Part Time Junior Policy Associate

JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Part-Time Junior Policy Associate: Paid Internship to Implement a BIPOC Policy Scholars Program

A tremendous gap between research and policy communities limits the effectiveness of policymaking and makes government susceptible to misinformation and inefficient use of resources. Researchers are rarely involved in policy efforts because they lack training and opportunities for engaging with the right policymakers at the right time when their subject matter experience could be useful to policy development. The Research-to-Policy Collaboration (research2policy.org/rpc-model) revolutionizes how legislators interact with the research community by providing an agenda-neutral resource for connecting legislative officials with those who specialize in data and scientific study relevant to policymakers’ current policy agendas. This also provides a resource for researchers navigating policy engagement opportunities. Our team sits at the intersection of research and policy by both organizing researchers’ policy engagement, as well as evaluating our impact and strategies for improving researchers’ experience. Our rigorous study has demonstrated that supporting researcher-policymaker interactions can both improve the value and use of research evidence in policy as well as provide a benefit to researchers’ policy skill, engagement, and future research.

We are hiring part time Policy Associates who would be trained in this innovative, nonpartisan research translation model. This position provides an opportunity to learn translational skills while working with a legislative audience. The Policy Associates would be supported by a team that does the “legwork” of connecting policymaking staff with researchers, coordinating researchers’ rapid responses, and providing technical assistance to both parties. This is consistent with educational goals of research institutions; therefore, no lobbying occurs as part of this model. We emphasize mutually beneficial partnerships between researchers and policymakers. A current project also involves supporting a racial equity initiative among researchers of color who connect with one another to offer support and advice for one another's policy efforts. Our study involves action-oriented data collection in practice that will allow us to improve researcher and policy staff experiences and engagement with one another. Primary aims of this project involve enhancing how RPC leadership and staff engage with these “two communities” (e.g., communication and organizing process), developing technical tools for researchers’ digital policy engagement, and improving racial equity in researchers’ policy engagement experiences.

This is a part-time training position for master’s level graduate students and is coupled with intentional, dedicated mentorship. This position supports rapid responses to legislative requests and facilitates a supportive virtual community for scholars of color. The person hired into this role is expected to complete an average of 10-20 hours per week. We cultivate a supportive and highly collaborative, interactive, virtual team environment. Due to the high frequency of meetings and communications between team members, primary working hours correspond with typical eastern time zone business hours.

Job Responsibilities

We anticipate this individual would support on implementation activities related to the trial of the Research-to-Policy model. This includes:

• Implement the BIPOC Policy Scholars program. This includes:

• Monthly coffee hour, scheduling and facilitating discussions
• Recruiting additional researchers
• Coordinating fellow trainees on related tasks
• Documenting processes
• Monthly advice session, identifying speakers and scheduling a pre-recording, posting to the platform
• Monthly platform posts (e.g., discussion questions)

• Receive training to implement a relationship brokerage model with fidelity, which includes meeting staff, taking notes, and engaging researchers who have related interests in rapid responses
• Non-academic communications may include writing fact sheets, supporting briefing events, or recorded podcast-style interviews of consultants
• Maintain thorough tracking and reporting of activities, including detailed note-taking and use of data collection systems (e.g., meeting information)
• Additional project-related duties may be asked of the successful candidates as needed
• Team Meeting attendance which enables coordination with Policy Associates and other team leads across projects

Skills and Traits Needed by Applicants:

• Curiosity and a generalist attitude with interest in learning about diverse social policy issues
• Strong time management skills and ability to adapt well to changing circumstances
• Collaboration experience, such as working as part of a large team or with non-academic partners
• Enthusiasm and commitment to accelerating the translation of science-to-policy
• Thoughtful interpersonal communication and detailed documentation for coordination across an interactive and diverse team
• A balance of independent initiative that bolsters problem solving while also approaching work with a learning attitude for mentored training in a cutting-edge, novel policy strategy
• Strong diplomatic communication and interpersonal skills
• Solid writing skills tailored for non-academic audience

Eligibility

• Although this work is primarily remote, there may be opportunities for some in-person activities depending on project needs and travel requirements. Our team is committed to working according to public health guidelines to protect the health and safety of our employees.
• Explicit career goal alignment includes aspirations to make public policy more effective and better serve the public interests, as well as operating in intermediary, non-academic, and non-governmental organizations.
• Primary hours of availability should allow for co-work and external meeting availability during normal business hours, eastern time zone. The majority of this work is interactive and interdependent, requiring similar working hours of team members. Non-meeting working hours may be flexible if discussed with a supervisor.
• Remote work requires access to high-quality, high speed internet connection
• Formal training on concepts related to racial equity as well as exposure to scientific research is preferred. Prior non-academic collaborative experience preferred and strong interpersonal skill is required.
• Individuals currently enrolled in Master’s degree programs are preferred. Individuals pursuing other degrees are still encouraged to apply. Applicants may be pursuing degrees from any discipline, but degrees in human development, public policy, social work, prevention science, psychology, or public health will be a particularly good fit.

Supervision will be provided by RPC leaders Emily Warthman, J.D., the Associate Director of Policy Operations, Taylor Scott, Ph.D., the RPC Co-Director and Assistant Research Professor at Penn State University, and Max Crowley, Ph.D., Associate Professor at Penn State University.

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, resume/CV, and three professional references. Please direct any questions regarding this position to Mary McCauley, [email protected] .

The Pennsylvania State University is committed to and accountable for advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability in all of its forms. We embrace individual uniqueness, foster a culture of inclusion that supports both broad and specific diversity initiatives, leverage the educational and institutional benefits of diversity in society and nature, and engage all individuals to help them thrive. We value inclusion as a core strength and an essential element of our public service mission.

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