EJUSA Full-Time Position Available: 

Chief of Program Strategy

Company Description

About us: Equal Justice USA (EJUSA) is a national organization working to transform the justice system by promoting responses to violence that break cycles of trauma. We work at the intersection of criminal justice, public health, and racial justice to elevate healing, safety, and repair over retribution, advance racial equity, and meet the needs of survivors. 

How we do it: We build community safety by strengthening and expanding community-led solutions to violence; building capacity for those community-led organizations and getting them the funding that they need—by advocating for policy that promotes alternatives to policing and punitive systems; and changing the narrative around justice, reducing the harm of our current system, and building the system that actually delivers safety, repair, and well-being. EJUSA has a bold vision for healing and equity that directly aligns with this urgent national moment – making this an exciting time to join our team!

Our team members: EJUSA is a team of fierce organizers and advocates, many of whom have been touched by violence and the justice system. We bring a broad span of perspectives to our work, united by one common belief that everyone deserves safety, healing, equity, and well-being.

What it’s like to work here: EJUSA is a special place to work. Our team is made up of passionate and collaborative leaders who treat each other as whole people. Our organizational culture is rooted in the values that drive our mission, so we work to ensure that equity, partnership, transcending divides, and healing are embedded into every aspect of our daily operations, from staff policies to salaries. We are an entirely remote organization and have been honing ways of building and maintaining trust across our team virtually since long before the rest of the world had to.

 

Job Description

About this role:  We seek an innovative, visionary, strategic thinker to co-lead EJUSA’s programmatic work, translating EJUSA’s bold vision of healing and transformation into concrete goals and impact. This seasoned leader will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for all program areas, in partnership with the Chief of Program Operations, and will collaborate with program and executive staff to strengthen and grow current programs and foster new ideas. They will oversee a dynamic and passionate team of about 20 staff in multiple locations, working in a dyad leadership model with the Chief of Program Operations. This will include shared supervision of four direct reports (Director of Advocacy & Campaigns, Director of National Organizing & Narrative Shifting, Director of Training & Capacity Building, and Director of Restorative Justice). The Chief of Program Strategy will report directly to EJUSA’s Executive Director.

 

Responsibilities

Organizational Leadership

• Actively participate in EJUSA’s Management Team, championing the organization’s strategic priorities, strategic goals, and workplace culture

• Co-lead the Senior Program Team with the Chief of Program Operations and ensure alignment between all of EJUSA’s project and program areas

• Act as a liaison between EJUSA’s Management Team and Program Team; help ensure leadership, management, coordination, communication, and collaboration across the organization

• Co-lead EJUSA’s programs to achieve maximum impact by collaborating with senior program staff and as a thought partner with the Executive Director to collectively hold the top-level program development for EJUSA

• Represent EJUSA in external coalitions, conferences, and serve as a subject matter expert for panels and other speaking opportunities; engage with funders, external partners, and media as needed

• Build, manage, mentor, and inspire an extraordinary team of change-makers; foster a spirit of collaboration, innovation, and learning across the department; and ensure that every program has clear goals, vision, direction, monitoring, and evaluation

 

Strategic Program Support

• Support current efforts to keep staff and community members informed about emerging policy issues impacting EJUSA’s community and work

• Provide supervision and support to grassroots community organizing and engagement efforts that successfully mobilize community members towards collective action and civic engagement in community-led, mission-focused projects and campaigns

• Provide supervision and support to technical assistance, training, and capacity building work that expands and amplifies restorative responses to harm, our Trauma to Trust program, and our grassroots capacity building work supporting organizations providing trauma-informed responses to violence

• Monitor criminal justice, racial justice, and related issues, participate in movement strategy meetings, and identify opportunities to maximize EJUSA’s impact, consistent with our mission, vision, strategic plan, and program priorities

 

Organizational Collaboration

In partnership with the Chief of Program Operations:

• Identify opportunities for cross-programmatic collaboration, design strategies to implement EJUSA’s vision, and ensure that EJUSA programs and campaigns are aligned with capacity, resources, development/fundraising efforts, and EJUSA values, including a commitment to racial equity, and other organizational priorities 

• Assist the Chief of Strategic Communications in identifying opportunities to amplify EJUSA’s work and messages

• Support EJUSA’s fundraising efforts, working with the development team to assist in the design of program proposals, reporting back to funders on accomplishments and deliverables, and collaborating in donor outreach

• Work collaboratively with the Director of Finance and Administration and senior program staff to develop and monitor EUSA’s program budgets and ensure that EJUSA is allocating resources and staff time appropriately to various program initiatives

 

Qualifications

• Minimum 10-15 years of progressive experience in advocacy campaigns, organizing, policy work, or organizational management and strategy, with a record of success in effective, forward-thinking, high-impact social justice advocacy

• Strong staff and program management skills, including experience supervising staff at a range of levels and developing projects/campaigns that align with organizational strategies and considerations

• Strong strategic planning skills and experience leading teams to design strategies and work plans to achieve impact

• Commitment to racial equity and demonstrated experience managing multiracial teams and ensuring a racial equity lens in program development

• Experience designing and implementing systems and processes that help teams work better; a strong systems thinker

• Excellent interpersonal communication, networking, and social skills; ability to connect authentically with diverse groups of people; team-oriented and collaborative

• Strong external communication skills, including public speaking and relationship building with high-level partners, funders, and other key stakeholders

• Experience and comfort working with people impacted by the issues we work on, including communities of color and people impacted by trauma, violence, and the justice system. People directly impacted by these experiences are strongly encouraged to apply

• Strong organizational ability, including the ability to juggle multiple projects, meet deadlines, and keep things moving while maintaining a high attention to accuracy and detail

• Experience or familiarity with working in a dyad (co-leadership) model is a plus

• Ability to manage confidential information

• Ability and willingness to travel up to 30% of the time

• Commitment to the mission and core values of Equal Justice USA

 

Additional Information

Location: Remote, with the expectation of some travel with discretion

Compensation: The salary range for this role is $145k- $155k, commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits include employer-paid medical and dental care, retirement plan, paid vacation, sick days, holidays, disability insurance, and professional development allowance.

Other Perks: 

• While we have 40-hour work weeks, employees of EJUSA also enjoy human-first wellness-focused schedules because we understand that life happens and the impact of the work is more important than strict adherence to structures. 

• We come together as a group in person twice a year for week-long staff retreats to bond, plan, learn, and hang together at different locations throughout the country. Past destinations include Newark, Tampa, Philadelphia, and Puerto Rico. 

• We have structures to support and back up our organizational values, ranging from benefits that help cover home office set-up, cell phone bills, and caregiving emergencies. 

• Staff members also have the opportunity to join affinity-based caucuses, a wellness team dedicated to centering the physical and mental health of all staff, the retreat team to help plan our semi-annual convening, and our race equity leadership team that contributes to our organizational commitment to becoming an anti-racist community.

Target start date: Early January 2024
 

EJUSA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We encourage a diverse pool of candidates to apply, including those impacted by the issues we work on. We consider all applicants on the basis of their ability to perform the job, without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, physical appearance, age, mental or physical disability, credit history, veteran status, uniform service member status, justice system involvement, victims of domestic violence, stalking, or other crimes, political affiliation, or any other legally protected class. EJUSA does not tolerate discrimination or harassment against any of the above-listed classes.