View Our Website View All Jobs

Special Assistant, Justice Program

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that seeks to improve our systems of democracy and justice. The Center’s work ranges from voting rights to campaign finance reform, from ending mass incarceration to preserving Constitutional protections in the fight against terrorism. Part think tank, part advocacy group, part cutting edge communications hub, we start with rigorous research. We craft innovative policies. And we fight for them — in Congress and the states, the courts, and in the court of public opinion. 

The Brennan Center’s Justice Program seeks to improve our criminal justice system by ending mass incarceration while keeping the country safe. The program blends law, policy, and economics to produce new empirical analyses and advance innovative policy solutions to advance this goal at the federal and state level. 

Position: The Justice Program seeks an energetic, motivated, well-organized individual who will provide administrative support and research and drafting assistance to the Program Director. The Special Assistant will report to the Justice Program Director and will work closely with the Director in all aspects of her role. The Special Assistant will play a central role in the daily responsibilities of the Director and the program. The role provides an even split between administrative work and research and writing. 

The ideal candidate is an individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is considering a career in law, public policy, or social justice advocacy and looking to develop critical organizational skills, analytical ability, attention to detail, and experience with research and writing. This is a terrific opportunity for someone 1-3 years out of college interested in learning about law, policy, nonprofit leadership, and organizational planning. 

Responsibilities: 

  • Supporting and working closely with the Director, providing substantive and administrative support on all aspects of program management. 
  • Managing the Director’s schedule and travel arrangements. 
  • Providing general administrative support, including drafting correspondence, answering and screening telephone calls and email, and ensuring requests to the Director are appropriately handled in a timely and professional manner. 
  • Providing research, drafting, editing, and proofreading for the Director’s public presentations, op-eds, articles, reports, and other writings. Completing time-sensitive research or other requests for the Director as they arise. 
  • Providing research, fact-checking, drafting, and editing for justice program reports. 
  • Providing quick and accurate research to support program responses to breaking news. 
  • Assisting with fundraising, managing significant program coordination such as: organizing program meetings, events, and monitoring all departmental expenditures, in addition to working with staff from other departments. 

Qualifications: 

  • A bachelor’s degree. 
  • 1-3 years of work experience preferred. 
  • A passion for criminal justice reform. 
  • A high-level of professionalism, integrity, discretion, and judgment. 
  • Superb writing, communication, and research skills. 
  • Excellent organizational skills, ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment, keen attention to detail, and ability to meet deadlines. 
  • Openness to evolving responsibilities, self-reliance, ability to take initiative, and excellent inter-personal skills. 
  • Proficiency in MS Office (including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). Proficiency in Salesforce is a plus. 
  • A willingness to work overtime hours to meet important deadlines or complete urgent projects. 

Salary: Commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits package. 

Applications: The application deadline is February 14, 2020, but applicants will be interviewed on a rolling basis and decisions will be made as soon as appropriate candidates are identified. To apply, visit https://brennancenter.applytojob.com/apply/BRx2CiWriS/Special-Assistant-Justice-Program.  Please upload the following application materials: cover letter, resume, writing sample, and contact information for three references. If applicable, please include Internet hyperlinks to authored writing samples. If you have difficulty with the online system, you may send your application by e-mail to: brennancenterjobs@nyu.edu with “Special Assistant to the Director, Justice Program” in the subject line, after registering in the online system.

The Brennan Center for Justice is committed to a workplace based on equal opportunity and a strong belief in the increased effectiveness that comes from a diverse workforce. To this end, Brennan Center

  • Hires staff that reflects this country's full range of racial, ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic identities, gender identities, and sexual orientations; 

  • Creates a workplace where true diversity is fostered and different perspectives are valued and freely exchanged; 

  • Ensures that all members of the Brennan Center community feel welcome and respected, and have equal opportunities to thrive and advance within the institution; and 

  • Is committed to supporting low-income communities and communities of color particularly affected by social inequities.
Read More

Apply for this position

Required*
Apply with Indeed
Attach resume as .pdf, .doc, .docx, .odt, .txt, or .rtf (limit 5MB) or Paste resume

Paste your resume here or Attach resume file

150
To comply with government Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action reporting regulations, we are requesting (but NOT requiring) that you enter this personal data. This information will not be used in connection with any employment decisions, and will be used solely as permitted by state and federal law. Your voluntary cooperation would be appreciated. Learn more.
Gender
Race/Ethnicity

Invitation for Job Applicants to Self-Identify as a U.S. Veteran
  • A “disabled veteran” is one of the following:
    • a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or
    • a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.
  • A “recently separated veteran” means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.
  • An “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.
  • An “Armed forces service medal veteran” means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.
Veteran status
I IDENTIFY AS ONE OR MORE OF THE CLASSIFICATIONS OF PROTECTED VETERAN LISTED ABOVE
I AM NOT A PROTECTED VETERAN
I DON’T WISH TO ANSWER

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability
Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form CC-305
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 1/31/2020
Why are you being asked to complete this form?

Because we do business with the government, we must reach out to, hire, and provide equal opportunity to qualified people with disabilities.i To help us measure how well we are doing, we are asking you to tell us if you have a disability or if you ever had a disability. Completing this form is voluntary, but we hope that you will choose to fill it out. If you are applying for a job, any answer you give will be kept private and will not be used against you in any way.

If you already work for us, your answer will not be used against you in any way. Because a person may become disabled at any time, we are required to ask all of our employees to update their information every five years. You may voluntarily self-identify as having a disability on this form without fear of any punishment because you did not identify as having a disability earlier.

How do I know if I have a disability?

You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition.

Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Blindness
  • Deafness
  • Cancer
  • Diabetes
  • Epilepsy
  • Autism
  • Cerebral palsy
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Schizophrenia
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Major depression
  • Multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Obsessive compulsive disorder
  • Impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair
  • Intellectual disability (previously called mental retardation)
Please check one of the boxes below:

You must enter your name and date
Your Name Today's Date
Reasonable Accommodation Notice

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job or to perform your job. Examples of reasonable accommodation include making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.


iSection 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. For more information about this form or the equal employment obligations of Federal contractors, visit the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.


PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.