Introduction to BetaNYC:

BetaNYC is New York City’s civic technology, open data, and civic design community. Starting as a meetup in 2009, it has since grown to be a non-profit organization that hosts events, facilitates policy change, demystifies big ideas, and empowers a new generation of civic hackers. In a strategic partnership with the Manhattan Borough President, BetaNYC is an evolving  technology and design lab improving digital and data literacy within government and broader civic ecosystem.

Utilizing human centered design practices, BetaNYC has worked with the Manhattan Borough President and Manhattan’s Community Boards to outline a number of digital tools and data insights to improve community board operations. Additionally, we have worked with the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, NYC Schools, and CUNY Service Corps members to identify how to teach NYC open data to a variety of New Yorkers.

We have also launched a service called Research and Data Assistance Requests (RADARs) for local government elections, community boards, and other community organizations. This is a free service that provides help with one-off data analytics projects, long-term research for policy and change, and building data capacity with communities to solve social issues in the city.

Now, we seek an energetic civic hacker, teacher, mentor, and project manager to be our Civic Innovation Lab Director. 

Operational Mission:

BetaNYC’s Civic Innovation Lab Director is responsible for upholding the educational pillar of the organization by designing curriculum and directing our Civic Innovation Fellowship and public education offerings courses, project managing our RADARs service, and mentoring Lab staff & apprentices. As one of three senior staff members, you will help shape the organizations’ strategic direction and relationship with elected officials, their staff, and community partners.

The Lab’s Director is to focus on:

• Public and Fellowship Education & Curriculum
• RADAR coordination and supervision
• Fellowship coordination and supervision; overseeing our alumni network
• Elected official and community board relations, projects, and public speaking
• Special projects such as our ongoing data management project with a local data coalition or various public interest technology task forces – local, national, and international.

What we seek:

We are looking for an effective communicator and design/digital/data nerd who can work diligently as part of a small diverse team. Ideally, you are a creative thinker who wants to build up others and work on tough civic problems. We want you to contribute your lived experience, interests and knowledge to improve the lives of our neighbors. You will be a public interested technology ambassador — we need someone who can explain how data can both uplift and disenfranchise communities. Your voice, leadership, and work will inspire NYC’s civic technology community and the next generation of public interest technology professionals. BetaNYC operates on open source principles: you should know how to communicate, build trust, collaborate, project manage, and think strategically. You will report to BetaNYC’s Executive Director.

Estimated Responsibilities Breakdown: 

40% – Coordination and supervision of Civic Innovation Fellowship, oversight of alumni programming, and open data / public interest technology curriculum development.

30% – Supervision of Lab staff (including Apprentices), oversight of Lab projects (RADARs), and special projects.

30% – Public speaking, delivering open data trainings, and strategic community outreach/engagement.

Requirements:

• Strong manager with the ability to inspire diverse individuals in making a difference.
• Experience keeping many projects on schedule at the same time.
• Strong organizational skills including process management, project management and logistical considerations.
• Tech savvy with a knowledge of Agile methodologies, open source technology and the civic tech movement or a STRONG interest in learning these domains.
• Experience working with Google Documents, the Socrata data portal software, Microsoft Office Suite with a strong understanding of Excel and pivot tables, ArcGIS or other GIS platforms, Census data applications. Knowledge of an analytical platform or language (Tableau, R or Python) is a plus; ideally, you have working experience with these tools.
• Experience working with or in government or with government stakeholders.
• Experience working with undergraduate students and helping them grow within professional environments. 
• Adept at moving between the strategic and tactical.
• Impeccable communication skills including comfort presenting to large and small groups of people, writing case studies and blog posts.
• Experience facilitating meetings, trainings and events.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Familiarity with data and ability to track and report on basic metrics
• A can-do solution oriented attitude
• Thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment
• Self-starter able to see what needs to get done and motivate individuals to get it done

Compensation:

• Location: Must be able to work in New York City, 5 days a week.
• Annual Salary: up to $95,000
• Full time Benefits provided by the Fund for the City of New York. We’ve posted a summary of benefits on the application form. BTW — If you need to relocate to NYC, a one time relocation stipend can be arranged.

How to apply:

We’re looking for a cover letter or introduction video / audio file that talks about your experience and the intersection of the job description above. All applications will be screened by a human, not a robot or algorithm.