The National Research Council seeks a Program Officer (PO) for the Division on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) Board on Science Education (BOSE). The Program Officer will be responsible for developing and managing highly complex programs or projects and is responsible for developing project strategies, staffing requirements and ensuring projects meet their stated objectives. He/she will serve as the liaison between expert committee members, the National Academies, and other applicable parties and will supervise staff. The Program Officer will prepare background papers and technical summaries. In collaboration with expert committee members, the program officer will synthesize and edit research findings and technical data and determine the relevance of data for consensus studies, workshops, or other BOSE activities. He or she will prepare background papers and technical summaries for use by committee members and will work with them to draft and edit reports for publication by the National Academies Press. The PO will provide innovative solutions to complex problems that impact the program’s or project’s success. He/she will report directly to the Board Director.
As the work is primarily intellectual or analytical in character, candidates will have the ability to solve intellectual problems of substantial variety and complexity using originality and ingenuity. They will have strong program/project management skills and proficiency in communicating scientific/technical/policy information to diverse audiences. Previous knowledge or experience with research on learning and education and/or public consumption of research on those topics is highly desired as is the ability to work successfully in a team environment. They should have excellent written and communication skills.
The candidate will minimally hold a master’s degree with three years of related professional experience. A Ph.D. in the behavioral or social sciences or education is highly preferred. He/she will be capable of organizing and leading experts from a variety of fields to discuss and write reports on policy issues in science education from an evidence-based stance.
The Division on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) focuses the knowledge, analytical tools, and methods of the behavioral and social sciences on some of the nation’s most pressing issues in efforts to understand them and to contribute to their solution. Our areas of expertise include (but are not limited to) anthropology, child development, demography, economics, education, history, law, gerontology, linguistics, political science, psychology, sociology, and statistics.
Established in 2004, BOSE focuses on science learning and education for all, from early childhood to adulthood, in both schools and informal learning environments, such as science museums, aquariums, nature centers, and social networks. BOSE investigates how science is learned and taught, from individual self-directed learning and the teaching-learning exchange in a classroom or at the dinner table to the effectiveness of schools or entire federal education programs. BOSE reports have influenced federal legislation, provided guidance to federal agencies involved in STEM education, and shaped RFPs from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education. Through the board’s particular attention to broad dissemination and stakeholder engagement, its reports have had considerable influence on professional communities in K-12 formal education and informal science settings and in undergraduate education.
To apply for this position: http://ch.tbe.taleo.net/CH04/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=NAS&cws=1&rid=7904
For more information on careers in the National Academy of Sciences: http://www.nas.edu/humanresources/index.html