China Technology Analyst

Position description

The Alliance for Securing Democracy, a nonpartisan, transatlantic initiative housed at The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), develops comprehensive strategies for government, the private sector, and civil society to defend against, deter, and raise the costs on autocratic efforts to undermine democracy and democratic institutions. The Alliance works to publicly document and expose malign actors’ efforts to subvert democracy in the United States, in Europe, and around the world.

Job Summary:

The China Tech Analyst will play a key role on ASD’s Technology and Geopolitics Team expanding understanding and analysis of the Chinese party-state’s efforts to undermine and interfere in democratic institutions around the world using new and emerging technologies.

The analyst will contribute towards written analytic products on China’s technology influence, support the Team Lead with research assignments, and contribute to reports, grant applications, and commentaries. This position will have responsibilities in supporting the Team’s research agenda, as well as the opportunity to design and conduct independent research and present work at professional conferences. As the Team’s work has a significant allied and international policy focus, the analyst is expected to work with and engage international policy and technology communities with research.

The analyst should have strong research skills, as well as extensive knowledge of China’s foreign policy, and an interest in emerging technologies and increasing democratic technology competitiveness vis-a-vis autocratic actors. A technical background is not required, but an interest and ability to delve into technical topics, as directed by the Team Lead, will be an asset in this role. Fluency in Mandarin and superb writing skills in English are a must. Successful candidates will be entrepreneurial, hard-working self-starters, with an ability to support innovative research and analysis in a developing and rapidly evolving field. They will also have excellent writing, communication, and organizational skills, and the flexibility and willingness to prioritize competing demands while producing quality work on tight deadlines. 

Essential Duties/Responsibilities: 

• Support ASD’s Technology and Geopolitics Team by conducting and contributing to cutting-edge research on China’s emerging technology ecosystem, efforts to interfere in democracies and democratic institutions, and US and allied competitiveness in key technology areas such as AI, semiconductors, internet infrastructure, biotechnology, and/or quantum information.
• Contribute to analytical reports, briefings, and blog posts.
• Build research partnerships with likeminded academic, think tank, and other for-profit and non-profit research organizations working on China’s malign influence operations and democratic technology competitiveness.
• Present publicly on ASD research and findings and represent the organization at events.
• Organize roundtables, briefings, and events.

Additional Duties/Responsibilities:

• Contribute China expertise to cross-cutting analysis on autocratic threats, working with other ASD teams on intersectional research projects across topical dimensions including economic coercion and competitiveness, information manipulation, and US-EU China and technology policy.
• As directed by the Team Lead and ASD Leadership, contribute to grant proposals and reports on ASD’s projects related to the analyst’s portfolio.
• Engage policymakers and congressional staff on ASD’s work, as appropriate.

Knowledge and Skills Needed:

• Demonstrable experience in national security, technology, and/or democracy, as well as knowledge of and experience on China’s foreign policy and/or U.S.-China or Europe-China relations.
• Strong qualitative research and analytical capabilities on foreign policy/international affairs, particularly on China’s foreign policy and preferably on its technology or cybersecurity dimensions
• Technical knowledge or experience is not required, but an interest and appetite for learning about complex technology topics and drawing on data and machine-learning-based methods is.
• Excellent writing and editing skills in English. 
• Proficiency in Mandarin highly desired.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic, growing, and team-based environment.
• Ability to handle multiple priorities and deadlines, and to operate with minimal guidance.

Education/Experience:

• Master’s Degree in international relations, security studies, Chinese area studies, science, engineering, or a related field required.
• 3-5 years of relevant professional experience.

Application instructions

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