Executive Director of Operations Research

City of New York • East Elmhurst, NY

14h

About The Position

The New York City Department of Correction (DOC) is an integral part of the City’s evolving criminal justice system, participating in reform initiatives and strategies aimed to move the City towards a smaller jail system without compromising public safety. The DOC is responsible for maintaining a safe and secure environment for our employees, visitors, volunteers, and people in our custody. Importantly, safe jails enable DOC to provide people in custody with the tools and opportunities they need to successfully re-enter their communities. The DOC operates facilities and court commands across the five boroughs with more than 7,500 diverse professionals and knowledgeable experts. The Operations Research Team is tasked with improving the systems and processes within the Department of Correction, with a focus on decreasing violence, lowering operating costs, optimizing systems for key metrics, and identifying efficiencies that support meeting minimum standards for those in our care. It’s a small team, with an outsized impact, offering growth opportunities for the right candidate. The current team includes specialists with quantitative backgrounds in various mathematical and data-related fields that leverage data-driven approaches to accomplish these goals. Reporting directly to the Assistant Commissioner of Operations Research, the successful candidate for this position will have a strong working knowledge of traditional statistics, machine learning, causal inference, and / or modeling and simulation of real-world systems and use that knowledge to lead a team of specialized technical analysts.

Requirements

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college, and four years of satisfactory full time experience in the field of investigations, auditing, law enforcement, criminal justice, or in a major operational area of the agency in which the appointment is to be made, 18 months of which must have been in an administrative, managerial, or executive capacity or supervising a staff performing investigations or related work; or
• Education and/or experience equivalent to "1" above. However, all candidates must have the 18 months of experience in an administrative, managerial, executive, or supervisory capacity as described in "1" above.

Nice To Haves

• Interest in working in a criminal justice field;
• Proficient in Python/R and SQL;
• Proficient in MS Excel, PowerPoint and Visio;
• Proficient in creating LaTeX documents;
• Proficient in Tableau or other Business Intelligence tools;
• Excellent writing, communication, analytic, research skills and ability to be detailed oriented;
• Ability to establish positive working relationships with multiple units and different levels of staff;
• Ability and willingness to take initiative and work collaboratively.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team that conducts advanced analysis using techniques such as machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning, and time series forecasting with techniques ranging from ARIMA models to neural networks.
• Research, develop and implement ways to improve operations across all of DOC’s operations, ranging from ways to improve waiting times for visitors coming to Rikers Island to optimizing schedules and escort routes in our facilities for services like recreation.
• Play a key role in developing and optimizing future operations as we transition to Borough Based Jails.
• Tour facilities, interview front-line staff, and meet with leadership to understand how the operations work in practice, what gaps or limitations there may be in the backend data, and determine how to best address these challenges when developing solutions.
• Explore relevant data sets to identify areas for operational improvement, modeling hypothetical changes, and then designing, running and evaluating pilot studies to test the most viable candidate.
• Ensure timelines are met and products delivered meet all technical requirements following best project management practices.
• Utilize predictive modeling, optimization techniques, and simulation to assess the potential impact of proposed changes to operations or policy.
• Work closely with correctional leadership, IT, and other departments to align analytical projects with operational goals.
• Manage partnerships with academic institutions and research organizations to apply cutting-edge methodologies to correctional operations.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees