Full-Time
Senior Data Scientist
Economic Impacts of Incarceration
Posted on 1/20/2024
Advocates for justice system reform and racial equality
Senior
New Orleans, LA, USA + 3 more
Who we are:
The Vera Institute of Justice, founded in 1961, is a nonprofit criminal justice organization that strives to build just government institutions and safe communities free from the scourge of racism, white supremacy, profit, and inequity that is pervasive in this country’s legal systems. We are an “inside” lane organization that drives change at scale with ambitious public sector leaders who share our commitment to building anti-racist, reparative systems that deliver justice. We leverage our access to government to transform these systems and work collaboratively with stakeholders across many movements—including advocacy, grassroots, and grasstop organizations. Our role is to pilot solutions that are transformative and achievable, harness the power of evidence to drive effective policy and practice, and use advocacy and communications to change narratives and norms.
Vera has a staff of 300 people and offices in New York City, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. We are an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity in the workplace. We expect our staff to embody respect, independence, collaboration, commitment, anti-racism, and equity—both in our outward-facing work and the internal culture of our workplace. We value a range of experiences in people’s educational backgrounds and encourage people who have been directly impacted by the criminal justice system to apply.
About the Project:
Involvement in the criminal legal system has a profound and persistent impact on the economic well-being of people and their loved ones. People of color, and particularly Black Americans, are incarcerated at much higher rates than their white counterparts and as a result bear the brunt of the economic impact of incarceration, further exacerbating longstanding racial disparities in income and economic opportunity. However, despite these disparate population-level and intergenerational effects, there is a lack of general awareness of the impact that incarceration has on economic mobility over the life course.
The Vera Institute of Justice is leading an initiative to address this gap, by highlighting the nexus of incarceration and poverty as a national research and policy priority. Over a three-year period, Vera’s research, data science and communications teams will: construct datasets that describe the connections between incarceration and economic outcomes; develop an online visualization tool that can be used by wide-ranging audiences to elucidate these connections; conduct research, to inform policy and practice; and implement a strategic communications campaign, with the goal of increasing awareness of incarceration as a driver of poverty and income / wealth disparities.
About the Role:
We are seeking a Senior Data Scientist to join a multidisciplinary team in Vera’s research department to develop data products and analysis that describe the relationship between incarceration in the United States over the last five decades and the economic wellbeing of communities. They will lead technical and analytical projects that make novel connections between disparate, messy data sources that have never been systematically combined to amplify the systemic impacts of mass incarceration and institutional racism felt daily by local communities. The successful candidate will work closely with an internal data engineer and a data visualization vendor to redesign and build upon existing data collection and analysis developed at Vera. They will work in partnership with Vera’s social science researchers to build new approaches to knowledge production on the economic impacts of current criminal legal system policies and practice. Finally, the Senior Data Scientist will work with Vera’s communication and research teams to align project priorities and bring data products to the public with a focus on real-world impact.
At Vera, we are attentive to the potential benefits and negative consequences of the use of technology in the criminal legal system, including by researchers and advocates. Under the leadership of Vera’s Associate Director of Data Science and Analytics, we are developing “public interest data science” approaches by prioritizing projects that constructively overcome the many challenges present in public and administrative datasets that hold key systemic information on the way our justice and public support systems function. We complement this work with a critical perspective on the current and potential ways data science, predictive algorithms, and AI can be used to exacerbate harm. The Senior Data Science role is an opportunity to hone project leadership and subject expertise skills as part of a collaborative team while building and implementing this vision for data science as a tool to dismantle mass incarceration and further racial equity.
Who You Are:
A data scientist with leadership experience in the end-to-end process of scoping, executing, and communicating data science products to a variety of audiences. You have a developed point of view on how large-scale data projects can expose issues that contribute to the systemic inequities of the criminal legal system and have the technical chops to overcome messy, divergent datasets and bring your ideas to life. You enjoy collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches to data analysis and prioritize creating workable solutions in context over building the latest cutting-edge black box machine learning models.
What you’ll do:
Data science project design and leadership
Project implementation
Research and knowledge building
Technical documentation and communication of results
Team Support
What qualifications are we looking for?
Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities you’ll bring:
Technical knowledge helpful for this role:
The current tech stack uses the following technologies, so some familiarity with the following is preferred:
Location:
Please note this role will report to our Brooklyn, NY, Washington, DC, New Orleans, LA, or Los Angeles, CAoffice. Vera employees adhere to a hybrid schedule and are in-office on an alternating schedule that generally amounts to 10 days per month.
Compensation and Benefits:
The compensation range for this position is $112,000 - $116,000. Actual salaries will vary depending on factors including but not limited to experience and performance. The salary range listed is just one component of Vera Institute’s total compensation package for employees. As an employer of choice in our field, supporting Vera staff—both personally and professionally—is a priority. To do this, we invest in the well-being of our staff through other rewards including merit pay, generous paid time off, a comprehensive health insurance plan, student loan repayment benefits, professional development training opportunities and up to $2,000 annual for education costs and fees relevant to Vera work, employer-funded retirement plan, and flexible time. To learn more about Vera’s benefits offerings, click here.
Applications may also be faxed to:
ATTN: People Resources / Senior Data Scientist, Economic Impacts of Incarceration
Vera Institute of Justice
34 35th St, Suite 4-2A, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Fax: (212) 941-9407
Please use only one method (online, mail or fax) of submission.
No phone calls, please. Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted.
In order to ensure a healthy and safe work environment, Vera Institute of Justice is requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccine before their start date. Employees who cannot receive the vaccine because of a disability/medical contraindication or sincerely-held religious belief may request an accommodation (e.g., an exemption) to this requirement.
Vera is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, or caregiver status.
Vera works to advance justice, particularly racial justice, in an increasingly multicultural country and globally connected world. We value diverse experiences, including with regard to educational background and justice system contact, and depend on a diverse staff to carry out our mission.
For more information about Vera, please visit www.vera.org
Vera Institute of Justice is a leading organization committed to addressing pressing social injustices, with a focus on reducing mass incarceration, racial disparities, and enhancing public trust in law enforcement. The company's culture is rooted in respect for human dignity, and it employs comprehensive strategies that prioritize public health and accountability. Vera's competitive advantage lies in its successful initiatives, such as the Second Chance Pell Programs, which have increased access to college education for incarcerated individuals, and its legal support for immigrants, significantly improving their chances of establishing the right to remain in the US.
Company Stage
Grant
Total Funding
$250K
Headquarters
New York City, New York
Founded
1961