Jobs & Fellowships

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers headquartered in Cambridge, MA, seeks an experienced Executive Assistant to support both the President and the Chief Program Officer.  Serving as liaison to other members of the staff and Academy members, this person reports to the President and the Chief Program Officer and works closely with the Chief of Staff. This is a hybrid position, with presence in the office approximately 2-3 times per week.

The Academy membership encompasses more than 5,000 Fellows and 600 International Honorary Members and reflects the full range of disciplines and professions: the physical and biological sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, the arts and humanities and leadership, policy, and communications. 

The Academy recognizes that diversity of thought, class, experience, sex, gender, race, physical or mental ability, age, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation is a value to uphold and is central to the mission and work of the organization.  We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply. 

The Academy is committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion and looks to all its staff members to foster and promote these values. Learn more about the Academy values here (https://www.amacad.org/about-values).

As part of the Academy’s Global Security and International Affairs (GSIA) program area, The Raymond Frankel Nuclear Security Policy Fellowship provides an opportunity for an early-career professional with training in security studies or nuclear policy to learn about a career in public policy and administration.

Reporting to the Director of Global Security and International Affairs, the Fellow will assume primary responsibility for one or more workstreams within the Academy’s nuclear and global security portfolio. They will work in close coordination with Academy staff and the Project Chair(s) to steward and advance the work of this program area. Some of the duties may include: organizing a series of Track-2 dialogues between nuclear experts and former officials from the United States, China, and Russia to identify critical goals in arms control; working with the Academy’s strategic implementation team to arrange educational briefings for Members of Congress and their staff to deepen knowledge on key issues and challenges facing the United States in arms control and international security; coordinating the publication series focused on critical debates within nuclear arms control; and assisting with other areas of the GSIA portfolio including project development, administration, outreach, and reporting.

The Academy is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion and looks to all its staff members to foster and promote these values.

The position is a remote role with a presence near Academy Headquarters in Cambridge, MA or Washington, D.C. preferred. Occasional travel (typically less than 10%) and some nights and weekends are required to support project activities.

The Fellowship program has three objectives:

- To support, guide, and help launch the career of an early-stage professional who wants to develop expertise on issues of global security and international affairs policy;

- To increase the number of international relations-policy professionals who are engaged in substantive discussion of global security and international affairs research questions, with a broad understanding of their social implications; and

- To expand the scale of Academy projects and studies focused on challenges facing the international community.

The Fellow’s Portfolio will include:

- Promoting Dialogue on Arms Control and Disarmament

- Meeting the Challenges of the New Nuclear Age, Phase Two: Deterrence and New Nuclear States;

- Other projects and activities as needed to support the program area, including the development of potential new projects in collaboration with the Program Director for GSIA.

The Government Relations Officer – Washington, DC will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing outreach and engagement with policymakers in the Washington, DC area, including Congress and the administration and federal agencies, as well as state and local government where relevant to Academy work.

The Government Relations Officer – Washington, DC will support and advance the Academy’s efforts to increase visibility and impact with policymakers, including outreach on behalf of projects and commissions from the Academy’s five program areas: American Institutions, Society, and the Public Good; Education; Global Security and International Affairs; The Humanities, Arts, and Culture; and Science, Engineering, and Technology.

A principal focus, and the majority of time, over the next few years will be to support the American Institutions, Society, and the Public Good program area to advance the recommendations in the Academy report, Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century. The recommendations cut across political institutions, civil society, and civic culture with the goal of strengthening our constitutional democracy.  The Academy is committed to making significant progress on all 31 of the report’s recommendations by 2026, the 250th anniversary of the nation’s birth.

The Government Relations Officer – Washington, DC will report to the Director of Strategic Implementation and will work closely with the Chief Program Officer, Program Directors, and other Program staff.

This position will be hybrid and based at the Academy’s Washington, DC office. Occasional travel (typically less than 10%) and some nights and weekends are required to support project activities.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences invites qualified candidates to apply for the Directorship in American Institutions, Society and the Public Good (AI). Within the AI program area, the Academy aims to leverage the extraordinary breadth, diversity, and reach of its membership to strengthen the relationships between our national institutions, civil society, and the citizens they serve through short- and long-term projects and convenings. With guidance from the Chief Program Officer (CPO), the Program Director for AI will work with Academy Fellows and senior staff to develop and carry out policy and research initiatives related to the areas within this portfolio. The Program Director has direct responsibility to steward and grow a select portfolio of projects including the current Commission on Remagining our Economy and ongoing implementation work for the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship (the Our Common Purpose report) and the Making Justice Accessible project. They will supervise Academy staff who may manage a subset of programs or initiatives within their designated area.

The Program Director will build a meaningful and robust portfolio of project work focused on socially relevant and interdisciplinary/cross-sector work in American Institutions and foster partnerships that build on the Academy’s strengths, visibility, and impact in this area.

The Program Director helps to articulate the intellectual direction of their area(s) in full collaboration with the CPO, Director of Strategic Implementation, program advisory committees, and in consultation with the President and the Academy’s Governance Bodies. The Program Director is expected to articulate the programmatic priorities of the areas and identify, pursue, and maintain opportunities for strategic partnership with a wide range of institutions to advance scholarship, knowledge, and policy solutions in this domain. The Program Director also works closely with the CPO and other Program Directors to help develop the strategic direction and best practices of the Programs area.

The Program Director upholds and advances the mission and values of the American Academy and strives to maintain excellence in its programmatic work to advance the common good. The Academy is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion and looks to all its staff members to foster and promote these values. 

The position is a hybrid role with a presence near Academy Headquarters in Cambridge, MA preferred. Occasional travel (typically less than 10%) and some nights and weekends are required to support project activities.