About the Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ)

The Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ) is a research center launched at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2013. DCJ seeks to advance justice and equity through rigorous research and data-driven policy analysis on mass incarceration, racial disparities, bail reform, case backlog, pretrial diversion, low-level enforcement, and a range of other justice reform topics. DCJ partners with reformers, think tanks, and government agencies in New York and maintains a small portfolio of partnerships around the nation. DCJ also assists the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) in New York City with research and data integration. DCJ operates under the Research Foundation of the City University of New York (RF-CUNY).

About the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ)

For the current opening, the successful applicant will work closely with research, policy, and technical staff at the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ). MOCJ advises the Mayor and develops and implements strategies to reduce crime and incarceration and promote fairness and legitimacy. MOCJ works with other city agencies, law enforcement, nonprofits, foundations, and others to implement data-driven strategies that address current crime conditions, prevent offending, and build the strong neighborhoods that ensure enduring safety. Over the past decade, the office has an extensive record of quality in-house research, funding and supporting research by partner agencies, and publishing important data on criminal justice reforms and trends.

Overview

DCJ is seeking a Data Specialist to focus primarily on providing expertise to MOCJ in support of the office’s development, evaluation, and communication of data-driven policy solutions relating to public health and public safety among justice-involved people. The successful candidate will be responsible for collecting, analyzing, and ensuring the quality of data provided by city agencies and nonprofit organizations working on criminal justice programs and policies throughout New York City. The day-to-day work will entail: (1) engaging with program providers from across the City; and (2) coding and analyzing data to help assess the performance of MOCJ’s many programs. An exceptional candidate will be able to conduct professional interactions with research and policy staff at a wide range of agencies—requesting data, answering providers’ questions, and communicating when data is incorrect or missing. The successful applicant will also possess basic coding, data analysis, and reporting skills.

This work spans a wide range of topics, including alternatives to incarceration, pretrial supervised release, and abusive partner intervention programs. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to acquire a breadth of knowledge about these programs and topics. This also requires that the successful candidate be skilled in managing many simultaneous projects and provider relationships. The successful candidate will be provided with opportunities to grow in the areas of data management and/or data analysis.

In sum, we are interested in applicants with a combination of strong communication and project management skills, exceptional attention to detail, and a willingness to support colleagues. Finally, the more the individual is able to gain confidence in their own grasp of the goals and substance of each program area, the more they will be helpful in contributing to creative problem-solving with program providers and partner staff at DCJ and MOCJ.

Note: An applicant who enters the role with subject matter knowledge in the criminal justice system and competence in data analysis may also be able to make occasional contributions to DCJ research projects falling outside our consultation work with MOCJ.

Work Model: Hybrid in-person and remote.

To Apply: Please submit a cover letter, resume, and list of three references.

For More Information:

Data Collaborative for Justice: https://datacollaborativeforjustice.org/

Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice: https://criminaljustice.cityofnewyork.us/

Responsibilities

• Request data from criminal justice program partners and communicate data quality issues.
• Manage deadlines on projects and relationships with a large number of program partners.
• Provide quality assurance by uncovering data quality issues and providing solutions.
• Gain an understanding of the goals, policies, and operations of programs in each area—enabling the individual to play an active role in trouble-shooting issues as they arise.
• Demonstrate ownership of the data acquisition and request process.
• Ensure documentation is up to date and useful for researchers.
• Collaborate with DCJ colleagues and research and policy staff at MOCJ.
• Take responsibility for completing “routine” reports on topics such as crime prevention, the NYC jail population, or bail decision-making.
• Show an interest in contributing to DCJ publications and have the data competence, thinking, and writing skills necessary to do so (preferred).
• Other duties as assigned.

The successful candidate must have a broad range of skills, but above all, they must be curious, flexible thinkers who want to learn new things and tackle daily challenges. Qualifications include:

• At least two years of professional experience.
• Master’s degree in a relevant field (or demonstrated equivalent skills).
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• Demonstrated excellence in written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to communicate effectively—and accessibly—with technical and program staff about data, applications, and practices important to the field of inquiry.
• Ability to balance competing priorities, complex situations, and tight deadlines.
• Ability to clean, code, merge, and/or prepare administrative data files for analysis using statistical or general programming (R, SPSS, SQL, other).
• Experience with data visualization using Tableau or Streamlit preferred.
• Ability to work comfortably with a variety of people at different levels in an organization.
• Demonstrated experience with the criminal legal system; and interest and knowledge about justice reform or related topics (e.g., crime prevention, alternatives to arrest, pretrial justice).

The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) was established as a not-for-profit educational corporation chartered by the State of New York in 1963. RFCUNY supports CUNY faculty and staff in identifying and obtaining external support (pre-award) from government and private sponsors and is responsible for the administration of all such funded programs (post-award).

RFCUNY stands between CUNY’s principal investigators (PIs) and the sponsors who support them and strives to fulfill its essential responsibilities to both groups. Working closely with individual PIs and Grants Officers on the campuses, RFCUNY oversees employment, accounting, audit, reporting, purchasing, and special responsibilities that include management of a planned giving program; liaison with governmental agencies and foundations; negotiation of agreements; facility construction and renovation; protection and commercialization of intellectual property; and compliance with applicable standards in research involving human subjects, animal care, environmental and radiological safety, and conflicts of interest.