Program Associate/Program Manager (Talent and Strategic Partnerships)

Title: Program Associate/Program Manager (Talent and Strategic Partnerships)

Salary: $100,000-$160,000+ (incl. healthcare and retirement contributions)

• Program Associate: $100,000-$125,000+
• Program Manager: $120,000-$160,000+

Location: In-person, Washington, DC; visa sponsorship available

Job Type: Full-time

Application Deadline:  Sunday, August 23, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET

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The Horizon Institute for Public Service is seeking a full-time Program Associate/Program Manager (Talent and Strategic Partnerships) to build and own talent pipelines for future emerging technology policy leaders. 

The work will be cross-cutting, with a focus on getting maximum results. You’ll source promising candidates, evaluate and select applicants for programs, advise people transitioning into AI policy, and support headhunts for critical roles. You will also deepen partnerships, for example with key talent sources and with hiring managers outside and inside government, building relationships with congressional offices, senior agency officials, and nonprofit leaders. To ensure a bipartisan and balanced field, your work will focus on high-priority groups, such as conservatives, who are traditionally underrepresented in emerging tech policy conversations and programs.

We are open to a wide range of candidates, from exceptional recent graduates to more experienced professionals. Competitive applicants will most likely have 1-4+ years of relevant work experience, in areas like talent development, recruiting, coalition building, or policy work. Early-career applicants will likely be considered for this role at the Program Associate tier, while candidates with more experience may be considered for the Program Manager tier. 

If you think the role is a great fit for your skills and interests, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t have previous experience in this exact field. Our hiring process is designed to test for aptitudes and skills, not specific resume markers.

Our mission

Emerging technologies like AI are rapidly reshaping our world. The US government plays an essential role in developing and governing such technologies. But policymakers’ ability to stay ahead of the curve depends on access to the requisite expertise—and right now, that expertise is sorely lacking. Horizon exists to close this gap by supporting the next generation of emerging technology policy leaders.

Since our launch three years ago, we’ve helped hundreds of professionals explore and transition into public service careers. Through our fellowship program, we’ve helped 100+ subject-matter experts fill vital roles at top think tanks, in Congress, and in agencies across government. Our online career resources have reached 150,000+ users and we’ve supported over 1,000 individuals through events and advising and headhunting services. We participated in the first-ever government AI hiring fair and run the AI Policy Leadership Network. We plan to both scale these existing programs and launch several more exciting new projects this year. You can read more about our programs and impact in our 2025 year in review.

About the role

The Program Associate/Program Manager (Talent and Strategic Partnerships) will report to Horizon’s Director of Partnerships. Your day-to-day will span the full talent lifecycle: proactively sourcing new leads for Horizon’s programs, evaluating candidates, advising people navigating career transitions, supporting headhunts for impactful roles, and keeping the talent database and landscape resources behind all of this current and reliable. You will also build strategic relationships with key individuals and organizations in the emerging tech policy ecosystem to enable your talent-related work, and discover partnership opportunities for Horizon and others.

To ensure a bipartisan and balanced field, Horizon works with policymakers and institutions across the political spectrum. Your work will focus on high-priority groups, such as conservatives, who are traditionally underrepresented in emerging tech policy conversations and programs.

The role combines talent identification and vetting, networking and relationship building, and some writing and data management. You will be able to grow into significant independent ownership of high-impact projects, including end-to-end ownership of headhunts for senior government roles or entire programs. This role is an excellent platform for advancing to senior roles in policy, government, or political campaigns, and to leadership roles in civil society or the private sector.

Responsibilities

Talent sourcing and pipeline development: 

• Map the emerging tech policy ecosystem for promising sources of talent — individuals, programs, and organizations — and build trusted relationships with them so that Horizon stays current on the field, hears early about programs and openings, and gets a steady flow of high-quality referrals. 
• Generate leads for Horizon’s programs, including the Horizon Fellowship, the Career Accelerator, and the AI Policy Leadership Network, through targeted outreach and referral generation. When a promising pocket of talent surfaces, reach out, learn each person’s skills and interests, and figure out where they could best plug in.

Advising and headhunting support: 

• Advise program participants, alumni, and other promising people who come onto Horizon’s radar — both those breaking into emerging tech policy and those already in the field thinking about their next move. Prep before calls, give high-context advice on live opportunities, offer feedback and frameworks as people evaluate different options, and own follow-up: introductions, resources, and logged next steps. 
• On the headhunting side, work directly with hiring managers across executive branch agencies, congressional offices and committees, leading think tanks, and other organizations to understand their talent gaps and open roles, then pull and refine shortlists from our talent database, answer questions, make introductions, and iterate.

