N

National Geographic Society

Nonprofit funding explorers for science, storytelling

Exploration Technology Lab Specialist

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/23/2026
$71.3k - $75k+ 401(k) match
Mid
Bachelor's
Washington, DC, USA
HybridHybrid staff work at Base Camp every Tuesday and Wednesday.
Project & Program ManagementProgram Management
No H1B Sponsorship

About the job

Requirements
  • A bachelor's degree in one or more science- or conservation-related fields is strongly preferred, including environmental science, conservation biology, metrics and evaluation or data science with a social or environmental science application, environmental studies, natural resource management, or engineering-adjacent degrees.
  • Three or more years of relevant experience in science or conservation, program coordination, metrics and evaluation, operations, or administrative support is preferred.
  • Experience conducting research and synthesizing findings into clear written summaries.
  • Ability to manage multiple projects under deadlines while adapting to changing priorities in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
  • Oral and written communication skills and the ability to work with individuals and groups at all levels.
  • Ability to work independently on process-driven work and know when to escalate.
  • Ability to compile information from disparate sources, including literature reviews, interviews, conversations, and first-hand accounts, into concise messaging or recommendations.
  • Ability to learn quickly and adapt to new situations.
Responsibilities
  • Understand relevant conservation and storytelling technology research, stay informed about emerging trends, and scan the Exploration Technology Lab portfolio for gaps and opportunities.
  • Conduct research and program planning, and make recommendations on technology decisions with guidance from the Product Director, including analyzing commonly used equipment, identifying emerging tools or methods, and compiling comparative information to inform technology selection.
  • Synthesize research findings into clear, actionable summaries for program staff.
  • Ingest and organize program-management and field-collected data using data-management tools and data best practices.
  • Collect, maintain, update, and report data; work with team members to create forms, reports, campaigns, and dashboards; and summarize data and metrics for divisional reporting and analysis.
  • Administer evaluation touchpoints and surveys tailored to each program's structure and response-rate needs.
  • Coordinate the acquisition, shipping, and management of hardware and materials, including departmental purchasing and expense reporting, equipment-shipment tracking, and associated paperwork.
  • Support program organization by scheduling, drafting and distributing agendas, taking and distributing notes, tracking action items, managing project records, and supporting facilitation as needed.
  • Support program administration for collaborators, independent contractors, and partners, including contracts and paperwork.
  • Support the Explorer technology opportunity outreach strategy from initial recruitment through active program involvement, including collecting, drafting, editing, and distributing content and program surveys.
  • Build distribution lists from internal databases and coordinate with partners and stakeholders to promote opportunities.
  • Monitor communication channels and address routine questions.
Desired Qualifications
  • Background or experience working in conservation, science, or exploration-focused programs.
  • Experience using database or data-tracking systems such as Airtable, Formstack, or Salesforce, including basic reporting or query-building.
  • Experience with survey administration or program-evaluation support.
  • Familiarity with grants, contracts, or legal-documentation workflows.
  • Experience coordinating across international stakeholders or time zones.

About the company

N

National Geographic Society

View
Website

The National Geographic Society is a nonprofit that supports a global network of changemakers called Explorers who use science, exploration, education, and storytelling to illuminate and protect the natural world. It funds and resources these Explorers to carry out field research, education programs, and communications projects, sharing discoveries through National Geographic’s media platforms (including partnerships with Disney) and other outreach channels. This organization differs from many groups by focusing on funding and empowering a diverse community of researchers and storytellers rather than running only in-house programs, and by blending scientific work with public storytelling to reach broad audiences. Its goal is to illuminate the wonders of the world and protect it by expanding knowledge, informing people, and encouraging conservation and responsible exploration.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

Acquired

Total Funding

$725M

Headquarters

Washington DC, District of Columbia

Founded

1888

Get referred to National Geographic Society

See people who can refer or advise you

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • September 2026 launched the 9/11 archive, proving durable demand for deep, premium documentary IP.
  • Super Scam Me premieres October 17, 2026, extending Mariana van Zeller's breakout franchise.
  • National Geographic still commands 800 million followers and over one billion monthly impressions.

