Associate, Federal Data Policy

FAS•Washington, DC

6d•$60,000 - $68,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) seeks a strategic and collaborative Associate of Data Policy to advance our mission at the intersection of data, policy, and governance. In this role at the newly launched Data Policy Institute, you will contribute to FAS’s data strategy across the federal government, state and local government, civil society, industry, and academia to drive meaningful policy impact on critical government data issues. As Associate of Data Policy, you will support coalition-building, stakeholder engagement, and advocacy efforts to build a more resilient national data infrastructure. You will work with the team to activate the community to be effective storytellers and respond to the changing public data landscape; and contribute to efforts to develop a pathway for the future of public data. You’ll work alongside subject matter experts, communications professionals, and strategists to mobilize support for federal data policies. This position offers the opportunity to learn and flex both analytical and policy entrepreneurship skills, identifying emerging issues in the public data landscape, advocating for public data, and communicating the value of public data. The ideal candidate is an adept relationship-builder, an advocate who can adapt communication approaches to varied audiences, and someone eager to develop strategic instincts and contribute to a team working to rebuild public data capacity. If you’re passionate about data and policy and thrive in collaborative, mission-driven environments, this role offers meaningful impact during a critical moment.

Requirements

Experience or course work related to data policy, data science, and/or public policy, to include working with public datasets.
Passion for and general familiarity with government data, in a specific domain or broadly.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including communicating compelling and creative data-informed narratives to diverse audiences (e.g., the public, data users, and decision makers).
Comfort with social media platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, etc) and content creation (either personal or professional).
Experience supporting the planning and execution of virtual and in-person events, including webinars, workshops, and convenings.
Ability to support policy, research, advocacy, or programmatic efforts through research, analysis, and project execution.
Strong research and analytical skills, including close attention to detail and synthesis of information from multiple sources.
Ability to engage and support relationships with a range of stakeholders (data users, businesses, government data leaders, academic researchers, congressional staff, etc)
Strong organization and prioritization, with the ability to handle time-sensitive efforts in a fast-moving environment.
Comfort with an uncertain and rapidly evolving policy landscape; the ideal candidate is able to monitor and synthesize evolving policy dynamics to help FAS and partners adapt in real time to shifting conditions.

Nice To Haves

Understanding of one or more issues at the intersection of data and policy, like open data standards and infrastructure, federal statistical policy, data privacy, governance of federal data, or data equity.

Responsibilities

Applying established policy-entrepreneurship tools to advance policies for identifying and protecting essential public data.
Coordinating designated stakeholder and coalition-building activities with external data stakeholders across federal, state, and local government, industry, academia, and civil society organizations and identifying opportunities for cross-organizational collaboration.
Supporting and managing assigned activities designed to build and engage a community of civic data professionals, deploying strategies to bring data talent back into the federal government, and rebuilding agency data capacity.
Contributing to the team’s data monitoring strategy and activities, including tracking dataset changes and terminations, evaluating risks, and assessing policy impacts.
Independently managing defined data-monitoring projects within established program goals, advancing innovation in data monitoring, including exploring and applying emerging uses of AI and automation.
Planning and executing convenings and webinars to activate the civic data community around shared goals for building a future resilient national data ecosystem
Developing narratives and stories to illustrate the benefits of federal data to everyday Americans.
Adapting communication styles and methods (e.g., data, storytelling) to meet audiences where they are and advance progress around federal data policy goals, including social media and influencer campaigns.
Managing assigned projects and workstreams across the portfolio, including tracking budgets, supporting contract and vendor management, monitoring project performance and recommending corrective action, helping ensure projects run on time and within scope, and content for grant proposals across a growing portfolio of public data monitoring and policy initiatives.
In coordination with colleagues, establishing and continuously improving internal workflows and implementation processes to ensure the program operates efficiently, strategically, and at scale.