Assistant Director of the Pandemic Preparedness Policy Program

Our Commitment

Texas A&M University is committed to enriching the learning and working environment for all visitors, students, faculty, and staff by promoting a culture that embraces inclusion, diversity, equity, and accountability.  Diverse perspectives, talents, and identities are vital to accomplishing our mission and living our core values .

Who we are

The Bush School of Government and Public Service, https://bush.tamu.edu , was founded in 1997, under President George H.W. Bush's philosophy that public service is a noble calling. Since then, the Bush School has continued to reflect that notion in curriculum, research, and student experience as the Bush School prepares students to become principled leaders in their fields and to reflect the value of public service throughout their careers.

What we want

The Assistant Director of the Pandemic Preparedness Policy Program (P4) will work under the supervision of the Director of the Pandemic Preparedness Policy Program. The Assistant Director will primarily assist with the following: identify priority policy research initiatives, policy events, workshops, and other meetings to host at the Bush School DC, Texas A&M University, or other locations to facilitate new policy development; establish and maintain effective communication and coordination with pandemic preparedness and biosecurity stakeholders in the private sector and non-governmental organizations; maintain situational awareness of emerging national pandemic preparedness and biosecurity policy gaps; conduct policy research; draft pandemic policy research papers, summaries of conclusions, briefings, and op-eds; manage relevant social media accounts; explore funding support for new pandemic preparedness and biosecurity policy research initiatives in philanthropy, government, and the private sector as well as other collaborative opportunities; and provide experiential learning and educational opportunities for Texas A&M University students and interns. The selected candidate will subscribe to and support our commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability as stated above. If this job description sounds interesting to you, we invite you to apply to be considered for this opportunity.

What you need to know

Salary: Compensation will be commensurate to selected hire’s experience.

Cover Letter/Resume’ :  A cover letter and resume are strongly recommended.

Position Location: This position is located in Washington, DC; Texas A&M University’s Bush School in Washington, D.C. is just blocks from the White House.

COVID-19 information:   Texas A&M University monitors local, state and federally mandated health guidelines to keep students, employees, prospective employees, and visitors as safe as possible. For the latest information regarding Texas A&M’s COVID-19 response, please visit the University’s COVID-19 website . For COVID-19 employment-related information, please visit the Division of Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness’ COVID-19 website .

Required Education and Experience:

• Master's degree with emphasis in public policy, foreign policy, international affairs or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Six years of related experience in public policy, policy research, communications, and/or relevant government, higher education, or other non-governmental organizations.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• In-depth knowledge of policy processes in the United States, especially regarding biodefense, health security, and pandemic preparedness programs and policy at the federal level
• Knowledge about coordinating with the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and scientists on biodefense medical countermeasures, supply chains, the strategic national stockpile, and bio-risk management policies
• Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others

Other Requirements or Other Factors:

• Position may require work outside of normal business hours, including nights and weekends.
• Some overnight travel may be required.

Preferred Education and Experience:

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in academia, policy think tanks, congressional fellowships, and other related areas.
• Experience finding and securing funding opportunities to support new pandemic preparedness and biosecurity policy research initiatives
• Extensive work experience on topics related to biosecurity, cybersecurity, foreign affairs, pandemic preparedness and response, or other topics related to national/international health security
• Experience managing professional social media accounts
• Experience with national pandemic preparedness, biosecurity policies, and executive orders
• Experience identifying priority policy gaps and engaging stakeholders to formulate new policy options and recommendations to guide new policy development
• Experience with federal policy processes in the United States relating to biodefense, health security, and pandemic preparedness programs
• Experience working with the executive branch and with interagency cooperation relating to pandemic preparedness and response at strategic and policy levels
• Experience in effective communication and coordination with pandemic preparedness and biosecurity stakeholders in government, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations
• Experience coordinating with the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and scientists on biodefense medical countermeasures, supply chains, the US strategic national stockpile, and bio-risk management policies
• Experience in policy research, including pandemic/biodefense policy, research papers, summaries of conclusions, and briefings

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to initiate and lead policy research analysis and projects
• Ability to proactively determine national policy gaps and research needed to close gaps in pandemic preparedness and biodefense
• Ability to direct, lead, and manage policy research projects and policy reports commissioned from leading experts in the field
• Ability to read, analyze, and synthesize data and research findings
• Ability to create appropriate materials for briefings, scholarly policy reports, presentations, media interviews, and social media
• Ability to disseminate and publicize pandemic preparedness and biosecurity policy reports and other work products
• Ability to turn research findings into actionable policy recommendations
• Ability to initiate and manage stakeholder engagement
• Excellent writing, speaking, and presentation skills
• Ability to manage self without day-to-day direction and to supervise others to produce work products to achieve common goals

Job Responsibilities include:

Administration

• Leads development of and supervises P4’s policy research areas at the Bush School DC site
• Priorities will focus on preparedness and response gaps in order to help shape emerging state, national, and international pandemic preparedness, biodefense, and international health security policy priorities and lessons from COVID-19. The goal is to improve state, national, and international policies, strategies, institutional capabilities, and capacities needed to prevent, prepare for, and respond to biological threats with pandemic potential.
• In coordination with Texas A&M University Government Relations, supports the Director of P4 and the Director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs to ensure that the policy and research agenda are aligned with the Institute’s and P4’s strategic vision and goals, as well as national, state, and Texas A&M University priorities
• Contributes to state and national public health preparedness, biodefense, and international health security enterprises in discussions as a recognized subject matter expert
• In coordination with the directors, manages and oversees policy research projects, reports, and initiatives to include commissioning policy papers with supporting research and analysis from leading experts in the field and through active engagement with public health preparedness, health security authorities, universities, and private sector stakeholders through workshops, forums, policy summits, interviews, and other channels and opportunities
• Recruits and manages external consultants, contractors, post docs, and interns, as needed, to support policy research analysis
• Represents the P4 at conferences, workshops, forums, and other relevant events
• Collects and summarizes literature to present to the supervisor and others
• Drafts articles and policy papers for various audiences and outlets
• Identifies appropriate publications for use in research papers, grants, op-ed pieces, books, and classes
• Identifies funding opportunities for new policy research as well as other opportunities to expand the pandemic preparedness and biosecurity policy program, and supports writing proposals for new initiatives
• Attends weekly staff meetings
• Completes special projects for director
• Assists with coordinating P4 related events

Project Management

• Manages project portfolios in line with business strategies and following project management standards
• Periodically conducts meetings with stakeholders and partners to schedule and coordinate project activities
• Coordinates project resources in conjunction with sponsors and University’s services
• Manages projects where the problem and solution are somewhat difficult to achieve
• Manages project quality control and assurance
• Applies internal, governmental, and sponsor required practices and legislation in vendor selection, contract negotiation, and project lifecycle
• Oversees project budgets and schedules that usually have a moderate impact on financial revenue and expenses
• Advises project and initiative leaders on the financial position of relevant accounts

Communication

• Works with Marketing and Communication (MarComm) team to manage social media accounts
• Writes science and policy articles for non-science audiences
• Compiles data and creates tables and/or infographics for research papers, grants, op-ed pieces, books, and classes
• Presents findings and recommendations
• Assists MarComm team with Scowcroft communications
• Perform other duties as assigned

Instructions to Applicants: Applications received by Texas A&M University must either have all job application data entered or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume or use a LinkedIn profile to pre-populate the online application.