Program Associate

(Full-Time Position in Washington, DC)

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.  

The Team

The National PREA Resource Center (PRC) is a project of Impact Justice operated via a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), at the Department of Justice (DOJ). The PRC serves as the national source for training and technical assistance to assist adult and juvenile corrections, detention, law enforcement, and other professionals in their ongoing work to implement the National Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Standards and reduce sexual abuse in confinement settings. 

The PRC also supports the Department’s administration of the PREA audit process, including training the auditors certified by the Department of Justice to assess facility compliance with the PREA standards and managing the systems those auditors use to assess facilities and report compliance findings. This position will specifically support the Auditor Field Training Program (FTP).

Who You Are

You are a person who gets great satisfaction out of checking off a box to complete a task. You are a person who sees a disorganized data sheet or disorderly folder and finds value and enjoyment in organizing them. You are someone who understands the importance of paying close attention to small details, ensuring consistency across multiple similar projects, and keeping a variety of projects moving at once. Naturally, you won’t have an answer to every question, but you enjoy researching and finding answers when you need to. You are a person who wants to find new solutions to new problems and can work quickly on your feet to respond to changing situations. 

You have a customer service orientation and are skilled at communicating effectively with people from all walks of life. You enjoy conducting outreach to others as part of your tasks and can adapt your communication style as required. You are patient in your communication and present calmly during challenging situations. 

That said, we know some great candidates may not think they fit into what we’ve described above or who have essential skills we haven’t thought of. If that is you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself! 

What You Will Do 

The anticipated start for this position is late October 2023. You will report to the Senior Program Manager of the FTP team. You will be responsible for ensuring smooth logistics and operations for all FTP events, and your core responsibilities will be:

1. Logistics – You will provide logistical and travel support for all FTP training audits (up to ten per year) during all phases, along with pre-season preparation and organization. This involves liaising with training audit facility contacts; researching lodging recommendations and securing hotel contracts; coordinating travel; and organizing materials.
2. Communications – You will ensure that all FTP staff and faculty have the information they need to clearly and consistently communicate important details to program participants. This includes scheduling and sometimes participating in FTP conferences and video calls; preparing and sharing meeting agendas; taking notes, and tracking/following up on action items. You will also write external-facing communications to auditor trainees, certified auditors, and other stakeholders as needed. 
3. Operations – You will provide operational support to the FTP team to ensure the program runs smoothly during and between FTP cycles. This means implementing materials and curriculum revisions with the appropriate approvals; managing application, selection, and assignment processes for host facilities and trainees; and providing general administrative support.
4. Systems Administration – You will serve as an administrator for internal and external FTP information systems (e.g., Salesforce, FormAssembly, Basecamp, LearnUpon, Zoom, and the PREA Online Audit System), including maintaining FTP records and documents.
5. Grants Management – You will ensure program and trainee compliance with grants management requirements. You will coordinate, draft, and submit cost approvals and post-event financial reports for all audit events in an FTP cycle. You will identify and communicate guidance about participants’ lodging and meals, review trainee invoices, and respond to questions regarding program expenses. 
6. Auditor Training – You will support the online and classroom components of auditor training as needed. Examples of these possible tasks include: sending mass emails, coordinating applications and interviews, recording Zoom sessions, or helping with travel logistics.

*PLEASE NOTE: 

This position will require travel. You will attend approximately four to six training audit events inside confinement facilities per year — each six days long, including travel time — to assist with on-site logistical support. You must be comfortable with air travel and able to leave your home for those six days. Other travel may also be required for organization-wide events or to participate in training and conferences one to three times per year.

Training audit events take place inside correctional facilities and involve demanding days that typically last 10–12 hours inside prison, jail, community confinement, and juvenile facilities. You must be comfortable interacting with facility staff and incarcerated people in these settings. (Outside of these travel weeks, Impact Justice maintains an 8-hour day, except when responsibilities may require longer hours to complete work.)

We are committed to workplace diversity and providing equal employment opportunities. Please also note that we will be especially excited about candidates who have direct experience with the criminal legal or juvenile justice legal systems and have a good understanding of the complexities of collaborating with team members in remote locations. 

Applying

The position will be paid $62,000-$68,000. 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, exempt salaried position. This position is based in our Washington, DC, office. We are not considering remote staff for this position. Office-based employees work hybrid schedules, partly in the office and partly at home. 

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 brief email or letter explaining why you are interested in the role and why we should be interested in you! You can send this to prcassociate@impactjustice.org. Please have the subject line of the email read “[Your Last Name], [Your First Name] Application for FTP Program Associate. 

We will reach out to candidates we are prepared to interview following the application deadline of September 22, 2023. 

Hiring Process 

Elements of the Impact Justice hiring process may include phone screening 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, interviewing 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.