Associate Director, Case Management Systems and Product Management

THE ORGANIZATION

The Center for Justice Innovation is a community justice organization that centers safety and racial justice. Since our founding in 1996, the Center has partnered with community members, courts, and the people most impacted to create stronger, healthier, more just communities. Our decades of experience in courts and communities, coupled with our field-leading research and practitioner expertise, help us drive justice nationwide in innovative, powerful, and durable ways. For more information on how and where we work, please visit www.innovatingjustice.org.  

The Center is a 900-employee, $100 million nonprofit that accomplishes its vision through three pillars of work: creating and scaling operating programs to test new ideas and solve problems, performing original research to determine what works (and what doesn’t), and providing expert assistance and policy guidance to justice reformers around the world.

Operating Programs

The Center’s operating programs, including the award-winning Red Hook Community Justice Center and Midtown Community Justice Center, test new ideas, solve difficult problems, and attempt to achieve systemic change within the justice system. Our projects include community-based violence prevention programs, alternatives to incarceration, reentry initiatives, and court-based initiatives that reduce the use of unnecessary incarceration and promote positive individual and family change. Through this programming, we have produced tangible results like safer streets, reduced incarceration, and improved neighborhood perceptions of justice.

Research

The Center's research teams are staffed with social scientists, data analysts, and lawyers who are academically-trained or have lived experience and who conduct research in the U.S. and globally on diverse criminal-legal system and justice issues. Their work includes evaluating programs and policies; conducting exploratory, community-based studies; and providing research translation and strategic planning for system actors. The Center has published studies on topics including court and jail reform, intimate partner violence, restorative justice, gun violence, reentry, sixth amendment rights, and progressive prosecution. The research teams strive to make their work meaningful and actionable to the communities they work with, policymakers, and practitioners.

Policy & Expert Assistance

The Center provides hands-on, planning and implementation assistance to a wide range of jurisdictions in areas of reform such as problem-solving courts (e.g., community courts, treatment courts, domestic violence courts), tribal justice, reducing incarceration and the use of fines/fees and reducing crime and violence. Our current expert assistance takes many forms, including help with analyzing data, strategic planning and consultation, policy guidance, and hosting site visits to its operating programs in the New York City area. 

Center Support

A dedicated support team within the Center ensures the smooth functioning of operations across various domains, including finance, legal, technology, human resources, fundraising, real estate, and communications. Comprising 15% of the organization's staff, these teams provide essential infrastructure support and innovative solutions aligned with the Center's mission and values. 

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Technology Support and Strategy Department is seeking a candidate for an Associate Director, Case Management Systems and Product Management position. Reporting to the Director of Technology, this role will oversee departmental efforts to provide the organization with case management and other enterprise application solutions that ably support the organizational mission and the objectives of its constituent projects, programs and departments.  

