Project Manager

A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consistently ranks as one of the nation's top public universities. Known for its beautiful campus, world-class medical care, commitment to the arts and top athletic programs, Carolina is an ideal place to teach, work and learn.

One of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, Chapel Hill has diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

University employees can choose from a wide range of professional training opportunities for career growth, skill development and lifelong learning and enjoy exclusive perks for numerous retail, restaurant and performing arts discounts, savings on local child care centers and special rates on select campus events. UNC-Chapel Hill offers full-time employees a comprehensive benefits package, paid leave, and a variety of health, life and retirement plans and additional programs that support a healthy work/life balance.

The School of Government ( SOG) works to improve the lives of North Carolinians by engaging in practical scholarship that helps public officials and citizens understand and improve state and local government. The School offers up to 200 courses, webinars, and conferences for more than 12,000 public officials each year. Faculty members annually publish approximately 50 books, reports, articles, bulletins, and other print and online content related to state and local government The School is also home to a nationally ranked graduate program in public administration and specialized centers focused on information technology, environmental finance, and criminal justice policy.

The SOG's Criminal Justice Innovation Lab ('the Lab') seeks to promote a fair and effective criminal justice system, public safety, and economic prosperity through an evidence-based approach to criminal justice policy. It brings together a broad range of stakeholders to learn about criminal justice problems, supports their efforts to develop and implement innovative consensus solutions, and conducts empirical evaluations to help stakeholders measure the impact of their efforts. By supporting stakeholders' efforts to improve the state's criminal justice system, the Lab's work tightly aligns with the SOG's mission to enhance the quality of life for all North Carolinians. The Lab adheres to core SOG values that for 90 years have built a legacy of trust with public officials: nonpartisan; policy-neutral; and responsive.

The Lab is a small team with a flat organizational structure. Staff collaborate frequently on projects and offer feedback, support, and ideas regularly. Staff have an opportunity to provide input on decision-making regarding the operation and strategic direction of the Lab. The Lab operates in a dynamic environment, so staff must be flexible and comfortable pivoting to changing priorities.

The Project Manager will have two primary responsibilities. First, is project management for Lab data projects. The Project Manager's docket will include, among other efforts, project management of: (1) development, improvement, and maintenance of the Lab's Measuring Justice Dashboard; and (2) expansion, updating, and maintenance of the Lab's North Carolina Criminal Information System, a comprehensive digital database of state court criminal records. While the primary focus will be on data projects, the Project Manager will also support projects assisting stakeholders as they develop and implement criminal justice solutions, execute empirical evaluations, hold educational events, and conduct research. Projects often involve multi-stakeholder teams and interdisciplinary research collaborators. Project management involves coordinating the day-to-day execution of project work, including communication with stakeholders, maintaining project timelines, and coordinating tasks among Lab team members and research partners. Project managers at the Lab also assist in producing project deliverables (e.g. reports, webinars), event planning, and data collection.

Second, the Project Manager will bring data skills to support various Lab projects. Specific responsibilities include: collecting, cleaning, coding, and linking data to produce analytic datasets; developing, implementing and executing protocols for acquiring, cleaning, and understanding various types of data producing descriptive statistics; conducting data analyses in R programming language; and executing quality control for data analyses conducted by Lab Research Assistants and other research collaborators. and conducting quality control on analyses done by others. Projects involve working with a variety of criminal justice data sets (e.g., police, jail, and court record data).

Lab team members have a hybrid work schedule that requires physical presence in the office in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and allows for remote work on Monday and Friday.

Relevant post-Baccalaureate degree required (or foreign degree equivalent); for candidates demonstrating comparable independent research productivity or comparable background in independent academic or instructional activities, will accept a relevant Bachelor's degree (or foreign degree equivalent) and 3 or more years of relevant experience in substitution. This experience may be related to the direction/oversight of programs that focus the academic and research resources of a higher education institution towards community or regional issues.

Candidates must have experience executing quantitative research in R.
Ability to work collaboratively with project partners.
Excellent verbal, interpersonal, planning, and writing skills.
Ability to adhere to the Lab's core values of non-advocacy and non-partisanship.

A master's degree in data science, political science, information science, public health, or public policy strongly preferred.
The ideal candidate is a team player who has 1). Experience managing complex projects and partnerships, ability to juggle multiple projects, work independently, and creatively problem solve; (2) fluency in Stata, Python, and/or other programming languages.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or status as a protected veteran.