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.

Who we are:

The Vera Institute of Justice, founded in 1961, is a non-profit 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. Vera is 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. Vera is committed to securing equal justice, ending mass incarceration, and strengthening families and communities.

About Acacia Center for Justice:

The Acacia Center for Justice is a new non-profit created through a collaboration between the Vera Institute of Justice ("Vera") and the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights ("CAIR") Coalition. The CAIR Coalition is a non-profit organization in the focused on providing legal assistance to adult and child immigrants detained by the government in the Capital Region. CAIR adheres to the fundamental belief that all people – no matter their story – deserve to be free, safe, supported, and have access to a just legal system.

The objective of the Acacia Center for Justice ("Acacia") is to expand on Vera's work over the past twenty years in providing legal support and representation to immigrants facing deportation through the development, coordination and management of national networks of legal services providers serving immigrants across the country. Acacia's goals are two-fold: to support immigrant legal services and defense networks to provide exceptional legal services to immigrants and to advocate for the expansion of these programs and the infrastructure critical to guaranteeing immigrants access to justice, fairness and freedom. Acacia will focus the collective power of both Vera and CAIR on delivering accountable, independent, zealous and person-centered legal services and representation to protect the rights of all immigrants at risk of deportation.

Please note: This career opportunity will begin as a position with the Vera Institute of Justice that will transition to Acacia Center for Justice on or before Spring 2023.

Who you are:

Vera seeks a Data Scientist to work with the Research, Evaluation, and Data Analytics (REDA) unit of its Unaccompanied Children Program (UCP) – a national network that provides legal information and pro bono assistance to unaccompanied children in immigration removal proceedings, both in and released from federal custody. Vera's Unaccompanied Children Program is responsible for managing a network of over 50 legal service provider organizations (LSPs), where the REDA unit works in conjunction with other UCP program units and subcontractor LSPs to generate research, program evaluation, reports, and data analysis.

In this role, the data scientist will own technical and analytical work ranging from descriptive statistics to advanced analyses in support of the program's goals. This may include adding to a code base of repeatable and automated reporting processes, developing statistical analysis in support of key performance indicator (KPI) design, taking on standalone data analytics projects to develop insights on program operations, and other required deliverables. The data scientist will work closely with the REDA team and other units of the program to build data products and insights used across the network, the program, and its government partners.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Data collection, management, and analysis

• Produce data collection, manipulation, and statistical-, ML-, and other data-informed analysis code in one or more analytical language using common data science tools and techniques in consultation with senior data science staff
• Conduct code review of peer and data analyst code
• Lead and develop discrete analyses and/or data science products in support of UCP's program goals
• Work closely with data engineer to develop repeatable solutions to recurring data processes
• Project manage routine and ad hoc reporting for immigration programs funded through federal contracts
• Oversee data quality controls including working with REDA's operations analysts to support their work documenting and correcting data quality issues.
• Identify opportunities to use data to support, and be responsive to, ongoing program management and oversight needs.

Write up/presentation of data science findings and results

• Prepare data or background research for reports
• Synthesize analysis results into visualizations and narratives for a variety of audiences in line with program goals
• Present summary program statistics as data visualizations and dashboards to inform program management and service delivery and policy and programmatic recommendations.
• Maintain an understanding of developments in program support, program administration, and federal policy to inform data collection quality control and to contextualize trends.
• Lead background research and literature reviews and integrate into public-facing products including reports, advocacy documents, or other publications under the supervision of senior researchers
• Present projects at department meetings, "brown bag" discussions, and other events

Technical & Professional Development

• Build on project management and technical mentoring skills, including taking projects from proof-of-concept analysis to production-ready processes

Hiring/Supervision

• Mentor analysts, and/or interns on tasks as needed

Other tasks as needed

What qualifications do you need?

Required:

• Commitment to using research and analysis to address and undo racism and inequity in the immigration legal system required; lived experience preferred
• Fluency in at least one analytical programming language (R, Python, etc.), including a demonstrated ability to write analytic code in a reproducible, modular structure in primary language
• Able to contribute code and collaborate with others in git (or equivalent version control environment), including basic command line skills
• Strong working knowledge of relational data and ETL processes, particularly as they intersect with data science
• Facility using statistical and machine learning concepts on applied projects
• Foundational knowledge and commitment to uphold data security, privacy, and ethics principles
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills across various audiences

Preferred:

• Bachelors degree + 1-5 years of relevant experience. In lieu of a Bachelors degree, applicable work or life experience may be considered.
• Master's degree in a relevant field + 1-2 years of relevant experience

Additional eligibility requirements:

• Experience building supportive analytical tools that enable phases of a data science project (e.g. web scraping, interactive visualizations, building automations, logging processes, etc.) preferred
• Familiarity with the AWS ecosystem preferred
• Familiarity with docker or other container-based tools preferred

Compensation and Benefits

The compensation range for this position is $88,000 - $92,000. 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 and remote work schedules. To learn more about Vera's benefits offerings, click here.

Applications may also be faxed to:

ATTN: People Resources / Data Scientist, UCP, Acacia Center for Justice
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.

As a federal contractor, and 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