Do you want to produce cutting-edge research to expose the broader harm of mass incarceration? Could your writing and organizing talents spark advocacy campaigns to create a more just society? We want to hear from you.

The Prison Policy Initiative is looking for a new experienced voice to add to our team: a Policy Director. We want the position to grow over time, but immediate responsibilities will include: regularly producing new reports and articles, taking ownership of at least one active campaign, and mentoring staff and volunteers.

Founded in 2001, the Prison Policy Initiative is known for effectively using data to make the case for criminal justice reform. With a small (currently 5 staff) team of multi-skilled researchers, activists and communicators based in Western Massachusetts, we shape the future of national criminal justice reform with engaging visuals, innovative reports, and focused technical assistance.

With your help, we can immediately take on new campaigns, hire more staff, empower more junior staff members and volunteers, and produce even more badly-needed research.

Required skills/experience/attitudes:

• Strong writing skills.
• 5+ years of paid or volunteer experience working for criminal justice reform in an advocacy, academic, jailhouse lawyer, journalistic, or government capacity.
• Demonstrated experience conducting short-term research projects designed to fuel advocacy.
• Willingness to work collaboratively from our Easthampton, Mass. office or a future satellite office in Hartford, Conn. (We will not consider requests to work remotely.)

We especially encourage applicants from communities that are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and applicants with direct experience with the criminal justice system.

Salary & Benefits
The expected salary for this position is $80,000-$100,000 depending on the depth and relevance of your experience. Benefits include a relocation allowance of $10,000, fully paid health/dental insurance, paid sick time, two weeks paid vacation, all Massachusetts holidays, and an IRA match.

To apply
We ask applicants to submit (preferably in PDF format):

• A cover letter.
• Your resume or c.v.
• Three writing samples/work products that show your skills and experience.
• Completed skill assessment form, found at https://www.prisonpolicy.org/Policy_Director_skills_assessment.doc
  We encourage applicants new to the Prison Policy Initiative to learn about our work, our history, and our impact by reviewing our highly skimmable annual reportswhen preparing their application.

Hiring process
We will be reviewing applications and scheduling interviews on a weekly basis. We anticipate doing a phone screen, a round of Skype interviews, and then a final round of in-person interviews.
Please allow us to keep our daily focus on improving the criminal justice system by refraining from writing or calling the office to check on the status of your application. We’ll keep the job page at https://www.prisonpolicy.org/jobs.html up to date with the status of our candidate search.