What critics are saying

  • Disney cut Nat Geo roles in July 2026, weakening development and institutional memory.
  • Meta VR Glasses ship in spring 2027; Beyond delays until then strand momentum.
  • Disney owns 73% of commercial operations, so another corporate reset can hollow out Nat Geo.

What makes National Geographic Society unique

  • 130-year credibility plus 402 million-household reach still separate National Geographic from streamers.
  • AWS is archiving 15 petabytes, turning Society assets into searchable production infrastructure.
  • Meta Connect 2026 placed Nat Geo: Beyond inside ILM's flagship headset-native storytelling push.

Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • 401(k) Company Match
  • Wellness Program
  • Paid Vacation
  • Paid Sick Leave
  • Paid Holidays
  • Parental Leave
  • Fertility Treatment Support
  • Adoption Assistance
  • Lifestyle Spending Account

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

-65%

1 year growth

-65%

2 year growth

-65%
Penske Media Corporation
Oct 23rd, 2026
'They're still humans like the rest of us': watch the 'everest: The Other Side' directors discuss relating to extreme athletes.

'They're still humans like the rest of Dallas Producers': watch the 'everest: The Other Side' directors discuss relating to extreme athletes. At IndieWire's Art of the Doc event, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin explained what draws them to some of the world's biggest risk-takers. October 23, 2026 5:24 pm Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin know a thing or two about extreme athletes. From the daring rock climbing of "Free Solo" to their new film "Everest: The Other Side," which follows Jim Morrison's attempts to fulfill his late wife Hilaree Nelson's dream of skiing down the world's tallest mountain, the documentarians love to capture fearless people drawn to extreme challenges. During a conversation about "Everest" with IndieWire features writer Alison Foreman at its Art of the Doc event in Los Angeles, the filmmakers discussed what draws them to the subject matter over and over again. "In all our films, you think you're seeing these exceptional, extraordinary, extreme athletes. But at the end of the day they're still human beings like the rest of us," Chin said. "What I'm interested in bridging that gap where people feel like they can't relate to people out there doing these things. But the story is really human, and this film is about very human experiences. Even though they're climbing and skiiing the most extreme places in the world." Vasarhelyi also emphasized the fact that each documentary subject is a different person with their own unique story to tell. In the case of Nelson, she saw someone who was deeply goal-oriented but lacked the grand romanticizations about her sport that drive so many other athletes. She saw the adventurer as a fellow parent who lived a fairly normal life when she wasn't pushing herself to scale the world's highest peaks. "I had met a lot of extreme athletes, but Hilaree had a candor to her vocation that I hadn't heard before," Vasarhelyi said. "It's not romantic. She says in the film, 'I know it's just a mountain, but it's everything to me. And I'm like a dog with a bone.' And I understand that." National Geographic will release "Everest: The Other Side" in theaters on Friday, October 30. Watch the complete conversation in the video above. National Geographic Documentary Films, part of a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world premium, feature documentaries that cover timely, provocative and globally relevant stories from the very best documentary filmmakers. Its award-winning and critically acclaimed films reach 300 million people worldwide in 180 countries and 33 languages across the global National Geographic channels and direct-to-consumer platforms Disney+ and Hulu. Recent films include the Emmy-nominated winner of the IDA Award for Best Feature "The Tale of Silyan;" Oscar(R) and Peabody nominee "Sugarcane;" Oscar-nominated and Peabody Award winner "Bobi Wine: The People's President;" Emmy Award winner "Lost In The Jungle;" Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated "Fire of Love;" Emmy and Peabody Award winner "The Territory;" BAFTA nominees "The Rescue" and "Becoming Cousteau;" and Oscar- and BAFTA winner "Free Solo." For more information visit films.nationalgeographic.com, or find Dallas Producers on Facebook, Twitter,Instagram, and YouTube. Daily Headlines Daily Headlines covering Film, TV and more.

Impactful Ninja
Oct 16th, 2026
How one photo of a mountain lion helped build a record wildlife overpass.

