Announcing our bold, new campaign: "Cellular Agriculture for the Public Good."

We’re hiring a community engagement associate

Published March 22, 2022 | Updated February 27, 2024 | Meera Zassenhaus

Company Description

New Harvest is a nonprofit organization that accelerates responsible research and innovation (RRI) and collaboration among stakeholders in the field of cellular agriculture. We have entities in the US and Canada, and are in the process of establishing a foundation in the Netherlands. As the nonprofit hub connecting cell-based food startups to academic research, New Harvest brings long-range vision to the space and addresses the fundamentals necessary to elevate the discipline and organize collective responsibility in this developing field.

We support work that is not funded by traditional sources because it is too early stage for industry, transcends the interests of for-profit entities, or lies outside the parameters of existing government grants. Our targeted funding is designed to maximize the positive impact of cellular agriculture. By committing to openness in our and our grantees’ work, we directly address the intellectual property-inefficiency that occurs when pre-competitive research is conducted by private companies and excluded from the public domain.

Job Description

We’re looking for someone who is passionate about storytelling and creative ways of showing the world who we are and what we do. The community engagement associate works to cultivate relationships with the New Harvest community and ensure internal updates get communicated to donors, prospective donors, and community members via our blog, newsletter, and social media channels.

This is an entry level position with lots of room to grow in communications, development, and marketing. We are a small org and close-knit team, and things are always changing. This role requires bringing order to chaos and rapidly funneling internal developments to the outside world.

Here is some work we’re proud of: 

  • This Instagram highlight with the three elephants (https://bit.ly/3Da4MDq)
  • This blog post (https://bit.ly/3NdUcQo)
  • Our Twitter takeovers (e.g. #GarrettforNH) (https://bit.ly/3JwmhjJ)
  • This TikTok (https://bit.ly/36gHq2R)
  • This Reddit AMA (https://bit.ly/3qmQry8)

The position reports directly to the communications and media manager. The role is full time and remote, with preference for applicants in the states of New York, California, Texas, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Georgia and provinces Alberta and Ontario.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Social Media

  • Create, manage, and post social media content across all New Harvest social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook) to advance New Harvest communication and fundraising goals
  • Ensure all NH news and updates are shared with our community across all platforms
  • Develop compelling copy and creative content for social media accounts, consistent with established style guides for language and branding; Collaborate with our graphic design intern and content production manager to develop graphics
  • Actively monitor social channels for key narratives, current events, and relevant issues. Respond to notifications and direct messages and be New Harvest’s online liaison with followers and community members.
  • Identify news, trends, and other opportunities to engage with or amplify partners in cellular agriculture

Community Engagement

  • Produce and expand New Harvest’s monthly “roundup” newsletter – aggregating community events, opportunities, and NH updates
  • Triage incoming promotion requests from community members, corporate donors, grantees, and alumni
  • Strategize additional ways to increase and engage our audience, and convert community members into donors such as moderating a cell ag discord and managing a core group of “members” of New Harvest’s “cell ag hype house” on TikTok

Website and Content Development 

  • Update website copy and keep existing pages current
  • Write copy for new website pages, being mindful of SEO, alt text, keywords, etc.
  • Be involved in the editorial process from start to finish: attend idea generation meetings, plan campaigns to support internal initiatives, and execute those ideas to reach our audience
  • Supporting comms for New Harvest projects
  • Assist our development and communications team with writing quick turnaround blog posts and longer-form pieces showcasing the work of our org, our grantees, and our impact

Reporting, Analytics, and Metrics 

  • Monitor social media performance and track analytics to inform social strategy and optimize content engagement and reach
  • Use analytics and anecdotal data to tell us more about who our audience is and why they care about New Harvest
  • Leverage data to cultivate a loyal community of cellular agriculture ambassadors for New Harvest

IMPACT PLAN

  • Within 1 month you will be conversational in the fundamentals of cellular agriculture and New Harvest’s unique value proposition. You will be posting on our social media channels and refining/honing New Harvest’s online “voice” through rapid prototyping and with feedback from your supervisor. You will be immersing yourself in “who is who” in the field and in New Harvest’s online communities. You will be leading social strategy for our upcoming conference and jumping into the chaos of conference planning head-first. You will be writing blog posts and updating the website as assigned, and familiarizing yourself with NH’s tools and workflow (Slack, WordPress, etc)
  • Within 3 months you will be fluent in the fundamentals of cellular agriculture and New Harvest’s unique value proposition. You will be developing social media guidelines and posting strategy for each platform in collaboration with your supervisor. You will be “owning” New Harvest’s social media channels, monthly newsletter and newsletter strategy, writing assigned blog posts and pitching (and writing) others. You will be proactively updating New Harvest’s website. You will be a core member of the conference planning and programming team.
  • Within 6 months you will understand our best levers for community engagement. You will be planning and executing collaborations with external partners to drive brand awareness. You will be developing a social/engagement editorial calendar, and owning the comms/marketing plan for certain initiatives from start to finish.
  • Within 12 months you will be supporting the building out of engagement OKRs. You will have increased our audience and be developing a plan to increase engagement metrics. You will be pitching and spearheading community building experiments, initiatives, and projects.

Qualifications

We’re looking for someone with:

  • A sense of humor (ideally you are very online and can easily find a cell ag angle to Internet trends, jokes, and memes)
  • Strong writing and editing skills. You can write clean, clear copy with a light touch and wit where needed
  • Deep interest in cellular agriculture. You are excited to dive deep into the historical background to current developments in cell ag and aren’t afraid to ask a lot of questions to get the science communication piece right
  • An understanding of the role and importance of New Harvest in the cellular agriculture landscape
  • A “ship it” attitude to comms. 80 percent now is better than 100 percent next week

Additional Information

New Harvest offers health care benefits, parental leave, year-round “summer Fridays,” and unlimited PTO. Salary range for the position is $45,000 – $65,000. Flexible start date. This position is fully remote and work hours are in EST.

New Harvest is a recognized 501c3 in the US and a registered non-profit organization in Canada. We encourage applicants from the provinces (ON, AB) and states in which we are registered to do business (TX, CA, NY, MA, RI, and GA).

Please attach a resume and cover letter, in which you include links to two to three writing samples that you believe show your voice and range of copy.

Initial review of applications will begin the week of April 4, 2022.

Apply here


About the Authors
Meera Zassenhaus is Communications and Media Manager at New Harvest.