Program Director, Fellowship

About the role

As Program Director, you'll lead the team behind our Tarbell Fellowship. 

The fellowship is in a strong position – $6.5m in secured funding, 25+ newsroom partnerships, and 1,600+ applications this year. We’re now looking for an exceptional leader who can take this from 15 fellows to 30+ annually while maintaining the exceptionally high bar that has made the fellowship one of the most competitive journalism programs in the world.

You'll own the fellowship end-to-end. That means setting the strategy, selecting the fellows, shaping the curriculum, and managing the team that executes it all. The Executive Director will be a thought partner, but the program is yours to run.

What you'll inherit:

• A program that's achieved strong outcomes to date and is ready to scale 2x this year

• $6.5m in secured funding for the fellowship through 2027

• Marketing and recruitment processes that recently attracted 1,600+ applications

• A team of 2 with experience spanning journalism, AI policy, and computer science

• Strong relationships with 25+ newsroom partners, including Bloomberg, The Guardian, and many more

• A 3-month training curriculum, covering AI and journalism fundamentals

• Ideas for how to expand the fellowship in 2027 and beyond (e.g. adding a podcasting fellowship, a video/documentary fellowship, an editorial fellowship, a Substack fellowship)

Strong performers will have a clear path to Chief Programs Officer within 18–24 months, overseeing the fellowship, residency, and future talent programs with a combined budget of $8M+.

Responsibilities

• Program strategy and leadership: You'll own the fellowship end-to-end. This means setting the vision, defining annual goals, and making the key decisions that determine whether the program succeeds. You'll work closely with the Executive Director as a thought partner, but the fellowship is yours to run.
   

• People management: You'll build and lead a growing team, starting with 2 direct reports, potentially growing to 5+ over time. This includes hiring, coaching, and developing your team members. "Hire the best, then invest" is a core operating value at Tarbell – you'll help your people develop into increasingly senior roles with greater responsibility.
   

• Fellow recruitment and selection: You'll design recruitment strategies to attract 2,000+ applications annually from top emerging journalists and AI talent globally. You'll lead our multi-stage vetting process—reviewing applications, evaluating writing samples, conducting interviews—and make final selection decisions. The top 0.1% of potential candidates should end up in our program; you'll ensure this happens.
   

• Training and curriculum: You'll oversee our 10-week AI Journalism Fundamentals course and week-long Bay Area Summit. This means shaping the curriculum, recruiting expert speakers and instructors, and continuously improving the program based on fellow feedback. Past speakers have included Jack Clark (Anthropic), Kevin Roose (NYT), Helen Toner (ex-OpenAI board), and senior reporters from the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and TIME.
   

• Systems and operations: You'll build scalable systems for recruitment, training, placement, and ongoing fellow support – ensuring the fellowship can grow from 15 to 30+ fellows without quality dropping. You'll create clear milestones, track progress, and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Salary and location

We’ll offer a salary of $115,000 - $160,000+ in the US; £75,000 - £90,000+ in the UK based on experience and seniority. 

Our benefits include:

• 33 days of annual leave in total (including national holidays)

• 16 weeks of paid parental leave, increasing to 24 weeks after 3 years of service

• $5,000 per year in professional development funding

• Up to 5% employer contribution towards a standard pension/401(k)

• For employees based in the US: Platinum health, dental, and vision plans, with 95% of premiums paid for by Tarbell

• Flexible working hours

• Productive, collaborative offices in London and San Francisco

We prefer candidates based in London or the San Francisco Bay Area and will require such candidates to work 2 days/week from our office space. We’re also open to New York or Washington DC, or candidates who require short periods of remote work. We are able to sponsor UK work visas for this role.

Please inquire with recruitment@tarbellcenter.org if questions or concerns regarding compensation or benefits might affect your decision to apply.

Application process

Interested candidates should express initial interest by filling out an application (<15 minutes) by Sunday, March 8, 2026 at 11:59pm PT. We'll review applications on a rolling basis and may close the role early if we identify a strong candidate, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

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 within 10 business days of the application deadline. Our ideal start date is April 2026, though flexibility is offered for exceptional candidates.

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Tarbell is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate against qualified employees or applicants based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, sexual preference, marital status, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law or local ordinance.