Candidate evaluation and tracking systems: 

• Get to know the people on Horizon’s radar: run short discovery calls with sourced leads to understand their skills, backgrounds, and motivations, and support application vetting across Horizon’s programs. 
• Write calibrated assessments that inform selection decisions, and build deep familiarity with the institutions, networks, and policy debates in different corners of the ecosystem — becoming the team’s go-to resource for evaluating candidates’ fit within them.
• Build and maintain the resources this work runs on — internal talent dashboards, landscape overviews, and career primers for advisees and incoming fellows — and keep the talent database current after calls, events, and program cycles so the whole team can act efficiently on accurate information. Monitor key publications, newsletters, and policy conversations.

Partnerships and special projects: 

• Support the Director of Partnerships in building meaningful relationships, as well as spotting gaps in the emerging tech policy ecosystem and helping fill them. The work is ad hoc and varied by design: you might research a question about the policy talent landscape, scope a potential new program or convening, prep materials for a meeting and own the follow-up with key partners and stakeholders. This is the most variable part of the portfolio and will flex with organizational priorities.

As a small, nimble, and fast-moving team, we are open to adjusting the role based on an excellent candidate’s profile and interests, and you should expect to occasionally take on work beyond what’s listed here. The exact mix of work will evolve based on your strengths, your interests, and Horizon’s needs.

You may be a good fit for this role if you

• Get energy from talent-spotting and relationship building: you love figuring out what someone is great at and where they could have the most impact, and you enjoy building the pipelines that connect people to opportunities
• Are comfortable and credible engaging with people and institutions from across the political spectrum, including conservatives 
• Write quickly and well: you can turn a verbal braindump or rough notes into a clean document (including using AI to do so more efficiently while maintaining quality standards)
• Are organized and proactive, with strong follow-through and instinctive data hygiene
• Handle sensitive information about people’s careers and confidential organizational context with a high degree of discretion
• Have a demonstrated interest in AI and emerging technology policy (prior experience is a bonus but not required as long as you can learn quickly on the job)

Additionally, Horizon has a strong team culture, and we expect you would fit well if you:

• Are entrepreneurial and a team player, adapting to new responsibilities as our fast-growing organization’s needs may change over time
• Are growth-minded and excited to give and receive feedback frequently in order to maximize performance and impact across our team 
• Are motivated by Horizon’s mission and excited to be part of a public service-oriented, user-focused, low-ego, and collaborative team
• Can work in-person in Washington, DC
  
  

Salary and benefits

The Program Associate (Talent and Strategic Partnerships) will receive a salary of $100,000–$125,000+ based on experience and seniority. We are also open to hiring this role at the Program Manager level ($120,000–$160,000+) for candidates with substantially more relevant experience. Horizon currently offers a flexible, benefits-equivalent cash stipend (included in salary) rather than a fixed health insurance or retirement plan. The stipend can be used to purchase any of the two dozen health insurance plans on the DC public market (or just keep as an additional salary top-up if you already have health insurance coverage through a parent or spouse) and contribute to a retirement account of your choosing. Starting in late 2026/early 2027, Horizon plans to expand its benefits offerings to include 403(b) retirement accounts and employer-covered health insurance plans. 

Horizon also offers:

• Unlimited vacation, with a recommended minimum of 15 days per year 
• Remote work flexibility for up to 12 weeks/year, contingent on acceptable performance
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• Up to $3,000+ per year in professional development funding
• Flexible working hours
• A productive, collaborative office with free snacks and meals 

We can provide visa sponsorship for qualified candidates.

As an additional benefit in select cases, employees with subject-matter expertise in emerging technology can get the unique opportunity to utilize Horizon’s placement expertise to do a public interest rotation for up to 12 months after working at Horizon for 2 years. At least 6 months’ notice must be given to redeem this benefit.

Application process

Interested candidates should express initial interest by filling out an application by Sunday, August 23, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET. Please answer honestly and reflect on your responses, but do not spend too much time on your application: quick bullet points are fine, and answers do not need to be polished, as later stages will evaluate specific skills and knowledge in depth. 

The application process will involve paid work tests, a structured interview, reference checks, and a paid in-person work trial. We will acknowledge receipt of all applications and aim to get back to candidates by mid-September. Our ideal start date is November 2026, though flexibility is offered for exceptional candidates.

We welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. Strong candidates may not always fulfill all our required or desired criteria. Studies show that individuals from underrepresented groups may underestimate their qualifications. Therefore, we urge you not to self-disqualify prematurely. If you are excited about this work, we strongly encourage you to apply.