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About the Role

The Restoring Promise Initiative Director will lead and manage the team's work, including goal development, budget management, and cultivating key relationships. This senior leadership role involves shaping the vision for corrections and prisons work, driving change at scale, and requires a commitment to race equity and inclusion, a passion for social change, and experience with the criminal justice system.

Responsibilities

Serve as the Restoring Promise Initiative lead, refining, defining, and executing strategy and a holistic vision.
Manage and operationalize various components of the team’s strategy, ensuring cohesion of workstreams.
Develop and measure metrics to discern the impact of established strategies.
Work closely with Vera’s Research, Communications, and Advocacy capacity teams to support strategy development and execution.
Partner with the development department to accomplish fundraising goals, cultivate funder relationships, and support proposal creation and reporting.
Develop and manage external relationships relevant to advancing Restoring Promise’s work.
Navigate complex political dynamics to advance Restoring Promise’s work.
Lead and/or partner with other organizations, coalitions or other relevant groups to advance Restoring Promise’s goals.
Represent Vera as an expert in media outlets, conferences, webinars, and other external events.
Lead messaging and narrative strategies around human dignity, prison conditions, and related issues.
Be fluent and have tangible experience in rapid response strategies, partnering with Vera Action where necessary.
Draft and edit program reports, proposals, presentations, and internal/external blog posts.
Oversee and own the overall development of Restoring Promise’s staff, including professional development, goal setting, and accountability.
Supervise unit leaders on the team, ensuring efficient execution and a propensity for learning.
Manage all elements of the team’s operations including budget, deadlines, staff deployment, and team management.
Maintain regular contact with the finance department to develop, track, and manage budgets.

Requirements

Advanced degree and 12+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent work or life experience.
At least 10 years of demonstrated leadership and professional work experience in restorative justice, prison conditions, systems change, and/or other issues related to changing corrections policies and practices.
Experience working on policy or practice change with Departments of Corrections.
Track record of media appearances and public speaking.
Experience and competency leading strategic planning, developing program design, budgets, and bringing programs to scale.
Experience developing and managing a multi-disciplinary portfolio of work with multiple strategies and funding streams.
Strong project management, problem solving, and delegation skills.

Skills

Existing relationships with senior leaders in the corrections ecosystem, including State DOC commissioners, expert researchers, leaders of organizations in the prison reform field, policymakers, advocates, practitioners, and people directly impacted by the criminal justice system.
Strong fundraising skills as demonstrated through amount of funds raised, relationships with a variety of funders, and experience developing proposals.
Strong leadership skills, with demonstrated experience having led a team with varying levels of experience.
Excellent oral and written communication skills and experience developing communications for a variety of settings and among diverse audiences.
Commitment to race equity and inclusion (REI).
Passion for driving social change.
Professional and/or lived experience with the criminal justice system.
Experience communicating and translating quantitative and qualitative data and research findings to drive policy and practice change.
Research training and experience.

Location

Brooklyn, NY

Work Type

Hybrid

Experience Level

12+ years of relevant experience
10+ years of demonstrated leadership and professional work experience

Education Level

Advanced degree

Salary/Compensations

$155,000-$160,000

Benefits

Merit pay
Generous paid time off
Comprehensive health insurance plan
Student loan repayment benefits
Professional development training opportunities
Up to $2,000 annual for education costs and fees relevant to Vera work
Employer-funded retirement plan
Flexible time

About the Company

The Vera Institute of Justice’s Restoring Promise transforms prison cultures, climates, and spaces in partnership with correctional leaders and realigns corrections policies and practice with a commitment to human dignity.
Vera works to advance justice, particularly racial justice, in an increasingly multicultural country and globally connected world.
We value diverse experiences, including with regard to educational background and justice system contact, and depend on a diverse staff to carry out our mission.
For more information about Vera, please visit www.vera.org.

Equal Opportunity

Vera is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, or caregiver status.