National Security Policy Lead, Biotech

Details

Anthropic is hiring a Biotech Policy Lead to shape and lead the company’s external policy posture on biological dimensions of frontier AI policy. You will report to the Head of National Security Policy and serve as Anthropic's principal biotech policy voice with the U.S. federal government, Congress, allied counterparts, and the biotech and life sciences community. The role translates Anthropic's biological model research into concrete policy proposals, partnership opportunities, and public contributions, and coordinates closely with technical teams focused on safeguards, red teaming, and biology research.

Responsibilities

• Develop strategies for AI to strengthen U.S. and allied bio-innovation capacity and biotechnology competitiveness
• Develop and lead Anthropic's external biotech policy strategy across U.S. federal stakeholders, allied governments, and life sciences sector regulators
• Engage in thought leadership and planning for how increasingly capable AI reshapes the biotechnology landscape — including global competitiveness, supply chain resilience, equitable access to AI-accelerated medicine, and biosecurity
• Support and promote collaborations with biosecurity practitioners and biotech industry players across public and private sectors, including on model testing, red teaming, synthesis-screening partnerships, and defensive deployment of frontier AI in biosurveillance
• Collaborate with technical teams (CBRNE Safeguards, Frontier Red Team, biology research) to translate biological model research and evaluations into concrete policy proposals, stakeholder education, and public contributions
• Coordinate with national security policymakers on threat intelligence sharing and safeguard implementation
• Drive industry “race to the top” dynamics, engaging other frontier labs and the Frontier Model Forum on shared bio standards and safeguard adoption
• Build and deepen international biotech partnerships, including with Five Eyes counterparts and multilateral institutions
• Partner closely with Head of National Security Policy and cross-functional teams (Public Policy, Safeguards, go-to-market, Legal, Communications, Product, Research) to ensure coherent execution across bio workstreams

Minimum qualifications

• Hold an active TS/SCI clearance or have held one in the last two years, and the ability to obtain and maintain one
• Working knowledge of both biotech and biosecurity policy (e.g., bio-innovation capacity, synthesis-screening infrastructure, regulatory pathway reform)
• Deep familiarity with institutions and authorities that shape U.S. biotech policy (examples listed: FDA, NIH, DoW, USDA, Commerce, DOE, NSC, and relevant Congressional committees) and allied bio-relevant agencies
• Track record of effective, information-rich advocacy with biotech regulators, sector agencies, and Congressional committees
• Scientific fluency in the biological sciences sufficient to engage credibly with technical researchers and translate AI and bio capabilities for policy audiences (via formal training or sustained professional work)
• Experience designing and advocating for concrete bio policy and regulatory proposals
• Demonstrated ability to work with diverse cross-functional teams (technical research, go-to-market, trust & safety, legal, product, communications, marketing)
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills for briefing senior policymakers and government officials
• High agency and ability to develop and execute strategy independently while accounting for dependencies across teams
• Demonstrated interest and experience in a complicated technical subject (ideally AI; other examples include synthetic biology, genomics, or medical countermeasure development)

Preferred qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in biotech or biosecurity policy roles across government, private sector, or both, with senior-level exposure to U.S. federal policymaking and international counterparts
• Experience contributing to national biotech strategy frameworks (e.g., National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, synthesis-screening standards, FDA modernization proposals)
• Experience leading or supporting public-private partnerships on biotech capacity at scale
• Direct prior experience in biotech roles at HHS, DoW, Commerce, NSC, or comparable allied biotech institutions
• Familiarity with biotech industrial dynamics across pharma, agriculture, and industrial biomanufacturing sectors
• Experience assessing dual-use technology risks, including early work on AI-enabled biological risks
• Experience engaging international partners on biotech policy and biological threat reduction

Logistics

• Location: Washington, DC (role lists Washington, DC)
• Location-based hybrid policy: currently expect staff to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time
• Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience
• Minimum years of experience: will correlate with internal job level requirements for the position
• Visa sponsorship: Anthropic states that they do sponsor visas and retain an immigration lawyer to assist where possible

Compensation

• Annual salary range: $295,000 - $345,000 USD

About Anthropic / Additional notes

Anthropic’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. The role will work closely with researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders. The company offers competitive compensation and benefits, optional equity donation matching, generous vacation and parental leave, flexible working hours, and office space for collaboration. The posting encourages candidates to apply even if they do not meet every listed qualification.