Career Center

Summary of Position:

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences seeks a Program Officer to play a central role in the Academy’s projects within the Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) program area. With oversight from the John E. Bryson Director of Science, Engineering, and Technology Programs, the Program Officer for SET is responsible for carrying out research studies, project management, meeting organization, and administrative functions in the Science, Engineering, and Technology area. The Program Officer collaborates with Academy members, project advisory group, and staff to advance the work of a multi-year commission and project.

One of the key projects the Program Officer will work on is the Academy’s new Commission on Accelerating Climate Actions.  The Commission is dedicated to identifying salient obstacles to action and proposing policy recommendations to address these challenges. Project work will engage actors across and within sectors to identify the key shifts for meaningful action on climate change. In addition to this project, the Program Officer will actively participate in program area’s activities and ongoing projects, including Building Resilient and Ethical Supply Chains for a Post-COVID World and other new or emerging projects.

The Academy is committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion and looks to all its staff members to foster and promote its values.  

Major Areas of Responsibility:

• Collaborate with staff and Academy Fellows to conduct research, organize meetings, and write reports as part of multi-year commissions and projects;
• Assemble diverse and cross-sector committees and working groups from inside and outside the Academy’s membership and provide guidance and support in the conduct of their work;
• Identify and gather research materials for commissions and meetings; facilitate the flow of information among committee/panel members, staff, consultants, and other applicable parties
• Develop agendas for committee meetings and project workshops, invite presenters and participants, oversee meeting logistics and multimedia presentations, and prepare written summaries;
• Draft and edit reports for internal use and external audiences, including background research reports, drafts and final reports, proceedings, white papers, policy briefs, and online content;
• Design and organize outreach activities to communicate the findings and recommendations from Academy studies to external audiences;
• Integrate diverse perspectives into all strategic initiatives.
• Write grant proposals and progress reports;
• Cultivate relationships with outside parties and expand the Academy’s network of programmatic partners;
• May supervise permanent or temporary Academy staff in tasks related to their project, and encourage staff development;
• Work closely with the John E. Bryson Director of Science, Engineering, and Technology Programs to develop new projects;

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree with at least five years of substantive professional work experience or PhD with at least two years of relevant experience in project administration, policy research, program evaluation, and planning experience. Experience working in a university, foundation, learned society, government agency, or non-profit preferred

• Demonstrated interest in and knowledge of current policy issues, experts, organizations and scholarship in science, engineering, and technology, particularly with respect to climate changes

• Experience analyzing data and translating it for a variety of audiences;
• Ability to foster an inclusive and collegial team environment and leverage diverse perspectives of committee members and internal staff;
• Excellent written and oral communications skills, including an ability to synthesize and summarize research findings and recommendations to a variety of audiences;
• Demonstrated ability to effectively engage with a wide variety of internal and external groups including funders, academic, policy, and research institutions, and other potential partners;
• Successful grant writing expertise and familiarity with private foundations and other funding sources;