Senior Program Manager, Crime and Justice Policy Lab; CJP

Position: Senior Program Manager, Crime and Justice Policy Lab (CJP)
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Posted Job Title

Senior Program Manager, Crime and Justice Policy Lab (CJP)

Job Profile Title

Manager D, Research

Job Description Summary

The University of Pennsylvania's Crime and Justice Policy Lab (CJP) seeks a Senior Program Manager to support the disciplined scale-up and institutionalization of Baltimore's Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS). This role provides targeted technical support, operational problem-solving, and structured follow-through with government partners - alternating support primarily between the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) - to reinforce management routines, sustained follow-through and coordinated, consistent execution during the scale-up of GVRS and other key public-safety reform efforts.

In addition to GVRS, the role supports related violence-reduction initiatives, including management and performance structures, capacity-building efforts, and pilots or adjacent work streams tied to broader public-safety reform. The position also contributes to a citywide GVRS evaluation effort by reinforcing reliable data routines, documentation of decisions and progress, and shared standards for implementation fidelity to support alignment around evaluation needs, while strengthening Baltimore's governance and performance systems for sustained violence-reduction management.

The Senior Program Manager serves as a strategic deputy to CJP's Director of Violence Reduction Policy and Programs, providing high-level support to reinforce focus, follow-through, and strong, reliable management practices for priority violence-reduction and institutional reform initiatives. The ideal candidate brings rigor, structure, and a bias toward action. The role incorporates applied research practices - documenting implementation fidelity, synthesizing field observations, and translating research insights into operational decisions - to strengthen institutional learning, strategy execution, and evaluation alignment.

This position is based in Baltimore.

Job Description

This position is based in the Crime and Justice Policy Lab (CJP), a research group within the University of Pennsylvania Department of Criminology. The mission of CJP is to apply rigorous methods of scientific research to improve public safety in disadvantaged communities, centering those communities in the design and execution of policy ideas, and ensuring that research and government policy is being done with communities rather than to communities.

The end goal for our work is that citizens in Philadelphia and other major cities are able to enjoy safety, and equitable treatment and outcomes in their day-to-day lives. CJP works primarily in Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Oakland, and San Francisco, and with several federal government partners and international partners in Latin America and the Caribbean.

CJP projects often pursue a "triple bottom line"-our successful projects are ones that reduce violence that is affecting communities, reduce incarceration, and lessen the burden of policing on communities by generating fewer and more just interactions between police and community members. As many of our projects directly work with the criminal justice system to achieve these goals, we need to be comfortable both holding the priorities of the communities we serve at the center of our work, while also being able to work productively with police and other groups.

Background:

CJP partners with the Baltimore Police Department, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, and the State's Attorney's Office…