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Oversee the product management and development roadmap relating to the Center’s case management and reporting system;
• Lead the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of case management solutions that meet the needs and requirements of the organization and its constituent project and programs;
• Ensure the usability and utility of case management systems;
• Manage and oversee the software development lifecycle process and development pipelines in relation to case management software development, including the planning, prioritization, coding, QA, testing, deployment and maintenance of software and feature releases;
• Conduct and lead regular meetings between internal team members and key external stakeholders to identify requirements, devise solutions, define technical specifications, establish priorities, and report on timelines and progress. This includes collaborating with our Data Analytics and Applied Research team, the projects we collectively serve, and other administrative units to deliver solutions that put usability and utility at the forefront;
• Provide management, mentorship and guidance to the department’s software development, data engineering and product management team members;
• Work with the Technology Director to define, set and document the practices, procedures and workflows governing related functions of the department;
• Maintain established practices and procedure and oversee related workflows on an ongoing basis;
• In conjunction with other IT leaders, oversee and maintain a well-suited portfolio of enterprise applications that meet the needs of the organization’s administrative departments, including Legal, Finance, HR, Technology and Facilities Management, including planning for and delivering cross-platform integrations;
• Oversee and maintain a well-suited portfolio of employee-facing technology solutions aimed at meeting needs in areas such as collaboration, scheduling, document flow and forms building, and others as needed;
• Ensure that all solutions comply with relevant regulations and all data protection standards; 
• Ensure that secure software development practices and other information security standards are maintained;
• Develop and manage project resource estimates, timelines and budgets;
• Oversee and provide appropriate knowledge transfer to product owners and other departmental support teams to prepare them to deliver continuing support of related platforms/systems;
• Collaborate with stakeholders, product owners, and technology trainers to assist with development of training programs and materials supporting the use of case management systems and other enterprise applications and tools;
• Lead the product management team to ensure that the departmental repository of all platform contract, licensing, purchase/subscription and configuration information is maintained and kept current;
• Ensure that software and licensing renewals are completed accurately and on time;
• Interface with Fiscal and Legal departments on matters pertaining to software, subscription and license purchasing/contract matters;
• Manage relationships with associated external technical/software vendors and consultants;
• Lead communications with CJI case management system users on software updates, feature releases, and other important notifications and alerts;
• Collaborate with other Technology department team leads and members as on issues including but not limited to IT solutioning, access management, information security, service delivery and training needs, infrastructure requirements, and other items as needed;
• Keep abreast of vendor platform and software updates and changes and effectively communicate these to IT management and other key stakeholders;
• Remain current with related market sectors, technologies, product offerings and practices; and
• Additional tasks as necessary.

  Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have:

• Bachelor's degree or greater in computer science/information technology, engineering, computer science or a related field is preferred and a minimum of 10 years of experience in software development with 5 years or more of proven experience overseeing case management systems, enterprise application solutions, and software development teams;
• Proven experience managing the software development lifecycle process;
• Strong understanding of software development methodologies;
• Demonstrable project and product management skills and a track record of successfully delivering complex case management systems development and enterprise application projects on time and within budget. Salesforce, NetSuite, Agiloft and Jira experience preferred;
• Technical proficiency and familiarity with software platforms and integrations is required;
• Knowledge of financial systems and procurement processes is required;
• Excellent managerial, analytical, critical thinking and problem-solving skills;
• Strong process analysis/improvement skills and a deep understanding of UI/UX concepts and related items;
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to clearly communicate detailed and complex concepts and specifics;
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational and documentation skills are a must;
• Demonstrable experience managing data engineering personnel to implement BI solutions, ETL processes, and other cross-platform integrations;
• Proficiency in programming languages and formats such as Java, Python, .NET, XML and JSON;
• Experience with secure software development and data engineering practices, IDE platforms, and related ticketing systems is required;
• Experience with Jira is preferred;
• Experience with data engineering concepts and database management systems (MS and Oracle SQL, NoSQL, etc.);
• Azure/AWS experience is preferred; 
• Experience working in the nonprofit sector is a plus; and
• Job-related technical/professional certifications are a plus. 

Position Type: Full-time.

Position Location: Midtown, Manhattan.

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $130,000 - 160,000 and is commensurate with experience. The Center for Justice Innovation offers an excellent benefits package including comprehensive healthcare with a national network, free basic dental coverage, vision insurance, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance, and flexible spending accounts including commuter FSA. We prioritize mental health care for our staff and offer services like Talkspace and Ginger through our healthcare plans. We offer a 403(b) retirement plan with a two-to-one employer contribution up to 5%.

The Center for Justice Innovation is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace, and as such, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other category protected by law. We strongly encourage and welcome applications from women, people of color, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, as well as individuals with prior contact with the criminal justice system. Our aim is to create a supportive and respectful environment where every individual, irrespective of their background or identity, feels valued and included.

As of February 10, 2023, New York City Executive Order 25 rescinded the requirement of the COVID-19 vaccination for City workers, new hires, and contracted employees. Accordingly, the Center does not require all new hires be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus; however, the Center recommends all staff, interns, and volunteers stay up-to-date on the vaccination.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete an employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. Kindly refer to the job posting for the relevant contact information. If the contact details are not provided, we kindly ask that you refrain from making inquiries via phone or email, as only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.