SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST

San Francisco is a vibrant and dynamic city, on the forefront of economic growth & innovation, urban development, arts & entertainment, as well as social issues & change. This rich tapestry of culture and ideas is sustained by our City's commitment to heighten the quality of life for the diverse population of San Franciscans and residents of the greater Bay Area. Our employees play an important role not only in making our City what it is today, but also in shaping the future of San Francisco.

• Applications Open: January 6, 2025
• Applications Close: January 10 at 11:59pm
• Salary range for 1823 position: $117,676 to $143,000

Are you passionate about Juvenile Justice, Public Safety, and the Community we serve? Are you a dedicated professional who wants to maximize their impact in the lives of some of San Francisco’s most marginalized youth? If so, we encourage you to take advantage of this unique opportunity to join a team that is devoted to re-imagining Juvenile Justice, committed to racial equity, and focused on ensuring long-term public safety through the development, enrichment, and accountability of young people we serve throughout San Francisco. Click here to read more about the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department (JPD). 

The San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department’s mission is to serve the needs of youth and families who are brought to our attention with care and compassion.  We engage fiscally sound and culturally competent strategies that promote the best interests of the youth, and provide victims with opportunities for restoration.

Our equity-centered goals are to:

• Reimagine how the City addresses juvenile crime, from referral through reentry, in collaboration with the community and our system partners, emphasizing research and evidence-based practices, and sustainably addressing pervasive racial disparities throughout the system. 
• Advance a Whole Family Engagement strategy that places racial equity at its center to ensure that all youth have equal access to successful outcomes, and that advances youth-and family-centered case plans and goal development, with the supports and resources necessary to help justice-involved youth thrive. 
• Bolster equitable leadership development opportunities for BIPOC staff; implement change that meaningfully improves the workplace experience of BIPOC staff; enact our organizational belief of redemption and helping people to succeed.

Reporting to the Director of Research and Planning, the Senior Research Analyst leads the Department’s research and data-driven policy development and operational strategy, in support of youth justice system transformation. To advance the mission and vision of the Juvenile Probation Department, the Senior Research Analyst devises strategies to advance transparency with the communities most impacted by the juvenile justice system, leads research efforts in support of the department’s internal and external racial equity work, and manages the department’s internal and external research portfolio. Additionally, the Senior Research Analyst is the primary project manager for the department’s Quality Assurance team and case management system enhancements projects to ensure effective data collection and performance measurement.

Essential Functions of the position include: 

• Leads research efforts to support policy development, evidence-based practice implementation, and the transformation of San Francisco’s juvenile justice system.
• Designs data-driven processes that advance racial equity in the Department’s work with youth and their families.
• Leads collaborative development of JPD performance measures and manages departmental reporting to the Mayor’s Office and Controller’s Office.
• Supports independent research projects that advance evaluation and knowledge of the juvenile justice system.
• Collaborates closely with the IT Unit to query data; produce a variety of statistical reports for the public, including but not limited to the monthly statistics for the Juvenile Probation Commission, and the annual report statistics and data visualizations on the department’s web-based data portal; and build interactive dashboards for public and internal users.
• Presents data analysis, research findings, and policy recommendations to the Chief, Executive Team, Juvenile Probation Commission, community, and other local and state stakeholders.
• Leads data integrity and quality assurance efforts for the department, including business process design; case management system development, testing, and implementation; diversification of data collection; and, project management of JPD’s interdivision Quality Assurance Team, including monitoring data quality assurance issues and supporting resolutions.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university

Experience: Three (3) years full-time equivalent experience performing professional-level analytical work. Qualifying professional-level analytical work includes analysis, development, administration, and reporting in major programs and functions of an organization in the areas of budgets, contracts, grants, policy, or other functional areas related to the duties of positions in the 182X Class series.

Substitution: Possession of a graduate degree (Master's degree or higher) from an accredited college or university with major coursework in specialized subject matter areas such as public or business administration, management, business law, contract law, public policy, urban studies, economics, statistical analysis, finance, accounting or other fields of study closely related to the essential functions of positions in the Class series may be substituted for one (1) year of required experience. Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to a maximum of 2 years). Thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units equal one year.

Desirable Qualifications

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate cross-functionally.
• Experience with design and execution of research/evaluation projects, including gathering quantitative and qualitative data, data cleaning and analysis, data visualization, and effectively communicating results to diverse audience. 
• Experience with transformational change to business processes and systems to deliver improved client experience and organizational performance.
• Attention to detail and ability to monitor, manage, and advance numerous projects and tasks.
• Experience with large, complex administrative datasets, and the development of metrics and key performance indicators.
• Proficiency with R language and environment for statistical computing and graphics, or comparable; SQL; Excel; and, Power BI or Tableau.
• Knowledge of juvenile or criminal law, and/or experience with the justice or child welfare systems.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.