Associate Director for Racial Justice Policy and Strategy, Center for Gender and Sexuality Law

Position Summary

The Associate Director for Policy and Racial Justice will serve as a core member of the Center’s policy team, providing programmatic leadership, scholarly research, and project management of the Center’s diverse strategic research and policy initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Center’s Director, the Director of the Law, Rights, and Religion Project, and Director of the ERA Project to develop and execute strategy for accomplishing the Center’s and Projects’ short- and long-term research and advocacy goals related to racial justice; approximately one-half of this position’s project portfolio will fall under the Law, Rights, and Religion Project;
• Lead policy and research to identify and develop strategic research and policy initiatives across the diverse areas in which the Center has expertise, emphasizing a racial justice approach to law and policy related to gender and sexuality; 
• Develop and manage new research and policy initiatives from design to publication to implementation, working closely with other members of the Center’s core team;
• Serve as one of the Center’s lead researchers and writers, including the development of legal briefs, reports, convenings, and research papers that are aligned with the Center’s mission and priorities; 
• Coordinate and manage research assistants working on Center research projects; 
• Develop and maintain a communications strategy that supports the Center’s policy initiatives
• Develop and maintain relationships with the Center’s academic and activist policy partners;
• Identify new funding opportunities, contribute to grant writing, and manage relationships with grant officers, including tracking and communicating our impact in grant reports.

Minimum Qualifications

• Juris Doctor;
• At least five years of law and policy work;
• Knowledge of racial justice policy, gender and sexuality law, reproductive rights/justice policy, and religious liberty law a plus;
• Strong research and analytic skills;
• Strong writing and communications skills, including ability to communicate with academics, and also distill complex issues into accessible language in issue briefs, memos, policy papers, newsletters, and other formats, and to organize information persuasively for multiple audiences;
• Demonstrated ability to work in a dynamic, intellectually stimulating environment, to prioritize multiple assignments and to allocate time accordingly, and to work both independently and as part of a team;
• Strong project management skills focused on policy and project outcomes, and proven ability to bring complex projects to completion on time;
• Detail-oriented, well organized, problem-solver with strong interpersonal skills who is persistent, rigorous, and comfortable working collaboratively.
• Must be able to work with diverse constituencies and support an inclusive work environment.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.