Advocacy and Member Engagement Manager

Status: Exempt

Reports to: Associate Director of Workforce Development

Department: Office of Public Affairs (Science Policy and Advocacy) and Executive Office

Salary Range: $90,000-$110,000

Benefits: FASEB offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, retirement with employer contributions, annual and sick leave, and paid holidays.

Location

Rockville, MD and Washington, DC.

FASEB is remote-first; however, this position needs to be physically located in the DC area given the role requires close coordination and engagement on Capitol Hill and with FASEB leadership.

Please apply with a cover letter and resume at www.faseb.org/employment.

If an accommodation is needed to complete the application process, please contact FASEB’s Human Resources Department at [email protected].

About FASEB

FASEB is a nonprofit federation of 21 scientific societies representing over 100,000 biological and biomedical researchers. For 114 years, we have served as a federation bringing together collective voices and representing the community in many ways, including science policy and advocacy.

Our focus areas for advocacy and science policy span the broad categories of funding, conduct, communication, and use of biological and biomedical research, and partnering with our societies to increase visibility and provide other services of value.

FASEB is widely seen as the leading voice for the biological and biomedical sciences in the U.S. and is focused on creating a partnership approach broadly across the community.

Position Overview

The Advocacy and Member Engagement Manager is the architect and operator of FASEB’s grassroots and member advocacy infrastructure.

This role works on a team with the Science Policy and Advocacy Department and the Executive Director/CEO. The Science Policy and Advocacy team currently includes the Director of Legislative Affairs, Associate Director of Workforce Development, Policy Analyst, and an open Communications and Public Engagement Manager position. The team is also supported by two external consulting firms for advocacy and science policy, respectively.

Additionally, FASEB has an organization-wide Associate Director of Marketing and Communication, who will engage with this team on organizational strategy.

This position owns the policy and advocacy working relationships that support FASEB’s member scientific societies, builds and runs systems, tools, and alerts that activate member scientists for advocacy campaigns, supports the Director of Legislative Affairs with targeted Hill engagement and monitoring of congressional committees and coalitions as assigned, and develops the next generation of scientist-advocates.

This role connects FASEB’s science policy and advocacy work with the scientists who give the agenda its voice and power.

Primary Responsibilities

Member Society Engagement

• Own day-to-day relationships with policy and advocacy staff at FASEB’s member scientific societies.
• Under the guidance of the Executive Director/CEO, map and maintain routine contact with the appropriate policy and advocacy lead at each member society. In some cases, this may be full-time staff; in others, a volunteer-led committee or Executive Director.
• In coordination with the Executive Director, represent FASEB at member society conferences to ensure scientists know that FASEB and their society are working together to support the community.
• Coordinate member society policy and advocacy activities that align with FASEB’s policy and advocacy agenda and workplan, and bring back information from societies to inform future FASEB efforts.
• Identify and develop scientific champions within member societies for high-visibility advocacy opportunities, including potential congressional testimony, media appearances, and Hill visits.

Grassroots Advocacy Infrastructure

• Build and manage FASEB’s member advocacy network, a database of activated scientists organized by congressional district, institution, and research area.
• Lead scientist outreach to identify, cultivate, and activate researchers in key districts whose congressional members need to hear constituent voices on issues related to the funding, conduct, communication, and use of biological and biomedical research.
• Develop standardized guidelines and training resources for local advocacy organizing that member scientists can use in their own organizational efforts.
• Develop and maintain a constituent briefing toolkit and training resources for scientists meeting with congressional offices.
• Partner with Gen AI tools developed at FASEB, IT, and the Executive Director/CEO to envision and build new tools, and revise existing tools with short turnaround times.
• Conduct short pulse polls and an annual advocacy priorities survey to ensure feedback is collected and provided to the Advocacy Committee to support the development of ongoing strategies.

Legislative Support

• Work closely with the Director of Legislative Affairs to align member activation with key legislative moments such as appropriations markups, key votes, and hearings.
• Contribute to the strategy and timing of e-action alerts and tool development, including determining when to deploy campaigns, who to target by district, and what messaging will resonate.
• Coordinate with the Communications and Public Engagement Manager on action alert production, ensuring language is compelling and effective.
• Support the Director of Legislative Affairs on Hill Day, Rally for Medical Research, Coalition for NSF Science Fair, and other congressional fly-in logistics, including recruiting, preparing, and briefing member scientists for congressional meetings.
• Identify scientists for deployment in congressional district offices of key members to address agency requests related to the funding, conduct, communication, and use of biological and biomedical research, including NIH, NSF, USDA, VA, and DOD Biomedical Sciences.

Early Career Researcher Pipeline

• Partner with the Communications and Public Engagement Manager to lead FASEB’s early-career researcher engagement strategy for advocacy and build a motivated, trained community.
• Support the Associate Director on the revamp of the Howard Garrison Advocacy Fellowship to connect fellows directly to their appointing society’s specific advocacy priorities and in other ways as requested.
• Develop early-career-specific content, communications, and advocacy training.
• Collect and channel early-career stories from researchers whose careers and labs are most at risk for use in testimony, media, and campaign materials.

Non-Traditional Partners

• Develop a plan for outreach to non-traditional partners beyond scholarly societies.
• Support the identification, cultivation, and outreach of those partners as assigned.

Qualifications

• B.A. or B.S. in a science field, political science, business, or a related field.
• 4-7 years of post-university experience in membership organizations, scientific societies, grassroots advocacy, legislative affairs, or a related field.
• Experience working at or closely with scientific or professional membership associations preferred.
• Knowledge of and experience with Capitol Hill and the legislative process.
• Experience designing and running advocacy campaigns and mobilizing membership networks; familiarity with Voter Voice or related software preferred.
• Willingness to learn, use, and develop new methods of engaging with scientists using Gen AI, videos, presentations (e.g., PowerPoint), and related tools.
• Strong understanding of the congressional district-level political landscape and the importance of targeted activation strategies.
• Highly organized with strong relationship-management skills. This role requires managing external relationships with society partners, a critical partnership for FASEB.
• Comfortable working at the intersection of science, policy, and politics, while willing to follow leadership direction regarding boundaries and approaches.
• Willingness to travel regularly to member society conferences and be located in the DMV area to attend events on Capitol Hill and support FASEB leadership.

Work Environment/Conditions

• 90% sitting, 5% standing, 5% walking.
• Occasionally requires lifting materials weighing approximately 20-30 lbs.
• Requires extensive computer work involving the use of a keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
• May involve long hours sitting, standing, and walking onsite at conferences.
• Primarily daytime working hours.
• Travel up to 15% of the time.
• Additional work-related assignments after hours or on weekends may be required.

This is a demanding position requiring the ability to:

• Manage multiple priorities for various stakeholders.
• Adapt to constantly shifting priorities based on stakeholder and event needs.
• Motivate and prompt teams to meet project commitments.
• Adhere to timelines and achieve project deadlines.

To Apply

For full consideration, please submit a resume and cover letter.

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and the position will remain open until filled.

FASEB is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.