Strategy Director of Crime & Crisis

About the role

The strategy director, crime & crisis is responsible for building and advancing one of the Justice Center’s newest strategic priorities: helping state and local leaders solve more violent crime, strengthen public safety, improve crisis response, and prevent violence. This position shapes how jurisdictions respond by developing practical approaches that improve violent crime solve rates, strengthen front-end justice system responses, connect people in crisis to effective care, and improve public safety outcomes. The Justice Center is uniquely positioned to lead this work, drawing on expertise across law enforcement, behavioral health, courts, corrections, victim services, and data and research to build a national strategy that connects these systems in ways few organizations can.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Direction: Define and continuously refine the strategy for achieving the organization’s goals within the Crime & Crisis priority, including establishing measurable short- and long-term goals, translating long-range direction into near-term priorities and decisions, assessing progress, and adapting strategy as needs and opportunities evolve.
• Portfolio Alignment and Quality: Ensure projects collectively advance the strategic priority rather than only fulfilling project-specific deliverables; provide strategic guidance, subject-matter leadership, and quality assurance so products, analyses, recommendations, and technical assistance are accurate, high quality, and aligned with organizational direction; apply sound judgment when balancing project commitments, emerging opportunities, organizational capacity, and long-term strategic goals.
• Cross-Functional and Organizational Leadership: Convene and lead cross-functional teams working across projects and functions, identify barriers to success, and work with organizational leadership to secure the staff, expertise, products, and resources needed to advance the priority; as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, contribute to organization-wide strategy, planning, priority setting, and decision making, bringing the perspective of the strategic priority while sharing accountability for the Justice Center’s overall success.
• Strategic Growth and Collaboration: Identify opportunities to increase organizational impact, cultivate partnerships and funding opportunities, and collaborate with other Strategy Directors so priorities reinforce one another and advance the organization’s collective goals; develop and maintain relationships with senior government leaders, law enforcement and public safety leaders, practitioners, funders, researchers, victim service leaders, community members and national partners that advance both the strategic priority and the Justice Center’s broader mission.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of professional experience in violent crime, law enforcement, public safety, crisis response, criminal justice policy or practice, or related work, including significant experience shaping organizational, jurisdictional, or field-level strategy.
• Minimum of 6 years of supervisory experience over mid-level managers or higher.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.

Qualifications

• Strong interpersonal skills including self-awareness, sensitivity and valuing others.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, multi-project or multi-jurisdiction initiatives and translating long-term strategy into measurable goals and implementation priorities.
• Demonstrated experience working across public safety and justice systems and with senior state and local government leaders, law enforcement leaders, practitioners, funders, researchers, and national partners to advance complex policy and systems-change initiatives.
• Demonstrated national or significant field-level credibility in violent crime, public safety, crisis response, or a closely related area.

Location

NYC metro area preferred (hybrid); remote candidates will also be considered.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $140,000 – $220,000. Salary ranges are subject to change based on work location and market conditions.