happy to answer them. Email info@highimpactprofessionals.org with any questions about the role or the process. You can also join one of our applicant Q&A webinars on Tuesday, October 27, at 9:00 UTC (2:30 pm India time) or 16:00 UTC (12:00 pm US East Coast).