Job Opportunity: Program Manager/Program Associate, Compass, Remote
Title(s): Program Manager, Program Associate
Location: Remote
COMPASS seeks motivated candidates for a Program Manager and Program Associate within our Science Solutions Program. As part of a collaborative team, your work will include building partnerships with diverse scientist leaders and stakeholders to elevate and co-create equitable solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss.
Who We Are Seeking
You will contribute to COMPASS’s work to support scientists to make an impact individually and collectively. As part of a collaborative team, you will identify scientists whose work can add to a systems-level view of a problem and potential solutions; build the capacity of scientists to engage outside of the science community; help create inclusive spaces for dialogue and problem solving; and summarize what we’re learning in the form of blog posts, policy briefs, and other reports. Your work will include building partnerships with diverse scientist leaders and stakeholders to elevate and co-create equitable solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss. You are a collaborative person who values personal relationships and building bridges between and across communities. A patient problem solver, you can take diverse viewpoints and ideas and synthesize them. You enjoy and have experience presenting to and facilitating groups. You give and receive constructive feedback, prioritizing “getting it right” over being right. At ease with people from diverse backgrounds, institutions, and fields, you are curious about new ideas, techniques, perspectives, and experiences. You are committed to elevating voices that have traditionally been left out of policy dialogues, creating inclusive learning spaces, and modeling a culture of science that values diversity and equity.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Program Manager will:
- Design and lead opportunities (briefings, meetings, panels, workshops) to connect scientists to decision makers and other relevant stakeholders
- Ensure COMPASS programming centers diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Implement current program strategies, and collaborate with the Program Director to develop the ongoing evolution of our strategy, including issue areas, fundraising plans, and managing organizational capacity
- Build and maintain a trusted network of connections and relationships relevant to our work
- Assess the leading edge of the scientific landscape to inform COMPASS strategies and projects by connecting with scientific leaders across a diversity of fields, attending relevant conferences, and reviewing the relevant scientific literature
- Understand where and how scientists can have impact by tapping into your network, building relationships with stakeholders and decision-makers, and understanding decision making contexts
- In collaboration with the Capacity Building Program, prepare scientists to connect with stakeholders and decision makers, and coach scientists in planning strategic engagement
- Design and facilitate conversations among diverse groups of scientists, decision makers, and stakeholders, fostering mutual understanding and respect while elevating and co-creating solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss
- Effectively communicate about COMPASS’s work through writing, presentations, and other media, with support from the Communications Manager
- May supervise one or more staff
The Program Associate will:
- Provide programmatic and event support (briefings, meetings, panels, workshops) to connect scientists to decision makers and stakeholders
- Write summary reports with support from the Program Director and Program Manager, synthesizing information across multiple perspectives, and capturing conversations at COMPASS-led events with an eye towards shared understanding and clarity on next steps
- Assist the Program Director and Program Manager with assessing relevant science, scoping potential participants, and conducting background research to support the development of workshops, trainings, and program goals
- Contribute to event design, coaching and relationship building with scientists and stakeholders
Skills and Abilities
All candidates should:
- Have a generous and thoughtful approach to collaboration with coworkers and colleagues
- Be able to give and receive timely and constructive feedback, and proactively communicate expectations to other teammates
- Be well aligned with, and have a strong sense of, COMPASS’s mission and values.
- Have excellent written and oral communication skills
- Be committed to diversity, justice and equity in your work and embrace a collaborative and inclusive organizational culture, both internally and externally
- Be willing and able to accommodate rapidly changing deadlines and unplanned periods of high-intensity work
- Contribute to COMPASS’s culture of collaboration by proactively seeking out as well as sharing information, ideas, and connections across the team
- Feel comfortable virtually collaborating and communicating internally and externally using various tech platforms.
- Proficiency in Spanish welcomed, but not required
The Program Manager should:
- Have experience facilitating, designing, and implementing convenings for groups and collaboratives with a broad range of backgrounds, interests, and viewpoints
- Have a strategic mindset, able to take a big-picture view of an issue and identify opportunities for scientists to contribute to change
- Ability to manage multiple projects, staying on top of deliverables and timelines
- An interest in collaborating with, mentoring and coaching others, both internally within the organization and externally
The Program Associate should:
- Be highly organized, able to keep track of and manage tasks and deadlines across multiple projects, and support others in doing so
- Have the ability to capture key themes and outcomes from a discussion and communicate them clearly and compellingly in written and verbal formats
- Have the ability to understand and synthesize environmental science and conduct in depth and broad ranging research spanning primary sources, technical literature, to gray literature and popular media
Education and Experience
For the Associate position, we seek applicants with a minimum of 2 years relevant work experience OR an advanced degree plus 1 year relevant experience.
Candidates for the Manager position should have 3-5 years of relevant experience OR an advanced degree and 2-3 years experience.
We are particularly interested in candidates who bring a background in conservation science, management, or policy in the western U.S., with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Other relevant experience includes ANY of the following:
- A background in the natural or social sciences, including marine science; ecology; environmental science; sustainability science; natural resource management; policy; economics; or other related fields.
- Experience in environmental justice, climate justice, Indigenous-led conservation, or community-based science
- Experience in the research and/or practice of science communication, ecology, economics, environmental science, sustainability science, or natural resource management
- Experience in journalism, media, or science writing
- Experience in local, state, federal, or international policy making
Organizational Relationships
Both positions will report to the Director of Science Solutions, and will work closely with her and other members of the Science Solutions Program. You will interact regularly with the rest of the COMPASS team, and may occasionally be accountable to other program staff for events of discrete tasks.
Work Environment and Location
Currently, all COMPASS staff work remotely to ensure team safety and well-being. The location for these positions is flexible within the continental United States and may include fully remote work. If you are located in one of our hubs in Washington DC, Portland, OR or Seattle, WA you may have the opportunity to work in an office or coworking environment when it is safe to do so. No relocation costs will be covered for this position. The job predominantly involves computer-based activity and occasional local and domestic travel once safe, as outlined by COMPASS’s internal policies.
Compensation and Benefits
Both positions are full-time and salaried at approximately 40 hours per week. The rate of pay for the Associate position is between $40,000-$50,000 depending on experience and qualifications. The rate of pay for a Manager is between $55,000-$65,000 depending on experience and qualifications. COMPASS offers a competitive benefits package, including medical and dental insurance, 403B retirement plan, and generous paid time off.
Application Process and How to Apply
In lieu of a cover letter, we are asking all applicants to answer the following questions (2000 characters maximum / question) and submit a resume plus 3 professional references via this form:
1. Which position are you applying for: Associate, Manager, or both?
2. What skills, experience and/or education do you have that makes you a good fit for this position?
3. What most excites you about this position and working with COMPASS?
4. Share a story, experience or more about your approach working with scientists to have impact.
5. What else would you like to share with us?
Applications will be reviewed upon receipt. We expect to begin initial interviews in early to mid-March. This announcement will close March 6.
For more information, please visit https://www.compassscicomm.org/careers/.