AI Partnerships Lead

About the company

Blue Rose Research builds data and AI tools that help Democrats win elections. Our team combines engineering, data science, and political strategy to power decisions for the country's top campaigns and progressive organizations. We forecast elections, test ads, and use generative AI to help campaigns understand what's happening in the news and respond fast with messages that actually work. We have guided how hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in modern campaigns. We're a small, mission-driven team that builds fast, experiments boldly, and helps progressives communicate and win—guided by curiosity, purpose, and a genuine desire to use technology for good.

Your tasks

Blue Rose Research is hiring an AI Partnerships Lead to build our external relationships, help lead AI client work, and coordinate AI research and advice across the firm. This person speaks both languages: they are as comfortable with AI safety researchers, technologists, and philanthropic funders in San Francisco as they are with policymakers, Hill staff, and political strategists in Washington. They will meet in person with AI safety organizations, funders, and allies, learn what those partners most need to know, and turn those conversations into sharp research questions our team can answer with polling and message testing.

Reporting to the Director of External Affairs, the Lead will help coordinate all work on AI-related projects and track incoming AI questions across Blue Rose to help set research priorities and turn findings into useful guidance for clients and partners. They will work closely with our leadership and research team to decide what we study, bring findings back to partners, and make sure our research shapes real decisions.

Relationship Building & Partner Management

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with AI safety organizations, AI policy groups, philanthropic funders, and political allies
• Take regular in-person meetings in San Francisco, Washington, DC, and elsewhere, and serve as Blue Rose's main point of contact for these partners
• Keep partner relationships organized by following up after meetings, tracking commitments and timelines, and keeping leadership informed
• Represent Blue Rose Research at convenings, briefings, and conferences in both the AI and political communities

Turning Conversations into Research

• Turn partner conversations into concrete, testable research questions, and work with our research team to scope polls, message tests, and other studies that answer them
• Help leadership weigh and prioritize research requests from partners and funders
• Brief partners and funders on findings in plain language, adjusted for the audience, whether that is an AI lab policy team, a foundation program officer, or a campaign strategist
• Draft memos, briefing materials, and summaries that make our research easy to use

Coordinate across AI Client Work

• Help support AI client engagements from the initial question through research design, delivery, and follow-up, working with our research team, technical teams, and existing client leads
• Take responsibility for project scope, timelines, and client communication so incoming AI work has a clear owner and delivers useful answers
• Lead client briefings and turn findings into practical recommendations on AI policy, politics, and communications

Coordinating Blue Rose's AI Work

• Track incoming AI questions and commitments across clients, funders, partners, and internal teams, including who is responsible, what is due, and where requests overlap
• Review AI memos, decks, and talking points with research and client leads before delivery to ensure recommendations are accurate, current, and tailored to each audience
• Help leadership prioritize requests and build on research already completed, while respecting client confidentiality and firewall boundaries

Strategy & Landscape

• Map the AI safety, AI policy, and funder landscape: who is working on what, what they need, and where Blue Rose's research can be most useful
• Spot emerging debates and opportunities early and flag them for leadership
• Help shape Blue Rose's AI research agenda with leadership and the research team

Requirements

• Fluent in SF and DC: You understand the AI safety and tech world, including its people, organizations, debates, and vocabulary, and you understand how Washington politics and policymaking work. You can translate between the two.
• Polling Experience: Hands-on experience with polling, survey research, or message testing. You know what makes a good research question and what a poll can and cannot answer.
• Experience: Typically 6+ years of professional experience in politics, policy, philanthropy, research, or the tech sector
• Relationship Builder: A track record of earning the trust of senior leaders, funders, and organizational partners. People return your calls.
• Good Listener: You can tell the difference between what someone asks for and what they actually need to know
• Communication Skills: A clear writer and speaker who can explain research findings to both technical and political audiences
• Judgment & Discretion: Comfortable handling sensitive conversations, confidential information, and partners whose interests do not always line up
• Self-Starter: Proactive and organized, with strong follow-through and the ability to work independently with minimal direction
• Mission-Driven: You care about making sure the public's views shape how AI is built, funded, and governed
• Client Research Leadership: Experience leading client research projects from scoping through delivery, working with researchers to turn findings into recommendations
• Coordination: Experience managing multiple concurrent requests, tracking commitments, and keeping teams aligned on research priorities and recommendations

Bonus Points

• Existing relationships in the AI safety and AI policy communities, or with the funders who support them
• Experience at a polling firm, research organization, or data-driven political organization
• Experience in government, on Capitol Hill, or on a political campaign
• Experience in fundraising, development, or funder relations
• Based in San Francisco

What we offer

• Salary: $150,000 - $200,000 annual compensation commensurate with experience
• Benefits: We offer medical, dental, vision, 401k match, 20 weeks paid parental leave, fertility and family-building support through Maven Clinic, and unlimited PTO.
• Work Setup: Remote team with offices in NYC and DC, and regular in-person meetups. This role involves frequent in-person meetings and regular travel between San Francisco and Washington, DC. Strong preference for someone based in one of those two cities.
• Impact: You will shape what Blue Rose asks the public about AI, and make sure the answers reach the people deciding how AI is built, funded, and governed

Other

Note: We are currently collecting resumes for this role; active hiring will likely begin in December. Details of role may be revised when hiring begins.

Candidates must be authorized to work lawfully in the United States.