Associate, Science and Strategy
The Associate – a key member of Oceana’s Science & Strategy team – helps provide the scientific foundation for our work on global fisheries and climate change, supports country offices as directed, and researches and drafts technical reports, to help achieve Oceana’s mission and drive our Save the Oceans, Feed the World initiative. Our team values diversity in backgrounds and experiences, and we strive to build on and complement each other’s skills to create an inclusive and supportive team that together can fulfill a wide range of objectives and responsibilities for the organization.
The Associate provides technical and policy research, summarizes information in the context of Oceana’s work, and supports the team in producing briefings for a wide range of audiences including senior leadership and external stakeholders. This position works with data from a wide range of sources, is comfortable using analytical programs/software, and provides technical reviews of communications and other materials. This position requires strong research and analytical skills and involves teamwork, self-directed projects, and support for team events. This full-time position reports to the Senior Marine Scientist, Science & Strategy, is based in our Washington, DC office, and requires occasional travel.
Essential Functions
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Education and work experience:
Oceana values a diverse workforce and welcomes people different from each other in many ways, including characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and national origin. Oceana considers all qualified candidates and seeks to recruit from a diverse candidate pool.
Oceana's US offices have operated on a hybrid schedule and staff have been required to work from their assigned office on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. With an agreement between the employee and their supervisor, the employee may work from home on Monday and Friday.
Please apply by November 6, 2025.
The Associate provides technical and policy research, summarizes information in the context of Oceana’s work, and supports the team in producing briefings for a wide range of audiences including senior leadership and external stakeholders. This position works with data from a wide range of sources, is comfortable using analytical programs/software, and provides technical reviews of communications and other materials. This position requires strong research and analytical skills and involves teamwork, self-directed projects, and support for team events. This full-time position reports to the Senior Marine Scientist, Science & Strategy, is based in our Washington, DC office, and requires occasional travel.
Essential Functions
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
- Support and carry out project management duties such as developing contact databases, scheduling and facilitating meetings, taking notes, tracking deliverables, and organizing research tasks.
- Conduct research as assigned: review literature and draft reports and recommendations on a variety of marine conservation and fisheries topics, conduct scoping research, consult with external experts, and support the team in crafting final reports.
- Conduct data analysis as assigned: collect, organize, and analyze quantitative and semi-quantitative data.
- Support preparation of materials for technical and non-technical audiences such as media, technical experts, funders, Oceana staff and leadership, and the Board of Directors.
- Review Oceana public-facing communications as assigned for technical scientific accuracy.
Education and work experience:
- Master’s degree in a relevant scientific discipline such as marine science, marine policy, ecology, or environmental science; or equivalent combination of education and experience required.
- Academic or professional exposure to ocean conservation issues such as climate, fisheries management, nutrition, distant water fishing fleets, ocean pollution, and/or habitat protection.
- Experience surveying and analyzing scientific literature and synthesizing scientific information for non-technical audiences.
- Experience with assembling, curating, and organizing data and resources and use of relevant software (e.g., Excel, R).
- Experience crafting science-based outputs and outreach materials (e.g., articles, reports, presentations, factsheets, briefs, blogs, and memos) for a variety of audiences.
- Familiarity with citation managers (e.g., Zotero) and/or collaborative tools (e.g., Slack, Teams).
- Must be able to work independently and in a team and handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a dynamic work environment with speed, accuracy, and a positive attitude.
- Must be proactive, show impeccable attention to detail, exhibit insightful planning, and possess an understanding of abstract concepts.
- Must be able to cope with ambiguity and to learn quickly about new and nuanced topics.
- Adaptability to a varied workload. Occasional long hours, weekend events, and alternative hours are required to accommodate international time zones and travel.
- Must represent Oceana in a professional and responsive manner, maintain strict confidentiality in working with sensitive information, and possess excellent judgment in handling communications, expense budgets, other issues and personal relationships.
- Cross-cultural, race, and gender awareness and the ability to operate professionally in diverse and international settings.
- Spanish/French language skills desirable.
- Experience in project management desirable.
- Strong commitment to the mission, goals, and values of Oceana.
- Action Oriented: Makes things happen. Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
- Nimble Learning: Takes on the challenge of unfamiliar tasks. Can quickly adapt to new situations and draw on past successes and failures to solve current problems.
- Instills Trust: Is able to gain the confidence and trust of others by demonstrating honesty and authenticity, acting with integrity, being consistent and credible.
- Ensures Accountability: Follows through on commitments and makes sure others do the same. Has a reputation of taking ownership and responsibility for decisions, actions, and failures.
- Global Perspective: Takes a broad view of issues and challenges and can see them in a global context. Builds relationships with people from different cultures and countries. Draws on global knowledge and perspective when tackling complex issues or looking for opportunities.
Oceana values a diverse workforce and welcomes people different from each other in many ways, including characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and national origin. Oceana considers all qualified candidates and seeks to recruit from a diverse candidate pool.
Oceana's US offices have operated on a hybrid schedule and staff have been required to work from their assigned office on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. With an agreement between the employee and their supervisor, the employee may work from home on Monday and Friday.
Please apply by November 6, 2025.