The Scholars Strategy Network (SSN) seeks a Policy Associate. As a matchmaker and coach, the Policy Associate’s primary job is to connect scholars and their research to civic organizations and policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels across the US; and to help scholars become powerful policy players to increase the likelihood that research is used to inform policy.

The bulk of the Policy Associate’s time will be spent as a policy generalist, working in a wide variety of issue areas related to our members’ research and interests. The Policy Associate will field requests from policymakers and civic organizations for connections to certain scholars or research, proactively identify policy opportunities and activate scholars around them, and help individual scholars seeking advice on how to engage with their research. Along with others on the SSN staff, the Policy Associate will facilitate SSN’s various policy engagement trainings for groups of researchers both virtually and in person.

The Policy Associate is a full-time position with a salary hiring range between $56,000-$65,000, based on qualifications and experience. SSN’s competitive benefits include generous time off, health insurance, professional development opportunities and resources, and a 403B retirement plan with an employer match. This position falls within the SSN employee union and is covered under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

SSN currently operates in a remote-first, hybrid work environment, but this role may be available as a fully remote position for an exceptionally qualified candidate. For employees located in Massachusetts, SSN provides the option to work at SSN’s main offices, located at 501 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116. Employees located out of state will be expected to participate in-person for semi-annual staff gatherings. The person in this position will be part of SSN’s Policy team and reports directly to SSN’s Director of Policy.

Responsibilities

As a large organization with a relatively small staff, SSN has a Policy team that supports and creates opportunities for a large and growing network of over 1,700 members who work in more than 330 colleges and universities across the US. SSN also supports a network of 37 chapters led by volunteer members in 33 states. Among other tasks the Policy Associate will:

Connect scholars to policymakers and civic organizations

Broker relationships: The Associate connects scholars and their research to policymakers and civic organizations at the federal, state, and local levels. The Associate will do this by advising scholars on how to reach out, cultivating their own relationships with policy actors, and by soliciting and responding to requests from policy actors
Seize opportunities: The Associate identifies opportunities for research to inform policy, activates scholars around those opportunities, and advises scholars on how to engage audiences outside academia. To do this, the Associate tracks policy debates, legislation, regulation changes, and impact litigation; and builds their own relationships with policymakers and civic organizations to source requests for scholar expertise
Coach and support: The Associate coaches and supports scholars on how to engage in the policy process. They provide advice on relationship building, editing and feedback on written documents like research briefs and testimony, and training on the policy process. The Associate also supports researchers as they conduct meetings with policymakers and civic organizations
Edit and translate: The Associate will help scholars translate their academic writing into accessible language that is intelligible to broad public audiences and effectively communicative to policy actors. This translation process includes editing policy writing for content and style and advising on framing and messaging
Facilitate SSN trainings: Along with other SSN staff, the Associate will on occasion facilitate various in-person and online policy engagement and communications trainings for both scholars in the ESTP, and others across the SSN network

Qualifications

The successful candidate will be a self-starter with a deep interest in making research matter and improving public policy. The ideal candidate for this position would be:

An individual with at least 3 years of experience in a policymaking office (e.g., state or federal legislative office, state or federal agency, mayoral or other local office, etc.); or at least 1 year of experience and a relevant advanced degree (such as an MPP, JD, or PhD)
Someone with a solid understanding of policymaking processes (e.g., legislative processes, administrative/agency processes, implementation and evaluation, etc)
Comfortable -- and ideally have experience -- working with policymakers on both sides of the political aisle
Experienced in how to do basic research, especially legislative and policy research
An excellent writer and proofreader, capable of translating complex concepts into easy-to-understand language
A good facilitator and excited to teach others new skills and information
Comfortable with occasional travel
Proficient in Microsoft Office, Salesforce, Asana, Google Docs, Dropbox, virtual meeting channels like Zoom, and content databases
Committed to SSN’s mission and fully understand how to make use of SSN’s structure as a voluntary, federated network of member researchers.

SSN is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, class, color, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender, national origin, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity. People of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQ individuals, and women are strongly encouraged to apply. Candidates considering a career transition or whose skills and experience fulfill some, but not all of the qualifications above are encouraged to apply.

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Policy Associate