Jr. Research Scientist / Advocacy and Communications Officer

Thank you for your interest in this position. Due to the current global health environment, the hiring process for this position has been postponed until further notice. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to updating this posting when circumstances allow. 

Position summary: Scholars at Risk (SAR) is seeking a highly-organized and team-oriented individual to join the SAR team as an advocacy and communications officer.  The position will focus on conducting research, drafting, and verifying reports of attacks on the higher education sector, publishing these reports through SAR's Academic Freedom Monitoring Project, and developing communications campaigns to raise awareness about these attacks. The officer will play a key role within the organization, working with senior and junior staff in all areas of SAR's work. The position requires excellent research, writing, IT/social media and organizational skills, attention to detail, and judgment. It is ideal for a proactive individual who takes initiative. The position requires timely and professional communication, including with partners, SAR and NYU staff, media, and the public.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

70% - Research and reporting on attacks on scholars/academic freedom: SAR researches, documents, analyzes, and reports on attacks on higher education through SAR's Academic Freedom Monitoring Project. The advocacy and communications officer will:

• Research, draft, verify, and publish reports of attacks on the higher education sector;
• Manage an enhanced research system using "smart-search" technology to increase the volume and efficiency of SAR monitoring, including:
  • working with SAR's technology vendor(s) to develop successful search algorithms to flag potential qualifying incidents of attacks on higher education worldwide;
  • refining efforts based on results to reduce false positives;
  • analyzing results for inclusion in SAR monitoring;
  • drafting resulting incident reports and case studies;
  • sharing relevant reports and studies via SAR websites, email lists and social media; and
• Assist with research and drafting of the Monitoring Project's annual Free to Think report, white papers, and country reports, and publication of these in digital and print format.

30% - Develop and implement SAR's communications plan: Working with all program areas and executive staff, the advocacy and communications officer will:

• Assist in drafting an overall communications plan for SAR, with goals, suggested campaigns and objectives, target audiences, success criteria, timeline, and benchmarks;
• Integrate SAR advocacy activities and updates into current SAR communications and materials, including SAR's weekly Academic Freedom Media Review (an e-mail bulletin that compiles media articles, blogs, opinion pieces and other announcements about academic freedom worldwide), monthly Advocacy Insider (e-newsletter that includes action alerts, attacks on higher education, related media reports and updates on advocacy clinics and other projects), monthly SAR newsletter, and annual report;
• Prepare memorable, accessible, and easily shareable complementary materials to SAR research and reports, including especially Free to Think and advocacy reports;
• Research and draft essays, op-eds, press releases, digital posts, talking points, and other content that highlight SAR's advocacy efforts and achievements, new SAR research, key research findings, and relevant events and issues (estimated 6 sets of materials per year);
• Identify and create media opportunities, including researching and developing media lists and strategies for placement, managing press relations and inquiries, and arranging interviews for interested media with report researchers and subjects;
• Successfully pitch stories in media and promote content in social media;
• Take primary responsibility for the updating and maintenance (with outside vendors) of  SAR's website, Twitter, Facebook, and related pages; produce and curate effective content; and
• Assess performance of website and social media and identify solutions or improvements as needed.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

This is a full-time, at-will position on an open-ended term, subject to program priorities, exemplary performance and availability of funds. The position offers a salary comparable to similar positions at peer organizations in the human rights/NGO field. Scholars at Risk in an independent not-for-profit corporation hosted at New York University (NYU). SAR staff are NYU employees seconded to SAR. As seconded NYU employees, staff are eligible for NYU employee benefits, including generous vacation leave and holidays; medical, dental, vision and life insurance options; and retirement benefits (all subject to terms established by NYU as described at https://www.nyu.edu/employees/benefit.html).