Research and Program Associate, Nuclear Information Project

The Federation of American Scientists is seeking a Research and Program Associate to join our Nuclear Information Project team. This role involves providing operations and administrative support while conducting research and analysis on global nuclear weapons arsenals to support responsible reduction recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Under the direction of Project staff, use open sources (including satellite imagery, historical/archival records, treaty disclosure data, social media, local news, and FOIA requests) to conduct analysis on global nuclear forces
• Contribute to the creation of graphics, charts, and other visual tools for inclusion in research products
• Support fundraising efforts, grant proposals, and grant reporting processes as assigned by portfolio leadership
• Support implementation of program activities, such as workshops and trainings, as needed, as well as logistics and operations to advance internal project and portfolio management tasks
• Ensure that Project work is properly organized and internally filed in accordance with Project standards
• Be responsive to internal requests for metrics-gathering, news clips, budget snapshots, and other reporting requirements
• Occasionally support various FAS-wide organizational initiatives, events, and other activities as needed, including contributing to substance, preparation, and staffing
• Under the direction of Project staff, write and publish regularly on nuclear weapons issues for the FAS website and for external publications. These could include issue briefs, blog posts, fact sheets, datasets, graphics, grant deliverables, or public-facing trackers
• Attend and participate in relevant events, conferences, panels, and workshops, and actively engage with other organizations and individuals in the global nuclear policy community
• Copy-edit, proofread, and footnote research products, specifically checking for substance and accuracy as well as clarity of language, grammar, and spelling
• Collaborate with the Communications team to create social media and other public-facing content related to the work of the Project

Skills

• Bachelor's degree
• 1-3 years of relevant experience, including internships, fellowships, academic research, journalism, policy work, open-source research, or non-profit program support
• Excellent writing abilities, critical thinking, and communication skills
• Curiosity and excitement about the subject matter, with a strong attention to detail
• Continuous commitment to deliver high-quality work accurately and on-time
• Willingness to take initiative to complete tasks in a self-driven environment
• Interest in seeking out constructive feedback and coaching
• Knowledge of core issues related to nuclear weapons, non-proliferation, arms control, and disarmament
• The ability to travel to support research, policy, or programmatic goals
• Competency with standard word-processing and presentation software (e.g., Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word/Powerpoint, Google Drive, etc)
• Comfort and confidence with travel, public speaking, and presenting research
• Experience contributing to a defined research topic
• Experience conducting open-source research, including with satellite imagery
• Language skills, particularly in Chinese or Russian
• Technical skills: experience with coding, data visualizations, modeling, simulations, satellite imagery analysis, imagery processing, object detection, web-scraping, open-source investigations, etc

Benefits

• Competitive 403(b) retirement plan
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life insurance
• Employee assistance support
• Pre-tax benefits such as healthcare and dependent care FSAs
• Commuter benefits

Company Overview