How one photo of a mountain lion helped build a record wildlife overpass. Publish Date:October 16, 2026 CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE At Impactful Ninja, Impactful Ninja curate positive and impactful news for you. Add Impactful Ninja as a preferred source on Google or sign up for its free newsletter to get these delivered straight to your inbox - just like its expert roundup below! The quick summary: Wildlife photographer Steve Winter and journalist Sharon Guynup have released a new National Geographic book, Big Cats, documenting how their decades of storytelling have driven measurable conservation wins for big cats around the world. One key stat: Each jaguar now brings in $108,000 a year in ecotourism income in areas where they were once seen as threats, showing how conservation storytelling can transform local attitudes and economies. One key quote: "People are really taken by the fact that real change has come from these stories. Story after story, there was something that happened that has had a positive influence. That gives me hope," said Steve Winter. The big picture: Photographer Steve Winter and journalist Sharon Guynup have spent more than two decades documenting big cats across some of the world's most remote and dangerous landscapes. Together, they have produced investigations that went far beyond raising awareness, contributing to new laws, ecotourism economies, and major infrastructure like wildlife crossings. Their new book, Big Cats, published by National Geographic and released on October 6th, brings together 170 photographs and the stories behind their most impactful work. The book centers on a core idea: that targeted, well-told conservation stories can produce real, measurable change. Despite ongoing threats to all big cat species, their careers stand as proof that photography and journalism can shift public opinion and government policy alike. Why is this good news: Powerful conservation storytelling has already produced concrete results, from shutting down exploitative tiger-petting operations in Thailand to helping pass the US Big Cat Public Safety Act. Jaguars, once killed on sight by ranchers, now generate $108,000 per animal annually in ecotourism revenue, turning former adversaries into economic allies of conservation. A single photograph of mountain lion P-22 in front of the Hollywood sign inspired an entire city to fall in love with urban wildlife and helped spark construction of what will be one of the world's largest wildlife overpasses, set to open in December. Asiatic lion populations have rebounded from just a few dozen individuals to around 900 today, proving that sustained, targeted conservation efforts can bring species back from the brink. The book makes a compelling case that every person who connects emotionally with a wild animal through a photograph or a story becomes a potential champion for that species. What's next: The Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 Freeway near Los Angeles is set to open on December 2nd, giving mountain lions and other wildlife safe passage between two major protected areas. Winter and Guynup continue to advocate for coexistence strategies, including livestock insurance programs and ecotourism models that make living alongside big cats economically beneficial for local communities. With tiger poaching rising in India and all big cat species still considered vulnerable to extinction, their book arrives as a reminder that conservation gains are never permanent and require ongoing attention. Jamie is passionate about finding, analyzing, and sharing everything related to science & research news. He uses a vast historical database to compare and contextualize current developments, providing a depth of expertise that sets his work apart. Articles authored by Jamie are further enhanced by the use of a multimodal large language model, offering a scientific perspective on all news featured.

Televisual
Oct 14th, 2026
Nat geo unleashes 72 Films' megastorm.

Nat geo unleashes 72 Films' megastorm. National Geographic is debuting MEGASTORM, a new eight-part documentary series from 72 Films on devastating weather events that delivers "an immersive look at the disasters through the eyes of the people who lived through them." Each episode reconstructs a single catastrophe, from Hurricane Helene and the December Tennessee tornado outbreak to the Valencia floods and Australia's "Black Summer" wildfires. Survivors, storm chasers and emergency responders tell their stories of survival firsthand, cut with the raw footage they shot as it happened. Cate Hall, executive producer for National Geographic, said: "MEGASTORM puts audiences at the heart of some of the most powerful and destructive weather events of recent years through the people who experienced them firsthand. By combining extraordinary personal testimony with immersive footage captured in the moment, the series reveals not only the scale of these disasters but also the resilience, courage and humanity that emerge in their aftermath." Mark Reynolds, global head of Documentaries & Factual at Fremantle, said, "Extreme weather events continue to make headlines around the world and remain a source of fascination for audiences everywhere. What struck us immediately about MEGASTORM wasn't just the scale of the disasters explored in the series, but the deeply personal stories at their heart. With the powerful testimony from people who experienced these events, our partners at 72 Films have created a series that feels both incredibly immersive and profoundly human. We're looking forward to launching MEGASTORM at MIPCOM and bringing this standout factual series to international audiences." MEGASTORM is produced for National Geographic by 72 Films, a Fremantle company (Vietnam: The War That Changed America; The Michael Jackson Story; Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day In America). Fremantle handles international sales and is launching the title at MIPCOM 2026. The series is executive produced by multi-BAFTA-winning producer John Douglas, who is 72 Films' creative director. Alex Nicholson serves as production executive, Charlie Ferriday as series producer and Ben Allen as series editor. Executive producer for National Geographic is Cate Hall.

