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Hiring a Civic Innovation Lab Manager

Gabby Langston

Job Description

BetaNYC is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving lives in New York through data, design, and technology. The Civic Innovation Lab (CIL) at BetaNYC is committed to serving the growing need for public interest technology through Research and Data Assistance Requests (RADARs). Through RADARs, the Civic Innovation Lab team addresses the data and technology needs of community board members, Borough Presidents’ offices, City Council staff, city agencies, community-based organizations and coalitions, and the public.

The BetaNYC Civic Innovation Lab is seeking a full-time Lab Manager to join our team. The Lab Manager will have the opportunity to collaborate with a small team and to gain experience in working with data and technology in the context of civic engagement in New York City. Through research and data assistance within the Civic Innovation Lab, the Lab Manager will have the opportunity to work on data-driven projects that range from topics, including: education, transportation, the environment, and community advocacy. The Civic Innovation Lab supports the personal growth of all staff with professional exposure to developing research skills, analyzing open data, community organizations, programming, policy advocacy, communication, and network building.

The Lab Manager will be responsible for assisting the Civic Innovation Lab Director in leading the Lab staff and managing RADARs and operations. Good communication is expected for project management, to coordinate with team members, to interface with stakeholders, and to document research methods and processes.

Lab Manager responsibilities include:

  • Maintain and create civic tools using data, design, and technology to address urban issues that our diverse communities face (this includes a number of existing tools that BetaNYC has developed)
  • Work on Research and Data Assistance Requests (RADARs), which includes research, data analysis, scripting, setting up and maintaining databases, web development, data visualization, communication and presentation of research, projects, and findings
  • Project management for RADARs and projects:
    • lead and mentor the Lab Associates team (part-time data analysts, web developers, UI/UX designers) on RADARs and projects
    • manage relations with partners and collaborators, including elected officials, community boards, NGOs, etc.
    • Organized documentation of project resources and methodologies
  • Participate in ongoing data management projects with groups such as the housing data coalition and various public interest technology task forces (local, national, and international)
  • Support BetaNYC’s other units. This includes Public Programs and Fellowship programs.

We strongly encourage people from BIPOC communities, women, or people with working-class/non-traditional education backgrounds to apply. We seek to center diverse lived experiences as we attempt to build a more inclusive public interest technology community and government technology industry.

Breakdown of Responsibilities:

60% – Building open data tools and interacting with the community and other stakeholders to build capacity and trust in using technology to highlight their lived experience and building civic engagement.

30% – Supervision of Lab staff and oversight of Lab projects (RADARs)

10% – Public speaking, delivering open data training, and strategic community outreach/engagement. Working with the Fellowship Director. Creating material and documentation that can be understood by nontechnical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree (by time of appointment) or equivalent work experience 
  • Strong leadership, managerial, organization and communication skills for the ability to collaborate with a small team, articulate personal needs, and work towards collectively defined goals:
    • Project management skills including coordination, correspondence, time management, organization, and documentation of information into digestible concepts
    • Positive attitude in participation and approachable in mentorship, the willingness to adapt
    • Develop, present, and communicate findings for stakeholders, including data visualizations, dashboards, reports, maps, interactive charts, and other tools
  • Strong analytical and programming skills:
    • Research, collect, and manipulate data in both structured and unstructured formats; in particular, comfortable with  accessing, reading, manipulating, cleaning, summarizing, and explaining data
    • Perform exploratory data analysis, statistical analysis, and spatial analysis to identify trends, patterns, and insights
    • Experience with NYC Open Data and Census data
    • Python, Jupyter Notebook, SQL, R/RStudio, Tableau, PowerBI
  • Web development skills (specifically looking for backend and data management skills):
    • Basic understanding of accessing, managing, setting up and maintaining databases: SQL to query, clean, join, and manipulate data; PostgreSQL, MySQL, content resource management (Airtable, Salesforce, CiviCRM)
    • Implementing and accessing APIs
    • Building simple automation scripts in Python, Docker, and AWS
    • experience in setting up and maintaining websites
    • HTML, CSS, JavaScript, responsive and accessible web development
    • Knowledge of version control systems (Git), Agile methodologies, open source technologies, or a strong interest in learning civic technology within these domains

Additional Skills/Qualities:

  • Exposure to or interest in urban policy or planning, data journalism, data analysis, or BetaNYC’s Civic Innovation Fellowship program
  • Experience and/or enthusiastic about urban data analytics and interest in working in or with government stakeholders
  • Self-motivated individual with a can-do and solution-oriented attitude, the ability to thrive in a fast-paced collaborative environment
  • Exhibit willingness to learn new skills, and patience when collaborating with others
  • Further technical skills:
    • Spatial analysis and mapping, including GIS (QGIS)
    • Front-end web development frameworks (Svelte, React, Node, etc.)
    • Front-end development web mapping skills (ArcGIS Online, Mapbox, Carto, OpenLayers, Leaflet, etc.)
    • Familiarity with data visualization libraries and software such as D3, Plot.ly, Observable, DataWrapper, P5
    • Limitations and uses AIs and GPTs to assist in programing, summarizing different forms of media, and generating useful mediums

Civic Innovation Lab example projects:

Application Requirements:

  • Resume/CV
  • Statement of Interest
  • Portfolio/work samples (please demonstrate your ability to work creatively with data, build tools/interfaces, visualize data, clear visual communication of data findings and research, and a focused interest in urban policy and planning, sample code or GitHub repositories acceptable as well)

Commitment

35 hours per week

Pay rate

$75,000 / year

Start date

ASAP

Location

In-person for at least two months, with the possibility of hybrid afterward. Our office is located downtown in New York City’s Civic Center.


Reporting manager

BetaNYC’s Civic Innovation Lab Director with additional direction provided by BetaNYC’s Executive Director and other Senior Staff.

Apply via Screendoor

Questions? Please contact jobs@beta.nyc with any questions.