At the American Cancer Society, we're leading the fight for a world without cancer. Our employees and 1.5 million volunteers are raising the bar every single day. We actively seek candidates from diverse backgrounds including communities of color, the LGBTQ community, veterans, and people with disabilities. The greater the diversity of our people, the better we can serve our communities.
The people who work at the American Cancer Society focus their diverse talents on our lifesaving mission. It is a calling. And the people who answer it are fulfilled.
The Research Engagement Manager is responsible for strategic engagement of “research constituents”—i.e., current and former grantees, peer review committee members, and leaders in the field of cancer research to enhance the relevance and impact of ACS funded research. These research constituents are a select community of highly talented and influential scientists, clinicians, and healthcare professionals. This is a large high-value constituency with substantial impact as grantees, volunteers, advisors and donors to the American Cancer Society. They engage as a community and individually with ACS staff to create the ACS ecosystem thereby amplifying research impact and investment. The Research Engagement Manager is responsible for working in collaboration with the Strategic Director to create a comprehensive framework for research constituent engagement that ties to the organization’s goal of increasing the engagement of ACS grantees, grantee institutions, and scientific volunteers. This position includes tracking and producing relevant, compelling, and scientifically accurate outcomes information for use by ACS and ACS CAN staff, ACS grantees, other constituents of the scientific community, donors, volunteers, and potential volunteers (the public). Engagement with ACS grantees and the broader scientific community occurs via direct email and phone communications, digital newsletters, social media, in-person and virtual events, and via the ACS TheoryLab virtual community. This position works closely with ACS BrightEdge as well as leaders in marketing and communications, organizational advancement, and development.
2. MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES
- Develop, implement, and promote constituent engagement programs that support the Extramural Discovery Science Department’s strategic plan to build and sustain robust relationships with research constituents.
- Develop and implement strategies to grow engagement between grantees and ACS staff with the goal of improving grant stewardship, increasing grantee participation in volunteer opportunities promoting ACS, and strengthening the ACS research ecosystem.
- Build relationships with new grantees by participating in new grantee orientation calls and other opportunities.
- Assists Senior Scientist for Research Analytics in the development of monitoring, tracking and performing analytics related to grantee engagement with ACS Staff.
- Collaborate with appropriate staff partners to promote grantee accomplishments such as utilizing the Research Impact Tracking System, a proprietary tool that tracks grantee funding and publications.
- Collaborate with the Director of the Collaborative Learning Communities to foster grantee and staff engagement
- Create and support opportunities for research constituents to meet in person at national and regional scientific conferences (e.g., AACR, Biennial Survivorship Conference, Jiler Conference) and in cities with a high concentration of grantees.
- Participates in strategic partnership activities such as the Health Research Alliance (HRA).
- Drive engagement in TheoryLab, the American Cancer Society’s online community for research constituents, including onboarding new members, highlighting research constituents’ accomplishments, sharing ACS opportunities and resources, and developing new approaches for growing and sustaining active community participation both within and beyond ACS.
- Work with cross-functional colleagues and regional staff to support the promotion of the American Cancer Society research programs and their local engagement of research constituents.
- Support fundraising and awareness efforts by collaborating with Scientific Program and Communications and Marketing staff to identify research constituents who would be well suited as speakers at specific events and activities.
- Work with the Strategic Director to develop and implement a streamlined process for coordinating responses to requests for information about research constituents and participation of ACS grantees in organizational events from Society staff and volunteers.
- Work with the Strategic Director to develop and implement a streamlined process for sharing timely and relevant information about ACS research investments and ACS grantees with Development and regional staff.
- Share research accomplishments and “testimonials” (i.e., descriptions of how ACS funding impacted a grantee’s career) with appropriate staff for promotional purposes.
- Assist in recruiting lay reviewers for the Community Research Partners program. These Partners are individuals without formal scientific or oncology training who have a strong interest in cancer research and serve as full voting members on the Extramural Research Department’s peer review committees and Discovery Scientific Council.
- Coordinate with EDS Program Managers on the Partner nomination and selection processes. Collaborate with staff to promote the Community Research Partner program to ACS staff and volunteers nationwide. Assist in recruiting staff volunteers to interview Partner nominees. Participate in the review of applications and interviews.
- Participate in virtual and in-person training of Partners to prepare them for service as peer review committee members.
- Provide quarterly outcomes summaries of research constituent engagement activities and the impact of engagement efforts. Provide options for continuous improvement.
3. KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS
FORMAL KNOWLEDGE:
- Master’s degree in related field, and 2-4 years of relevant work experience. Background in science or health communication preferred but not required.
- Proficient in digital media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and X, exceptional customer service skills, superior oral and written communication skills, and the ability to juggle a variety of responsibilities.
- Experience with the research process, scientific communication, and research collaborations
COMPETENCIES/SKILLS:
Extramural Research Competencies:
- Builds networks - Effectively builds formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization.
- Drives engagement - Creates a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives.
- Instills trust - Gains the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
- Balances constituents - Anticipates and balances the needs of multiple affected individuals.
- Strategic mindset - Sees ahead to future possibilities and translates them into breakthrough strategies.
- Manages complexity - Makes sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
- Ensures accountability - Holds self and others accountable to meet commitments
Other Skills:
- Outstanding and proven ability to build and maintain strong interpersonal and professional working relationships with a wide range of constituents. Demonstration of a strong orientation to constituent service.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills together with the ability to work collaboratively with colleagues throughout the organization, grantees, and other constituents.
- A creative, independent, and strategic thinker with the ability to implement and improve constituency programs and activities. Proven ability to motivate and retain volunteers.
- Ability to exercise initiative and make decisions; flexibility and evidence of strong personal initiative; ability to work independently, productively and collaboratively.
- Excellent computer skills. Proficiency with Microsoft software for PCs; ability to learn proprietary database software used by the department. Capacity to adapt quickly to new technologies and work processes.
- Familiarity in the use of web-based social networking platforms for constituent engagement.
- Ability to search, utilize and integrate multiple types of information found on various internal and external databases and other resources.
- Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced setting with knowledge and skill to prioritize projects and requests to meet multiple and sometimes conflicting deadlines; ability to work in a team environment to accomplish goals of the CE program. Ability to manage multiple tasks, must be organization and detail oriented and able to manage data and information with a high level of accuracy.
- Some familiarity with cancer related medical/scientific terminology.
- Ability to recognize and handle confidential documents and information professionally and in keeping with business unit practices.
SPECIALIZED TRAINING OR KNOWLEDGE:
- Experience with Proposal Central, PowerBI, Salesforce, and Canva preferred.
SPECIAL MENTAL OR PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
- Work can be performed in a typical interior/office work environment.
- Some travel will be necessary
- No or very limited physical effort required.
- No or very limited exposure to physical risk.
The starting rate is $XX to $XX. The final candidate's relevant experience/skills will be considered before an offer is extended. Actual starting pay will vary based on non-discriminatory factors including, but not limited to, geographic location, experience, skills, specialty, and education.
The American Cancer Society has adopted a vaccination policy that requires all staff, regardless of position or work location, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (except where prohibited by state law).
ACS provides staff a generous paid time off policy; medical, dental, retirement benefits, wellness programs, and professional development programs to enhance staff skills. Further details on our benefits can be found on our careers site at: jobs.cancer.org/benefits. We are a proud equal opportunity employer.
