Job Openings

Research Assistant, Consensus Project

Contact: Debbie Paige
Location: New York, NY
Application Deadline: August 20, 2008

The Council of State Governments Justice Center is hiring a research assistant for its Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project to work on projects addressing policy issues at the intersection of criminal justice, public health, and social services, and also take responsibility for the day to day management of the organization’s online communications. Justice Center projects develop consensus among legislative leaders, criminal justice professionals, and policymakers in a wide range of related fields on how to address different, often highly politicized, criminal justice issues. The Justice Center works to facilitate the translation of the common directives that emerge among these various constituencies into state and federal legislation, model policies, and innovative programs.

Duties:
 The research assistant will work closely with a small team and support senior project staff developing and implementing a variety of initiatives with constituencies that include—but are not limited to—law enforcement, court, and corrections professionals; mental health, substance abuse, and victims’ services providers; and researchers, consumers of mental health services, advocates, and policymakers.

The research assistant will have primary responsibility for creating and updating content on several websites, coordinating dissemination of e-newsletters, and maintaining contact databases. The research assistant will also field inquiries submitted through the websites; monitor media sites and listservs for relevant articles, publications, and events; and participate in strategic planning and web project planning and design.

The position also entails significant writing and research and involves interactions with leading policymakers and practitioners by phone, over email, and at meetings. The research assistant will be asked to describe agreements reached at meetings; analyze legislation, policies, and programs; and prepare and present reports on particular issues.

Although primarily focused on web maintenance, the research assistant will be involved in substantive policy projects and have an opportunity to take on more policy (and less web) work over time, or more web (and less policy) work depending on the research assistant’s primary interests.

Education/Experience:
Experience participating in website development and maintenance, as well as some technical expertise (e.g., knowledge of html, experience with content management systems), are required.

The position requires the maturity, superior interpersonal skills, and keen judgment needed to facilitate productive interactions with high-ranking state officials. Applicants should be efficient, well-organized, and able to prioritize quickly and confidently.  Applicants must have significant, full-time, office-based work experience. Candidates must be conscientious college graduates and demonstrate the maturity to work independently.

This position offers a significant level of responsibility and opportunity for growth to an individual seeking to begin or advance a career in public policy, criminal justice, the law, or web communications. Candidates should be willing, when necessary, to work long hours and travel.

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

How to Apply:
Interested individuals should email the following elements to Debbie-Ann Paige
  1. Cover letter
  2. Résumé
  3. Writing sample (no more than three pages)
  4. References (at least two)

Email MUST have the position title stated in the subject line

Applications that do not have all of these elements will not be considered.


Web Coordinator

Contact: Debbie Paige
Location: New York, NY
Application Deadline: August 20, 2008

The Council of State Governments Justice Center (http://justicecenter.csg.org/) is hiring a Web Coordinator to coordinate the organization’s various websites and manage day-to-day web development efforts. We are looking for a confident professional to sustain a high level of quality and increase the visibility, use, and impact of the organization’s websites and online tools. The position will offer a significant amount of responsibility as well as access to resources and a team of independent contractors (both programmers and designers).

The Justice Center is a nonpartisan policy organization that provides practical and evidence-based recommendations through reports, trainings, legislative briefings, web-based materials, and other means.  Justice Center projects develop consensus among task forces—which comprise legislative leaders, criminal justice professionals, and policymakers in a wide range of related fields—on how to address different, often highly politicized, criminal justice issues. The Justice Center works to facilitate the translation of the common directives that emerge among these various constituencies into state and federal legislation, model policies, and innovative programs.

The Justice Center uses the web to present our work to a diverse audience in accessible, relevant, and engaging ways; foster peer networks and learning opportunities; and provide important updates to our members. Through our various project websites (http://consensusproject.org, http://reentrypolicy.org, http://justicereinvestment.org) the Justice Center has developed a significant presence among the wide range of disciplines to which our audience belongs.

Duties:
The Web Coordinator is a new position designed to help manage the development and integration of these sites, use site analytics and field research to increase site use and improve site usability, and expand the organization’s web communications capacity.

The Web Coordinator’s responsibilities will include managing multiple development projects, including but not limited to site redesign efforts, new content sections, and translating publications and offline content into online tools. The Web Coordinator will interface with senior management, policy staff, and web contractors for project development; monitor project budgets and timelines; analyze usage data; assist in web product conceptualization; and supervise a research assistant responsible for day-to-day site updates and maintenance. This is not a programming or web design position. Rather, the Web Coordinator will oversee the work of off-site programming and design contractors. The position will report to a Project Director and coordinate activities with communications staff and web consultants.

Education/Experience:
This position offers a significant level of responsibility and opportunity for growth to an individual interested in public policy, seeking to advance a career in web project management and communications. Candidates must manage timelines / budgets, offer innovative ideas, and facilitate meetings. Candidates should be efficient, well-organized, and be able to prioritize quickly and confidently. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and two or more years of web and communications experience. General online technical and design skills including HTML hand coding, experience with web statistics programs like WebTrends or Google Analytics, and strong verbal and written communication skills are required.

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

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

Email MUST have the position title stated in the subject line

Applications that do not have all of these elements will not be considered.


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.


Public Affairs Assistant

Contact: Danica Han, 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 Danica Han:
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.


The Justice Center provides practical, nonpartisan advice and consensus-driven strategies, informed by available evidence, to increase public safety and strengthen communities. The Justice Center is a nonprofit organization that 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. The Justice Center not only develops written and web-based materials, but also provides on-the-ground technical assistance to policymakers and practitioners from multiple systems (corrections, mental health, housing, etc.), in state and local jurisdictions.

The Justice Center values diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.