General Application

Astera is a private foundation on a mission to steer science and technology toward a better future. We believe the coming years will bring an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancement as exponential progress in AI converges with central advances in other fields to accelerate innovation. This inflection point provides an unparalleled opportunity to fundamentally rethink the institutions, systems, and tools that drive progress. We have committed a $3.5B endowment to that work and fit the form of our support to the function it serves: grants, investments, and in-house research programs. We accept meaningful risk in the research we back and expect some of it to fail because transformative ideas are rarely the ones already proven. Our projects, and the foundation itself, operate like high-velocity startups, with a high performance bar and competitive compensation to match. We are searching for leaders who are compelled by the challenge of driving high-impact change in the way science is funded, conducted, and communicated. You can read more about our mission, vision, and programming at astera.org/vision.

We believe an abundant future for all is possible – but not inevitable. To bring it about, we must rebuild the machinery of science to be more efficient, scalable, and open. We need visionary leaders who are compelled by the challenge of leveraging all the resources at our disposal to drive transformative change in the way science is funded, conducted, and communicated.

Astera is currently seeking candidates for the roles listed on its main careers page. If you think there's a compelling case for a role we haven't listed there yet, though, we want to hear from you! In addition to your CV, please send us no more than a paragraph on the role you think we should consider -- if we're interested in exploring it further, we'll reach out!

Please note that Astera is headquartered in Emeryville, California, and all roles are in-person. This is not an application to a specific job at Astera, and we will only reply to these submissions if we're interested in further exploration. Please keep an eye on our job board for future role announcements.