Current Job Openings at the Justice Center

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Project Director, Reentry Policy Council

Contact: Debbie Paige
Location: New York, NY
Application Deadline: Open until filled

The Council of State Governments Justice Center (www.justicecenter.csg.org) is hiring a project director to help staff the Reentry Policy Council Project, an initiative begun in 2001 to increase the likelihood that people’s transition from prison or jail to the community is safe and successful.

The Reentry Policy Council is an initiative coordinated by the Council of State Governments Justice Center (“Justice Center”), a national nonprofit organization that provides practical, nonpartisan advice and consensus-driven strategies, informed by available evidence, to increase public safety and strengthen communities. In general, the Justice Center works closely with legislative leaders, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, victim advocates, and others to develop consensus on various, often highly politicized, criminal justice issues and to translate this consensus into comprehensive reports, policy briefs, state and federal legislation, model policies, and innovative programs. Justice Center staff not only develop written and web-based materials but also provide on-the-ground technical assistance to cross-systems policymakers and practitioners from state and local jurisdictions.

This position will be primarily responsible for supervising a team of policy staff members, each of whom will be working on their own projects. In addition, the project director will have responsibility for managing one or two of his or her own project(s). Such projects range from developing guides for policymakers about strategies for ensuring people released from prison and jail have a place to live to delivering technical assistance to state government officials seeking to track the implementation of their state’s comprehensive plan to reduce recidivism.

Duties:
In this context, the project director will have a number of ongoing duties:
  • Supervising a small team of policy staff, providing oversight and advice on project planning, project development, project management, compliance with grant requirements/obligations (including project timetables), personnel issues, meeting planning, budget development, and fundraising;
  • Designing and drafting internal and external memoranda, written reports, and other products as relevant to the project director’s projects, as well as reviewing, editing, and approving such materials as created by Reentry Policy Council staff;
  • Motivating and maintaining a high performance team by working with other senior staff to recruit new staff as appropriate, assuring effective training/development of present and new staff, and evaluating staff performance;
  • Helping to shape and articulate the Reentry Policy Council Project’s long-range policy agenda, including specific initiatives and useful products that can become signature pieces for the Project;
  • Staying abreast of emerging trends within prisoner reentry arena;
  • Working with the communications and government affairs staff to facilitate the involvement of the Project’s varied constituency and efforts with the media and with relevant federal activity, including providing witnesses or interview subjects, drafting talking points, or providing program examples from the field;
  • Maintaining strong relationships with funders, board members, consultants, and partner organizations and cultivating new relationships with these groups, where appropriate;
  • Assuring that the work of the Project is truly national in scope, incorporating perspectives which reach across political, geographic, racial, class-based, and ethnic boundaries;
  • Reviewing and assessing overall Project capacity and efficiency including structure, operations, financial security, and technological systems, particularly in relation to the Justice Center’s other projects, including the Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project and the Justice Reinvestment Initiative;
  • Helping to assure effective internal communications systems both within the Reentry Policy Council Project and across the Justice Center by encouraging cooperation and cross-fertilization among projects as well as ensuring that senior staff is aware of progress and challenges faced by Reentry Policy Council Project staff/projects;
  • Representing the Reentry Policy Council (or particular projects of the Reentry Policy Council) through participation in and/or presentations at meetings of policymakers and practitioners from the criminal justice system or their non-criminal justice partners.

Education/ Experience:

  • Superior research, writing, and editing skills;
  • Strong oral communication skills, including the ability to effectively present complex information in a concise way;
  • Demonstrated success designing new projects and securing funding for them
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, including maturity, keen judgment, and self-confidence, with a sense of humor and ability to maintain balance and perspective;
  • Ability to work with (and find consensus among) people from a wide array of backgrounds and perspectives, as well as an appreciation for the need to address issues in nonpartisan and non-polarizing ways;
  • Efficient, organized work style and an ability to prioritize quickly and confidently;
  • Willingness to travel an average of four to six days per month;
  • Relevant work experience in criminal justice (ideally corrections and/or community corrections) or other governmental policy area;
  • Experience delivering technical assistance;
  • Experience managing staff and budgets, preferably in a nonprofit/government organization;
  • A college degree (required) and a graduate degree in a related field, such as law or public policy (strongly preferred)

Salary Range :
Salary is commensurate with experience and includes a generous benefits package.

How to Apply:
Interested individuals email the following materials to Debbie Paige, dpaige@csg.org

  1. Cover letter
  2. Résumé
  3. Writing sample (no more than three pages)
  4. References (at least two)

Applicants who do not submit all of these materials will not be considered.

Administrative Assistant

Contact: Mtokufa Ngwenya, fax: (240) 497-0568
Location: Bethesda, MD
Reports To: Director of Law Enforcement Projects
Start Date: Immediate
Application Deadline: Open until filled

Duties:
The Council of State Governments Justice Center (Justice Center) is hiring an Administrative Assistant for the Bethesda, MD location. The person will report directly to the Director of Law Enforcement Projects.

The administrative assistant will oversee daily office functions, manage the upkeep and operation of office equipment and act as liaison with external vendors and the Justice Center’s New York office. The administrative assistant is responsible for assisting with correspondence, mail merges, database maintenance, report typing and other administrative duties. The administrative assistant will work with the Grants Manager Assistant to process vendor invoice payments, employee travel expense reports, and employee corporate card payments. The administrative assistant will interact with high-ranking state officials and/or their assistants. Therefore, the ideal candidate must demonstrate sensitivity and tact, have good problem solving skills, and use specialized knowledge and independent judgment in the resolution of written communications and administrative problems. This position will maintain department files, the records of current projects and read and route mail. The administrative assistant will also be responsible for some aspects of meeting planning and the preparation of meeting materials. Some travel is required.

Additional Qualifications:
Applicants must have a high school diploma; two years of college is preferred. At least three years of administrative assistant experience. Must be highly organized, detailed oriented and able to handle multiple tasks. Must possess excellent oral communication and written skills. Expert word processing and data base skills are essential.

Salary Range:
This is a part time position (a minimum of 32 hours per week). Hours are flexible, but person must be in the office at least 4 days per week. Starting salary is between $32,000 and $34,000. Position includes excellent benefits (health insurance, retirement, etc.) and 9.6 days of vacation in the first year.

How to Apply:
Interested individuals should mail, fax, or email the following elements to Mtokufa Ngwenya(mnwenya@csg.org) or fax (240)497-0568:

1. Cover letter
2. Resume
3. References (at least two)

Web Assistant

Contact: Debbie Paige
Location: New York, NY
Application Deadline: May 23, 2008

The Council of State Governments Justice Center (http://justicecenter.csg.org/) is hiring a Web Assistant who will be responsible for day-to-day management of all facets of the organization’s online communications. He or she will be primarily responsible for creating and updating content on several websites, coordinating dissemination of e-newsletters, and maintaining contact databases. This position reports to the Web Coordinator.

The CSG Justice Center’s goal is to increase public safety and strengthen communities. We are a nonpartisan policy organization that provides practical and evidence-based recommendations through reports, trainings, legislative briefings, web-based materials, and other means. Our primary audience is policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government who are in positions to enact our recommendations.

Duties:
The Web Assistant will be responsible for:

  • Using content management tools to implement regular site content updates
  • Regularly monitoring news and scanning criminal justice-related listservs for relevant articles, publications, events, funding opportunities, and other resources to post on the websites
  • Coding and disseminating monthly HTML and text newsletters
  • Working with Communications department to maintain contact lists and listservs
  • Fielding miscellaneous inquiries submitted through the websites and newsletters
  • Participating in strategic planning and web product conceptualization (after successful transition)

Additional Qualifications:
Proficiency in HTML coding is required. Familiarity with CSS and experience with Dreamweaver and Photoshop a plus. Knowledge of /interest in the criminal justice system is preferred but not required. Candidates must have at least a bachelor’s degree and some post-graduate experience. Starting salary is between $38,300 and $55,500 (depending on experience), and includes excellent benefits.

How to Apply:
Interested individuals should email the following elements to Debbie Paige, dpaige@csg.org:
  1. Cover letter (please identify salary requirements)
  2. Résumé
  3. References (at least two)

Applicants who do not submit all of these materials will not be considered.

Public Affairs Assistant

Contact: Mtokufa Ngwenya, fax: (240) 497-0568
Location: Bethesda, MD
Start Date: Immediate
Application Deadline: Open until filled

The Council of State Governments Justice Center (Justice Center) is hiring a Public Affairs Assistant to contribute to the government affairs and communications teams in the Bethesda, Maryland office of the organization.

Justice Center projects are designed to develop consensus among stakeholders with varying perspectives who are brought together to solve difficult community problems—legislative leaders, other policymakers, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, police, corrections officials, victim advocates, and many others. The Justice Center then translates this consensus into state and federal legislation, model policies, and innovative programs.

Duties:
The Public Affairs Assistant will report to a Government Affairs Associate and will work closely with the Director of Communications. This position will span government affairs and communications—allowing the candidate to contribute to both areas. It offers a significant level of responsibility and opportunity for growth.

The Bethesda office’s government affairs responsibilities include researching and drafting accurate and timely reports for legislators, briefing memos, and other materials; preparing staff briefings around criminal justice issues; maintaining databases and developing templates for legislative responses; drafting responses to inquiries from the public and state and local officials; maintaining contacts and exchanges with organizations and legislative contacts; and contributing to development work involving government affairs.

The communications duties include helping to implement media strategies; tracking media coverage on priority topics; maintaining press lists; translating research results and statistics for use in fact sheets; working with state legislators and other stakeholders on local media efforts; drafting op-eds, talking points, advisories, and press releases; organizing media events; compiling information kits; preparing reports to funders and the board; and helping to develop mechanisms to raise the visibility of the organization.

Additional Qualifications :
The candidate must be able to work both independently and as a team member. The successful candidate will also have excellent speaking and writing skills He or she must be efficient, well-organized, detail-oriented, and able to prioritize quickly and confidently. Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree and significant, full-time, office-based work experience. Experience with Capitol Hill or media, while not required, is a plus. Candidates should be willing, when necessary, to work long hours. Starting salary is between $36,000 and $44,000 (commensurate with experience), and includes excellent benefits.

How to Apply :
Interested individuals should mail, fax, or email the following materials to Mtokufa Ngwenya:
1. Cover letter
2. Résumé
3. Writing sample (no more than five pages)
4. References (at least two)

Applicants who do not submit all of these materials will not be considered.