ABOUT THE OFFICE: The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) advises the Mayor and First Deputy Mayor on criminal justice policy and is the Mayor’s representative to the courts, district attorneys, defenders, and state criminal justice agencies, among others. The office designs, deploys, and evaluates citywide strategies to drive down crime, reduce unnecessary arrests and incarceration, and improve the system’s fairness. MOCJ works with law enforcement and city agencies, non-profits, foundations, and others to implement data-driven strategies that address current crime conditions, prevent offending, and build the strong neighborhoods that ensure enduring safety.

ABOUT THE ROLE: The Director of Behavioral Health Strategies reports to the Executive Director of Research Innovation of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, and is part of the City’s team managing the day to day work of improving public safety and wellbeing, reducing the city’s jail population, changing the culture and purpose of NYC jails, developing a borough-based jail system. The Director of Behavioral Health Strategies will oversee the ongoing implementation and evaluation of behavioral health interventions and programs across the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice; including the portfolios of Strategic Interventions (including Diversion and Transition, Housing, and Community Innovations), the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes and other program areas as needed. The director will serve as a thought leader who develops innovative solutions to emerging issues and will be well-versed in behavioral health concerns spanning community, diversion, pre-trial, correctional, reentry and rehabilitative contexts with a special focus on the behavioral health needs of high utilizers of city hospitals, shelters and correctional facilities. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience building and implementing transformational, large-scale programs.

The ideal candidate is a thought leader with strong managerial, operational and analytic capacity. Among the tasks that this leader will need to execute are:

Oversight responsibility for behavioral health initiatives across MOCJ portfolios, supporting the unit heads and staff for each of those areas of work;

Facilitating policy and operational conversations related to behavioral health and the Borough Based Jail Plan among the City’s vibrant network of community partners, Criminal Justice/Reentry Advocates, Elected Officials and Community Boards as needed ;

Providing recommendations and strategy advice to MOCJ leadership on policy and operational matters, as informed by the Mayor’s agenda and stakeholder feedback;

Working closely with leadership across the Office to ensure timelines and project milestones are on track;

Acting as a primary liaison between MOCJ, City Agencies and City Hall on Justice Initiative Projects and Policies;

Researching, initiating, developing, and executing policy and programmatic projects and deliverables, both with a team and individually;

Specialized programmatic development and oversight for health and behavioral health matters within MOCJ initiatives including, but not limited to, housing, prevention/ diversion and reentry and community programs;

Working with agencies and City Hall to oversee implementation of the recommendations from intergovernmental Task Forces, Working Groups and community boards;

Coordinating with agencies and health and human service providers to improve jail and community based services for justice involved people;

Overseeing Points of Agreement commitments related to behavioral health and agency Culture Change components of the Borough Based Jail Plan;

Establishing and maintaining excellent relationships with national experts, persons with lived experience and thought leaders at the intersection of criminal justice and behavioral health, other government agencies, community non-profits, advocates, and family members; and

Developing innovative and evidence-backed strategies in response to emerging trends, and securing additional resources for these strategies.

RESEARCH PROJECTS COOR(MA)-MGR - 0527A

1. Do you have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university?

2. Do you have an associate degree from an accredited college or university along with two (2) years of experience with administrative, analytic, coordinative, supervisory or liaison responsibilities?

3. Do you have a four-year high school diploma, or its educational equivalent approved by a state's Department of Education or a recognized accrediting organization along with four (4) years of experience as described in question "2" above?

4. Do you have a satisfactory combination of education and/or experience equivalent to that described in questions "1," "2," and/or "3" above?

Minimum of seven years of full-time professional experience, with an expertise in correctional, reentry, criminal justice, behavioral health, substance abuse and drug policy issues A Bachelor’s Degree, Advanced Degree strongly preferred with an expertise in Public Health A thorough knowledge of the issues that face the New York State and New York City criminal justice systems. This includes, in particular, a familiarity with the criminal justice operations and actors in New York City Demonstrated operational leadership and success designing and implementing innovative criminal justice programs Demonstrated project management and problem-solving skills, with ability to design and implement large-scale, long-term strategic plans Ability to provide thought leadership on areas of emerging concern, informed by knowledge of the day-to-day operations of criminal justice processes and the behavioral health systems in New York City Effective leadership and communication skills, with the capacity to convey credibility with both internal and external partners and advise the Director on office operations and objectives Proven ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships Strong interpersonal and leadership skills Effective oral and written communication skills Proven ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and capacity to work both independently and cooperatively to implement key strategies.

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/.

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.