Funding & Impact

To achieve this we’ve mapped the drivers of progress in the field, and are enabling these through grants for unconventional but big-if-true research, focused programs to create missing pieces of the ecosystem, and efforts to coordinate and expand the field’s talent.

You will build and run the fundraising operation that makes this work possible. You will work directly with Norn’s founder to bring in new funding, showcase our programs, expand and nurture our network of donors, and think creatively about how to accelerate our impact.

What will your work enable?

The funding you help us secure will support four connected parts of our work to industrialize longevity and discover medicines that extend healthy life:

Impetus grants: Fast grants for field-shaping longevity research that is unlikely to attract traditional funding. We’ve deployed ~$34M across three rounds, are raising $15M+ for AI-enabling longevity datasets, and have ideas and connections for many new rounds. Our grants have supported CAR-T therapies that clear senescent cells, the first clinical trial on ovarian aging, and benchmarking of aging biomarkers across 51 human intervention studies, and much more.

Talent programs: Talent Bridge brings top talent from around the world to the US to work on longevity. Alumni of our earlier Longevity Apprenticeship founded Becoming, General Control, and Coherence Health, raising >$15M so far. We also run weekly sessions of Norn Nexus: a community of the most determined and talented people in longevity, working individually and together to make the field more productive.

Roadmapping and new programs: We think hard about the bottlenecks in the path from longevity research to medicines, and turning that into priorities for research and funding. We’ve organized workshops for the US government and others, and have blueprints for multimillion dollar projects essential for the field to mature.

What will you do?

Your mission is to make three connected workstreams succeed:

1. Landscape intelligence and access. You’ll maintain a living view of all people who fund (or could fund) Norn’s work. This includes where they give and invest, current interests and priorities, who they trust, and how we best reach them. You’ll convert that intelligence into timely opportunities for Norn, including a specific ask and a defined path in. You’ll align these with the founder’s travel plans and writing/speaking, and lay the groundwork for high-stakes conversations.
2. Fundraising operations. You will run all operations for our fundraising process to support our founder in closing new donations. You’ll be on top of every commitment and opportunity, conduct research to form strategies for connecting with patrons, and draft outreach materials. You’ll proactively follow up on relevant conversations, process gift agreements and receipts, and work with our Chief of Staff to ensure impeccable documentation. You’ll frequently seek out in-person events to identify new leads and spread our message.
3. Proactive donor relationships. You’ll track the outcomes of Impetus grants and use them to show donors how our work impacts longevity. You’ll celebrate successes along the way and prepare biannual reports for patrons and our board. You’ll also organize and improve in-person events for donors to meet grantees firsthand. In partnership with Comms, you’ll develop compelling storytelling and other creative content from the best impact stories, tailored to each patron.

We are a small team. We use AI agents and systems to leverage our day-to-day work and do more than you’d expect from an organization of our size. We each own our respective parts of the org end-to-end, operate openly, and routinely need to grow and learn how to achieve things that seemed beyond us.

Is this you?

• You want to help longevity deliver more healthy years of life and enjoy taking responsibility in a small team.
• You are proactive, and follow through. You are self motivated and have a track record of delivering results. You can build the process as you go and adapt quickly when priorities change.
• “We don’t know them” is an appealing challenge. You think creatively about how to make connections via trusted intermediaries, and are undaunted by approaching famous and powerful people and hearing “no” often.
• Your research is rigorous. You verify sources and can find the giving history and vehicles behind the name. You are good at understanding motivation by observing actions.
• You naturally leverage AI in your research and planning, with methods to ensure accuracy. You could explain the tracking system you would build in your first week.
• You articulate clearly and explain engagingly. You can write patron updates that motivate continued financial support of our work.

Who will you work with, and how will you grow?

You will work most closely with Martin Borch Jensen, Norn’s founder and president. Martin trained as an aging biologist and gave up a successful academic career to co-found Gordian Biotechnology, where he leads technology development, builds drug programs, and sets the scientific vision to increase input of potential longevity therapies. He wrote a book on intermittent fasting, and advises foundations and entrepreneurs. In 2021 he launched Impetus Grants, which has since enabled 146+ longevity projects with 3-week decisions and ~1% overhead, and evolved into today’s Norn Group.

You will collaborate with the Chief of Staff Sufal Deb, who owns the organization’s operations and community programs, as well as the program director of Impetus Grants Tara Mei. Effie Klimi in Comms will be your regular partner on patron campaigns and public outreach.

As you automate more of the operation, you will have more time to shape funding strategy and decide which opportunities to pursue, build your own relationships with our scientists and patrons, and figure out how to scale our impact tenfold.

Pay, location and how to apply

This is a full-time role, which could be remote but will include events in San Francisco and elsewhere. Norn Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. We offer a competitive salary, health and dental benefits, a budget for AI and research tools, and direct access to the founder and a network of leading longevity scientists, founders and funders.

The pay range for this role is 80,000 to 150,000 USD per year (depending on experience) if San Francisco-based, and adjusted to local market rates for candidates based elsewhere.