Program Officer, Membership & Network Relations

About the organization:Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of over 600 higher education institutions and associations in 40 countries dedicated to protecting scholars, preventing attacks on higher education, and promoting academic freedom worldwide. By arranging temporary academic positions at member universities, SAR offers safety to scholars facing grave threats, enabling them to continue their important work. SAR also provides advisory services for scholars and hosts, campaigns for scholars who are imprisoned or silenced in their home countries, monitoring of attacks on higher education communities worldwide, and leadership in deploying new tools and strategies for promoting academic freedom and improving respect for university values globally. Information atwww.scholarsatrisk.org

Job description:Scholars at Risk is seeking a highly-organized, proactive and detail-oriented individual skilled in relationship building to join the SAR team as a Research Scientist/Program Officer for the Membership and Network Relations team. The Program Officer plays a key research role within the SAR membership team towards the aim of building and engaging our network of over 300 universities and academic associations in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The Research Scientist/Program Officer should develop fluency in all of these areas of SAR’s work in order to develop and lead strategies for identifying, recruiting, and engaging universities, faculty, and students. In addition, the Research Scientist/Program Officer will be expected to liaise with leadership of SAR country sections and partner networks, supporting their engagement in the International Advisory Committee. The Research Scientist/Program Officer will be encouraged to handle increasing responsibility for these and other activities as appropriate. The position reports to SAR’s Director of Membership and Network Relations.

Key responsibilities & duties:

Research & Data Analysis (50%)

• Conduct research to identify key institutional leaders and networks committed to academic freedom across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, cultivate, and maintain relationships with primary representatives at over 300 universities and academic associations partnering with SAR.
• Perform research to advance knowledge of higher education in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand to tailor engagement strategies to the changing needs of universities, colleges, academic associations and societies, faculty and students, including in hosting scholars, seminars, legal clinics, workshops, research projects, and publications.
• Research, design, and implement regionally targeted outreach efforts to grow the SAR network.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of data collection methodologies to assess the efficiency of SAR’s network engagement strategies.
• Analyze datasets related to membership growth, engagement metrics, resource-sharing, and network activity to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for strategic planning.
• Design and deliver data collection to evaluate programs and services for strengthened stakeholder engagement, identify and initiate opportunities for collaboration across and outside the global network.

Member engagement & relationship management (40%)

• Under the guidance of the supervisor, study emerging threats to academic freedom and lead the further development of the SAR national sections, enhancing solidarity, coordination, and resource-sharing among universities.
• Under the guidance of the Deputy Director, facilitate cross-section collaborations by engaging with the leadership of the SAR national sections and partner networks to facilitate their contribution to the International Advisory Committee.
• Lead in the planning and coordination of meetings and events to enhance the sharing of experience across the network globally.
• Develop and manage programs and partnerships aligned with SAR’s strategic plan as necessary, including strengthening campus committees to enhance efficiencies and knowledge-sharing.
• Represent SAR accurately and professionally at conferences, events and meetings, and assist in planning member and prospective member events and meetings as needed.
• Identify new opportunities to enhance university and association participation in SAR’s work.

Engagement-related administration and operations (10%)

• Assist in membership invoicing.
• Lead and/or contribute to administrative tasks, including mailings/digests to members, prospective members, and others as required.
• Increase the visibility of the SAR network by contributing to team social media, press outreach, e-blasts, mailings, website updates, and additional communications-related tools.