Duties & Responsibilities
Reporting to the Administrative Director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, and working closely with the Center’s Executive Director, Faculty Director, and other staff, the Research and Communications Associate will support the Center’s work on its sponsored research programs, as well as the Center’s core administrative needs, with a focus on communications and finance. The position has three major areas of responsibility: (1) communications; (2) conducting research and publishing under the direction of the Faculty and Executive Directors; (3) other administrative support, including meeting and event support.
The Research and Communications Associate will devote a significant portion of his/her time to scholarly activities in furtherance of the Center’s research agenda, including assisting on sponsored research projects on topics such as, but not limited to, the ethics of translational research, advanced care planning, and personalized medicine. Depending on the Associate’s experience and expertise, he or she may be involved in leading writing projects or in assisting other Center staff through research and collaboration. The Associate is expected to attend and participate in research workshops on health law, bioethics, and biotechnology, and other events designated by the Center. The Associate is also expected to help plan and execute a small number of events in his/her field of expertise during his/her tenure, and to present his/her research in at least one of a variety of forums, including academic seminars, speaker panels, or conferences. The Associate will work closely on a day-to-day basis with the Executive and Faculty Directors on his/her research.
The Research and Communication Associate’s non-academic work for the Petrie-Flom Center will primarily involve leading the Center’s communications work, including managing the production of a bi-weekly newsletter, advertising upcoming events through various outlets, and providing support for the Center’s website, blog, and social media sites. Most prominently, the Associate will act as “editor-in-chief” of the Center’s successful blog, The Bill of Health. Duties will involve growing the blog and the Center’s online presence, including generating original content for the blog, developing a complimentary podcast series, soliciting and editing posts by blog contributors, and developing a growth plan for the Center’s online work. The Associate will be expected to work relatively independently on this work and be able to take initiative to achieve the goal of expanding the Center’s online presence. The Associate will also be responsible for running the Student Fellowship program, including organizing Student Fellow meetings, tracking their work, and editing blog posts submitted by the students. The Associate will be responsible for key finance functions of the Center, such as reimbursement for speakers at the Center’s events. Other tasks will include support with grant management, event planning and staffing, administration of Center programs, and application tracking, as time permits. The Associate will be expected to work closely on a day-to-day basis with the Administrative Director on communications, financial, event planning, and student facing tasks.
Additional duties may include calendar management; drafting, reviewing, and proofing documents and presentations; database development and management; routine administrative and clerical duties, such as filing, mailing, photocopying/scanning, organizing contacts, assisting with travel arrangements and expense reports, ordering supplies, etc.; special projects depending on Center’s needs; related duties as assigned.
Basic Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree and three or more years of relevant experience.
Additional Qualifications
- JD or equivalent health-policy related degree preferred.
- Interest and knowledge of health law policy, biotechnology, and bioethics.
- Prior academic or nonprofit administration or communications experience.
- Strong technology skills, including basic Microsoft suite, and social media skills.
- Excellent judgment, attention to detail, organizational skills, oral and written communication abilities.
- Ability to identify tasks that need to be completed with minimal direction and oversight, and to prioritize and adjust according to changing day-to-day needs of a busy program.
- Ability to handle substantial email traffic.
- Ability to work well independently and as part of a team.
- Positive and flexible personality.
- Prior experience with grant-funded research.
- Experience providing complex administrative support in a high-profile, fluid environment.
Additional Information
This is a term appointment currently expected to extend through June 30, 2020, subject to funding and departmental need.
All offers to be made by HLS Human Resources.
Applicants should include a Research Proposal of no more than 1,000 words describing the applicant’s area of research and writing plans as it relates to at least one of the Center’s current projects. Research proposals should focus less on describing an interesting topic than on demonstrating that the applicant has an interesting and original idea about the topic that seems sufficiently promising to develop further; and a Writing Sample that demonstrates the applicant’s writing and analytical abilities and ability to generate interesting, original ideas. This can be a draft rather than a publication. Applicants who already have publications may also submit PDF copies of up to two additional published writings.
All offers to be made by Harvard Law School Human Resources. For more information, please visit the full job posting online.
