(Hybrid Full-Time Position in Oakland, CA)
Who We Are
Impact Justice advances safety, justice, and opportunity through boundary-breaking work that honors and empowers people and is changing expectations about what we can accomplish together. We imagine, build, and scale innovations, leverage research and other knowledge to connect the desire for change with informed action, and work to shift the narrative so that decision-makers and the public understand what’s at stake and what’s possible.
Specifically, we work to reduce the number of people caught up in harmful legal systems by creating alternatives that are responsive, restorative, fair, and effective; to improve living conditions and life outcomes and safeguard fundamental human rights for the millions of people still subject to mass incarceration; and to expand opportunities for formerly incarcerated and other system-involved people to heal, fully participate in community life, and reach their potential. We operate from the understanding that the struggle for justice takes place in a context of historic, systemic, and pervasive racism.
We are a diverse and allied staff of reformers, transformers, abolitionists, and dreamers who bring a wide range of knowledge, skill, and life experience to the challenging work we undertake together. We’re committed to living our values and to creating the kinds of equitable and inclusive team environments internally that we fight to help create in our broader communities. This includes providing opportunities to all job applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, national origin, age, criminal history, disability, or genetics. The organization strongly encourages people of color, individuals who identify as part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer communities, and individuals impacted by the legal system to join the team. A majority of individuals on our current executive team identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQ. We are committed to workplace diversity and providing equal employment opportunities.
Research & Action Center
The Research and Action Center at Impact Justice partners with individuals, organizations, and communities to better understand overlapping problems of injustice and evaluate promising solutions, especially from the perspectives of those most impacted. Our studies, which are grounded in the ethics and practices of participatory research, are geared to connect the desire for change with informed action and to be useful to a wide array of stakeholders who have a role to play in meaningful and lasting change. We do this by collecting and analyzing data, and collaborating with public and private agencies and community based organizations. We center and uplift the experience and knowledge of formerly incarcerated people and others affected by harmful legal systems who are increasingly on the frontlines of change, supporting their work through research, evaluation, and technical assistance.
Who You Are
Research Analysts (RAs) support the RAC across multiple projects and tasks. RAs often serve as a point person for project partners and participate in ongoing operations such as data collection, data management, and communications. RAs report to a Senior Researcher, and collaborate with them to collect, analyze, and review data; and assist in writing and editing proposals, reports, infographics, fact sheets, and other content to further the work to the RAC. Successful RAs are curious, not afraid to ask questions, and are familiar with basic research methodologies.
That said, we know there are great candidates who may not think they fit into what we’ve described above or who have important skills we haven’t thought of. If that is you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself! And if you’re a formerly incarcerated individual, someone who has a family member who is or has been incarcerated, or otherwise have direct experience with the criminal legal or juvenile legal systems, we will be particularly excited to hear from you.
What You Will Do
The anticipated start date for this position is June 15. Your core responsibilities will be:
1. General Research Support
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- Duties may include: Help design data collection tools & questionnaires; help facilitate & manage data collection; data entry & quality assurance; taking notes during meetings; physical and electronic filing of project materials; may do research &/or fact-checking for Impact Justice more broadly; contribute to team “idea bank”; compile documents for IRB & grant submission
- Data Management & Analysis
- Duties may include: Merge datasets; clean and recode data; prepare datasets for analysis; prepare, analyze, and summarize descriptive statistics; transcribe and code qualitative data
- Project Organization
- Duties may include: Contribute to the management of RAC projects and ensure that the team meets internal and external deadlines by organizing project content & documenting progress using online tools (i.e. Google Drive, Asana, etc.)
- Report Writing
- Duties may include: Compile literature reviews & synthesize information efficiently; identify relevant organizations & sources, etc., for ongoing or upcoming projects; compile supporting graphics, charts, tables, etc.; draft report-associated posts for the Impact Justice website.
Required Qualifications
- Understanding of quantitative &/or qualitative research methods
- Proficient and accurate written & verbal communication skills
- Strong attention to detail
- Strong personal time management skills – ability to manage & prioritize many tasks across multiple projects
- Extreme reliability & ability to maintain confidentiality
- Experience using G-suite/Microsoft Office, especially Excel
- Willingness to complete administrative tasks, including making travel arrangements
- Demonstrated interest in criminal and social justice work
- Commitment to employing an intersectional lens during all tasks & projects
Required Experience, Training, &/or Education
- 4 years of professional training/education and/or closely-related experience
- Experience completing literature reviews
- Research experience (quantitative or qualitative)
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with SPSS or other statistical software
- Demonstrated expertise in one or more areas of criminal justice, juvenile justice, school discipline, or foster care reform
- Lived experience in the criminal/juvenile justice system
- Member of a system-impacted community
- Bilingual Spanish
Applying
The position will be paid $60,000 – $69,000. The benefits that come with working at Impact Justice include medical, dental, and FSA plans, significant vacation and wellness leave, and immediate vesting in our 401K with a generous match. This is a full-time, salaried position. We would prefer that the candidate be located in our Oakland CA office, and will work under a hybrid schedule (current policy requires 2 days per week in office).
We ARE NOT considering fully remote staff for this position.
COVID-19 Vaccination is a condition of employment for all employees (office-based and remote). We require employees to be fully vaccinated and up to date per the CDC guidance.
If this all sounds like a good fit for you, please send your resume and a cover letter explaining why you are particularly interested in the role and why we should be particularly interested in you! You can send this to RACRA1@impactjustice.org. Please have the subject line of the email read “[Your Last Name], [Your First Name] Application for Research Analyst 1.
Please Note: We will not review incomplete applications. Applications must include a resume and a cover letter (can be longer than one page). Ideally, the cover letter would articulate: why you, your skills, and experience are a good fit for this position; what brings you to this work (including any lived experience); and elaborate on your areas of expertise in terms of field of study and any methodologies you are familiar with. Please also discuss your approach to and experience with project and people management.
We plan on making decisions on a rolling basis, so the earlier you apply the better.
Hiring Process
Elements of the Impact Justice hiring process may include phone screen interviews, candidate exercises (written or presentations), Zoom interviews, in-person interviews, and reference checks. Candidates are welcome to ask for alternative arrangements in the process if needed (for example, conducting an interview via phone rather than Zoom), Impact Justice will do our best to accommodate reasonable requests. Please communicate any alternative arrangements requested via the hiring email listed above.