Televisual
Oct 12th, 2026
Plimsoll's Ranken made commissioning editor for Nat Geo

TV & Film12.10.26 Plimsoll's Ranken made commissioning editor for Nat Geo. National Geographic has appointed Alex Ranken as Commissioning Editor. He will report to Janet Han Vissering, Senior Vice President, Development & Production, Natural History, within Tom McDonald's content organisation. Based in the UK, Ranken will commission across the full range of natural history titles, from bluechip to kids and family, as well as emerging formats such as immersive. An Emmy Award-winning programme maker, Ranken most recently served as Creative Director of both 'Wildlife' and 'Kids & Family' at Plimsoll Studios, where he also led the company's Immersive department. His recent credits include acclaimed series such as "Secret Garden with David Attenborough" (BBC One), "A Real Bug's Life" (Disney+), "Tiny World" (Apple TV+), "The Wild Ones" (Apple TV) and "Stephen Fry's A Year on Planet Earth" (ITV). Ranken has a strong track record with Nat Geo, having won a Children's and Family Emmy for his work on "A Real Bug's Life."

Marketing Spread
Oct 2nd, 2026
To find a predator, she becomes the prey: Emmy Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller goes undercover to expose the $1b romance scam industry in National Geographic's 'Super Scam Me'

To find a predator, she becomes the prey: Emmy Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller goes undercover to expose the $1b romance scam industry in National Geographic's 'Super Scam Me' National Geographic has unveiled the trailer and premiere date for SUPER SCAM ME, a new investigative documentary special featuring Emmy Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller. Produced by Muck Media and directed by Jeff Plunkett, the one-hour special will air on Sunday, 18 October at 21:00 (CAT) on National Geographic (DStv 181, StarTimes 220) across Africa. The special will also be available on Disney+ in South Africa. Romance scams are now one of the fastest-growing and most devastating forms of financial crime. The rise of generative AI, which is capable of convincingly imitating celebrities and public figures, is only making these scams more sophisticated and harder to spot. An estimated one in seven adults has lost money to this form of deception, and in 2025 alone, romance scammers stole more than $1 billion from American victims. After years of reporting on the scam industry, Mariana enters one of her most immersive investigations to date in SUPER SCAM ME.In a real-life social experiment, she builds a new online dating persona and goes undercover as the target of a romance scam to understand and expose the tactics, technologies, and psychological manipulations these criminals utilize to deceive their victims. What begins as an online investigation becomes an extraordinary real-world pursuit, as Mariana begins to focus on one scammer, posing as a four-star general, who is growing increasingly persistent and manipulative. She teams up with a white-hat cyber hacker to try to uncover her scammer's true identity and location and sets out to confront him face-to-face. Mariana also meets victims whose lives have been upended by romance scams, including a woman who was duped into believing she was in a relationship with Jon Bon Jovi. What she thought was a genuine connection left her facing foreclosure on her home, exposing the devastating real-world consequences of these crimes. "I've spent years reporting on scams, and the reaction I hear most is 'How could anyone be so stupid? That would never happen to me.' But it can, and it does happen to anyone," said van Zeller. "So this time, I made myself the target." In an innovative collaboration between National Geographic and Muck Media, Mariana's podcast, "The Hidden Third," will feature special episodes dedicated to SUPER SCAM ME, airing the week of 12 October. The episodes will include exclusive interviews with the white-hat cyber hacker and victim featured in the special. As the host and executive producer of National Geographic's Emmy-winning series "Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller," Mariana has spent years investigating the world's most dangerous underground economies, earning a record-setting 88 Emmy nominations and 16 wins. SUPER SCAM ME is produced by Muck Media for National Geographic and executive produced by Jeff Plunkett and Mariana van Zeller. Plunkett also directs. Bengt Anderson serves as executive producer for National Geographic.