Scientific Community-Building Fellow

Grow the plant-based meat research community 

The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a nonprofit think tank working to make the global food system better for the planet, people, and animals. Alongside scientists, businesses, and policymakers, GFI’s teams focus on making plant-based, fermentation-enabled, and cultivated meat delicious, affordable, and accessible. Powered by philanthropy, GFI is an international network of organizations advancing alternative proteins as an essential solution needed to meet the world’s climate, global health, food security, and biodiversity goals.

How you will make a difference 

Advancing the science of plant-based meat depends on drawing in the right expertise, yet many of the disciplines best equipped to solve its hardest technical problems are not yet well represented in the field. In this fellowship, you will reach out to professionals in the physical sciences, engineering, and others outside of food science whose expertise is essential to solving the field's hardest technical barriers. The Scientific Community-Building Fellow will be responsible for:

• Creating an outreach strategy: Working closely with the Senior Scientific Partnerships Manager to create an outreach strategy for engaging critical and underrepresented disciplines in plant-based meat research  — e.g. how we reach them, what we offer, and how we bring them into the ecosystem. Understanding the core scientific and technical concepts (e.g., in an academic research paper) of plant-based meat research and translating them into the language of other disciplines. 
• Mapping key disciplines, individuals, and forums: Creating a database of people, disciplines, and societies and identifying opportunities for GFI to have a presence at scientific forums where these stakeholders gather.
• Building outreach materials: Developing the groundwork for relationship-building with individuals and academic departments — i.e., identifying target universities and department heads, and assembling the briefing materials, talking points, and persuasive, audience-tailored toolkit. Assessing opportunities to improve upon GFI’s existing outreach materials and tools, and implementing those recommendations.
• Supporting outreach and engagement: Coordinating outreach to priority stakeholders, scheduling and facilitating meetings or symposia as identified above, and designing and conducting interviews and/or surveys. With your supervisor, pilot a small number of outreach contacts drawn from your target lists, and fold learnings back into the strategy and toolkit. Synthesizing and presenting findings: Creating a final report and presenting a summary of findings to GFI’s Science and Technology team at the end of the fellowship tenure.
• Performing other duties as assigned.

Who we’re looking for 

An ideal candidate for the Scientific Community-Building Fellow position will have experience that reflects the following:

• Fluency in the culture of the physical sciences and/or engineering disciplines, as demonstrated by a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in the discipline or at least 3 years of academic research. 
• Preference will be given to candidates who are pursuing a Master of Science (MSc) or higher degree in a relevant discipline for plant-based meat research, including but not limited to: physical sciences and engineering such as material sciences, mechanical engineering, soft matter physics, chemical or biological engineering, etc. 
• Ability to effectively translate technical concepts across academic disciplines.
• Ability to professionally communicate verbally and in writing with students, researchers, and other innovators of both scientific audiences and science-interested lay audiences.
• Preference for those with experience planning scientific and academic research events, community-building, or society/committee work aimed at bringing scientists together. 
• Strong skills in analyzing and interpreting literature and disparate data sources to draw meaningful conclusions and suggest future directions.
• Ability to perform independent, self-paced work.
• A commitment to fostering a work environment that is respectful, supportive, fair, and welcoming to all.
• Comfort working remotely in a collaborative, caring, and high-performing culture that values inclusion and innovation. 
• Strong support for GFI’s philosophy and mission; demonstrated interest in plant-based & other alternative proteins, public health, environmentalism, climate change, animal protection, or hunger relief.
• A commitment to GFI’s values: believe change is possible, do the most good we can, share knowledge freely, act on evidence, and invite everyone to the table.

GFI wants the best people and is committed to a fair hiring process. We use a third-party anonymizing tool to redact personal information from submitted applications — including name, location, contact details, and several other factors — to increase fairness in our process. We also prioritize an inclusive work environment absent of discrimination and harassment during the application process and after you join the team. Please see our full Equal Opportunity Statement: https://gfi.org/careers/#EEO-and-visa-disclaimer. 

If you are passionate about GFI’s mission, think you have what it takes to be successful in this position, and meet many of the job requirements — even if you don’t check all the boxes — please apply. We’d appreciate the opportunity to consider your application. 

The fine print

• Position Type: Temporary, part-time employee 
• Position Term: 15 hours of work a week for 16 weeks
• Reports to: Bianca Datta, Senior Scientific Partnerships Manager
• Location: Remote, United States
• This is a U.S.-based position: In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work for any employer in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. At this time, GFI's policy is not to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas.
• Pay rate: $7200 and will be paid pro-rata biweekly over the length of the assignment ($30/hour for 16 weeks)

Important dates

Application deadline: Tuesday, August 25 

Anticipated start date: Monday, October 5

Application instructions

GFI uses an anonymized hiring system that redacts key identifying personal information from all applications. We are testing this tool as part of an effort to reduce bias in our hiring process. Following these instructions will help to ensure your application is not delayed by a failed redaction. 

• Where possible, limit the creative formatting of your documents. If the name on your resume is an inserted image file or is styled with large spaces between each letter, for example, the redaction is likely to fail. Colors and designs are OK, but wherever possible, the text itself should just be regular text. 
• Please use consistent names. It helps to ensure that the name you use in your resume and cover letter is the same as the name you type into the application below. For example, if your name is Jennifer, please sign your cover letter as “Jennifer” rather than “Jenny.” 
• Submit PDF or .docx files only. Other file formats, like .txt, are likely to fail redaction. 
• Please do not include personal identifying information in your responses to the application questions. Referencing past education, work experience, and mission-alignment is OK. 
• If you use smart technology, use it wisely. We want to get to know you — not a robot. Please ensure your application materials reflect your own voice and experience. 
• Please do not contact the role’s supervisor or any potential member of the hiring team. If you have questions, please email careers@gfi.org. 

Thank you for helping us to ensure that the redaction process works smoothly and to review your application as quickly as possible!