Director, Greater Justice New York

About the Team

The Greater Justice New York (GJNY) Program Director leads the program’s work—from a macro‑level vision of Vera’s role in reforming New York’s criminal justice and public safety systems to the micro‑level day‑to‑day responsibility of supervision, management, fundraising, relationship building, and delivering on the work itself. The Director serves as Vera’s lead expert on New York’s criminal justice issues and opportunities for reform, both as an internal thought partner within the institute and as an external representative to other stakeholders in the field.

The Director frequently collaborates with Vera Action, Vera’s 501(c)(4) sister organization. The GJNY program director leads an 8–10 person team.

As a senior leader within the organization, the Director has significant responsibility for shaping the vision of Vera’s work in New York at the city and state level. The Director must have extensive and nuanced knowledge of New York’s criminal justice system, the workings of state and local policy, deep relationships with government and community stakeholders, and demonstrated experience in leading campaigns in New York to win policy change.

The Director must value “inside‑lane” work to build champions for our issues within government and an “outside‑lane” approach of working in partnership with advocates, organizers, and grassroots and grass‑stops allies. The Director has a commitment to race equity and inclusion in their work, a passion for driving social change, and professional and/or lived experience with the criminal justice system.

• Lead the development, design, and implementation of advocacy strategies for GJNY policy campaigns, including management and execution of GJNY’s work in research, writing and publications, projects, partnerships, and other deliverables.
• Manage and operationalize various components of the team’s strategy and ensure cohesion of work streams.
• In partnership with Vera Action, lead the 4 and political advocacy campaigns to create political buy‑in for a new approach to safety, accountability, and justice among candidates and elected leaders.
• Develop and measure metrics to discern impact of the established strategy.
• Work closely with Vera’s Research, Communications, and Advocacy capacity teams to support the development and execution of the Restoring Promise strategy.
• Partner with the development department to accomplish fundraising goals, cultivate relationships with funders, and support funder relationship management, proposal creation, and reporting deadlines.
• Manage GJNY’s stakeholder relationships at all levels of government, in New York City, Albany, and across the state, as well as relationships with advocates, community leaders and organizers, and with organizations that work locally and nationally that impact our work in New York.
• Navigate complex political dynamics to advance GJNY’s work.
• Lead and/or partner with other organizations, coalitions or relevant groups to advance GJNY’s goals.
• Represent Vera as one of the organization’s experts in media outlets (op‑eds, interviews), conferences, webinars, and other external events.
• Serve as an organizational spokesperson in media, public forums, conferences, and other settings, including as Vera’s primary expert on New York criminal justice issues to journalists and media.
• Draft and edit program reports, proposals, presentations, and internal/external blog posts to communicate updates on GJNY’s work.
• Oversee and own the overall supervision and development of direct and indirect staff reports, including professional development, goal setting, advancement, and elements of accountability, aligned with Vera’s commitment to anti‑racism, equity and an inclusive workplace.
• 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.

• Advanced degree and 12+ years of relevant experience. In lieu of a degree requirement, applicable work or life experience may be considered.
• Firsthand and extensive experience with New York’s…