Semantic Infrastructure Foundation

About SIF: The Semantic Infrastructure Foundation builds open semantic infrastructure for trustworthy AI—systems that show their reasoning, preserve provenance, and ground outputs in verifiable computation. We're working toward the Bell Labs model: long-term fundamental research focused on infrastructure that enables entire industries. Learn more about SIF

Role Overview

The Executive Director runs SIF's day-to-day operations, executes fundraising strategy, manages staff, and builds the institutional infrastructure. This is the operational leadership role.

Primary Responsibilities

Fundraising & Revenue

• Execute fundraising strategy (philanthropic grants, corporate partnerships, government grants)
• Manage funder relationships
• Prepare grant applications and funding proposals
• Build diversified revenue streams
• Year 1 target: $2-5M | Year 3 target: $8-15M | Year 5+: $25-50M sustainable

Foundation Operations

• Run nonprofit day-to-day (legal, finance, compliance, contracts)
• Manage operating budget and financial reporting
• Ensure 501(c)(3) compliance
• Set up and maintain operational infrastructure (banking, accounting, payroll, insurance)
• Board liaison (execute board decisions, provide status updates)

Staff Management & Hiring

• Hire and manage non-technical staff (operations coordinator, grant writer, communications, HR)
• Support technical hiring (Director of Engineering owns process, ED closes candidates)
• Build org structure as foundation scales
• Manage team growth from 1 person → 5 → 15 → 30+

Partnerships & External Relations

• Build academic partnerships
• Establish corporate relationships (sponsors, collaborators)
• Government relations (for grant opportunities)
• Represent SIF publicly when appropriate

What This Role Is NOT

• Not technical decisions - That's the Chief Architect's domain (technical vision and architecture)
• Not governance - That's the Chief Steward's domain (mission protection)
• Not engineering management - Director of Engineering manages engineers, ED hires the DoE
• Not research direction - Chief Scientist sets research agenda (hire in Year 2)

Time Commitment

• Month 1-3: Full-time, 60+ hours/week (foundation formation sprint)
• Month 4-12: Full-time, 50-60 hours/week (fundraising, hiring, operations setup)
• Year 2-3: Full-time, 40-50 hours/week (scaling operations)
• Year 5+: Full-time, 40 hours/week (sustainable mature institution)

Compensation

Competitive nonprofit executive compensation benchmarks:
- Year 1: $140-180K (based on $2-5M budget secured)
- Year 3: $200-250K (based on $8-15M scale funding)
- Year 5: $280K+ (based on $25-50M sustainable budget)
- Benefits: Health insurance, retirement match, standard nonprofit package

No equity (nonprofit structure), but competitive nonprofit compensation.

Day-to-Day (What You Actually Do)

Month 1-3 (Foundation Formation)

• File 501(c)(3) paperwork (coordinate with attorney, founders, board)
• Set up foundation operations (banking, accounting, payroll, insurance)
• Prepare major funder pitch materials (coordinate with Chief Architect on tech demo)
• Begin board assembly (recruit 2-3 additional directors)

Month 4-6 (Fundraising Sprint)

• Execute primary fundraising campaign (travel, present, negotiate)
• Explore backup funding options
• Set up grant infrastructure
• Hire first staff (operations coordinator, possibly grant writer)

Month 6-12 (Team Building)

• Manage Director of Engineering hiring (Architect interviews, you close)
• Oversee first engineer hiring (DoE owns process, you support)
• Establish operational rhythms (board meetings, financial reporting, planning cycles)
• Begin Year 2 fundraising (scale funding $8-15M target)

Year 2-3 (Scale Operations)

• Manage growing staff (5-10 people reporting to ED by Year 2)
• Execute scale funding round (corporate sponsors, major grants)
• Establish endowment strategy (Year 5 target: 50% endowment funding)
• Hire Chief Scientist (Architect identifies candidates, you close)
• Build partnerships (academic, corporate, government)

Year 5+ (Mature Institution)

• Steady-state operations (30-40 person organization)
• Diversified funding (grants, memberships, endowment, services)
• Exit planning (hire successor, transition stewardship)

Success Metrics

Year 1

• ✅ 501(c)(3) filed and approved
• ✅ $2M+ raised (18+ month runway minimum)
• ✅ 3+ engineers hired
• ✅ Foundation operations established (accounting, legal, insurance, payroll)

Year 3

• ✅ $8M+ cumulative raised (diversified sources)
• ✅ 12+ engineers on staff
• ✅ USIR v1.0 specification published
• ✅ Sustainable operations (no financial crisis, board confidence)

Year 5

• ✅ $20M+ cumulative raised
• ✅ 20+ staff (sustainable size)
• ✅ Diversified funding (no single source >40%)
• ✅ Endowment started ($10M+ committed)
• ✅ Successor identified (exit planning)

Required Skills

"Semantic Extraction" Thinking

Experience structuring unstructured complexity. The parallel to SIF's mission: extracting meaning from chaos, building systems that make complexity manageable and inspectable.

Crisis Leadership

The "Adult in the Room" - stabilizes without panicking. Critical for navigating fundraising challenges, organizational growing pains, and inevitable institutional stress.

Marketplace of Meaning

Understanding how to map fuzzy intent (what funders/users want) to structured capability (what the organization can deliver). Experience building systems where intent meets execution.

The Lifeboat (Exit Options)

If Funding Fails (12 Months, No Money)

• Option 1: Founder continues solo (research doesn't die, just doesn't scale)
• Option 2: Pivot to consulting/services (bootstrap research via revenue)
• Option 3: Graceful wind-down (archive research, preserve dignity)
• No one loses money (nonprofit = no investment risk)

If Scaling Fails (Year 3, Survival Mode)

• Option 1: Right-size to sustainable (6-8 engineers on grants)
• Option 2: Merge with academic institution (become university research lab)
• Option 3: Sunset with impact (publish all research, find homes for team)

If It Works (Year 5, Mission Accomplished)

• Option 1: Stay for long haul (10+ years, build to maturity)
• Option 2: Hire successor ED (Year 5-7, train replacement, exit gracefully)
• Option 3: Transition to board role (advisory, not operational)

Historical Precedent

While the Chief Steward role mirrors Mervin Kelly (institutional guardian), the Executive Director is the operational implementer - building the infrastructure that allows the technical vision to become reality.

The pattern: ED builds the machine, Architect does the research, Steward protects the mission.

The ED's Core Question

"Can we actually execute this? What resources do we need, and how do we get them?"

The Executive Director translates vision into operations, mission into budget, architecture into organization.

Get Involved

Interested in this role or want to learn more about SIF's operations?

• Read more: About SIF • Chief Steward Role • Foundation Overview • Funding Model
• Contact us: Get in touch to discuss opportunities, collaboration, or advising

Last Updated: 2025-12-11