Careers Job Description
General Description
CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance (ISLG): Overview
ISLG is an institute within the City University of New York. The Institute’s mission is to help achieve improvements in the financing, delivery, and measurement of critical public services by assisting current and future leaders in government, non-profit organizations, and the private sector, in the U.S. and internationally, by offering research, technical assistance, and education and training. The Institute’s director, Michael Jacobson, previously served as New York City’s Probation and Correction Commissioner and president of the Vera Institute of Justice.
Project Description
ISLG is hiring multiple Research Associates to work on criminal justice projects in the Institute’s research portfolio, many of which focus on reducing jail populations through criminal justice reform. Broadly, the projects involve some combination of collecting and analyzing criminal justice data to better understand drivers of key outcomes; assessing the implementation of reform efforts; tracking progress and impacts related to criminal justice reform efforts through performance metrics; developing reports, dashboards, and other types of data visualizations to communicate analytical findings to policy and practice audiences; and identifying fair and effective strategies for reducing jail populations and racial and ethnic disparities. The positions are full-time and will likely involve work on more than one project.
Position Description
Each Research Associate will report to a Senior Research Associate and will work closely with other staff on project activities. Specifically, the associate will support their supervisor and other project staff in some subset of the following activities (specific activities will depend on the projects to which the Research Associate is assigned, but data management skills will be critical across projects):
Data management
- Developing data requests and data collection protocols for criminal justice agencies, community-based service providers, and other relevant organizations
- Cleaning, coding, merging, and preparing administrative data files for analysis
- Developing codebooks, file specifications, and other resource documents
Research and analysis
- Carrying out policy and practice reviews
- Conducting interviews, focus groups, and observations
- Developing, tracking, and interpreting performance metrics, including their policy and practice implications
- Conducting quantitative analysis, including descriptive analysis, multivariate analysis, and propensity score matching
- Conducting qualitative analysis, including content analysis and development of themes
Using analysis to inform policy and practice
- Designing and creating reports, dashboards and other types of data visualization for practitioners and policy audiences
- Providing technical assistance to government and community partners, as needed, to build data and analytical capacity
- Working closely with government partners and other project collaborators on all aspects of the work
Research development
- Conducting literature reviews and analysis to identify areas of opportunity in criminal justice research
- Developing criminal justice research projects
*Please note that some projects may also involve travel to meetings, conference, and/or sites.
Other Duties
Qualifications
- MA or PhD in criminal justice/criminology, psychology, sociology, public policy, or other related fields
- At least two years of experience (four or more years preferred) conducting research in an applied research setting
- Experience in collecting and working with administrative data, particularly data from government agencies (experience with criminal justice data a plus)
- Excellent data management and analysis skills, including extensive experience cleaning, coding, merging, and analyzing large and complex quantitative data files in SPSS, R, SAS, STATA, or other statistical software (including fluency in programming/syntax in one or more of these programs)
- Strong understanding of criminal justice policy, including an ability to translate analytical and research findings into policy and practice recommendations; background in behavioral health may also be helpful for some projects
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex research findings to broader audiences, and to develop clear, visually-compelling reports for government, non-profit, and private sector partners
- Exceptional interpersonal skills with the ability to create and maintain excellent working relationships with government and community partners
- An exceptional commitment to accuracy and attention to detail
- Ability to work on a team, as well as independently
- Background/experience in any of the following is a plus, but not a requirement:
- Information technology
- NVivo or other qualitative software
- Tableau or other data visualization software
This is a full-time position with excellent benefits and is located in New York City. Salary range: $60,000–$80,000 depending on research skills and level of experience.
How to Apply
To apply, please visit rfcuny.org. You will need to submit a cover letter describing your qualifications and interests and attach your curriculum vitae. Questions can be addressed to info@islg.cuny.edu.
Application review will commence immediately and continue until the position is filled.
The CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance and the Research Foundation of the City University of New York are an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Americans with Disabilities Act/Protected Veterans Status/ E-Verify Employer.
RFCUNY Benefits
RFCUNY Employee Benefits and AccrualsAbout the Research Foundation
The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) is a nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1963 to provide post-award fiscal and administrative support for CUNY’s research and sponsored programs. RFCUNY’s services allow CUNY researchers, faculty, and staff to focus on their intellectual curiosity and scientific discoveries, on projects and programs that serve our local and global communities, proposing concrete solutions to society’s most pressing challenges.
RFCUNY serves as a fiscal agent and works closely with all the CUNY campus Grants Offices to perform the core functions of post-award financial management for CUNY research projects and sponsored programs. These functions include legal assessment and signing of agreements where RFCUNY is named as a fiscal agent; setting up award accounts; preparing sub-awards and assisting PIs in monitoring the work of the recipients of sub-awards; supporting project directors with hiring and managing research project and sponsored program staff; supporting the purchasing and paying for goods and services with grant and program funds; managing financial aspects of projects including accounts receivable, financial reporting, invoicing, budget monitoring, and cost compliance with uniform guidance; ensuring that sponsor financial requirements are met; monitoring compliance with applicable project and financial management rules and laws; supporting the management of independent and external audits and financial reviews; and providing data, information, management expertise, and other supports to CUNY’s research and sponsored programs.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Key Features
CUNY Institute for State and Local Gover
Full Time
$60,000.00 - $80,000.00
Oct 31, 2019 (Or Until Filled)