Strategic Storyteller

Location: Remote, New York City, or Oakland

Role Type: Full-time

Compensation: For employees based in the Oakland, CA metropolitan area, the salary for this role is $94,000. For employees based in the New York City, NY metropolitan area, the salary for this role is $90,000. For employees based elsewhere in the United States, the salary for this role is $72,000.  

Visa sponsorship: Not available

Hires remotely in: United States

Experience: 4+ years 

Skills:

• Writing (grant, journalism, short-form) 
• Project management, planning  
• Strategy development 
• Presentation and verbal communication 

This role is being promoted under the following titles: Strategic Storyteller and Grant Writer. Please only apply to one.

PLEASE APPLY DIRECTLY TO THIS ROLE VIA: https://boards.greenhouse.io/recidiviz/jobs/4378109006

Recidiviz is a fast moving team focused on providing corrections agencies with the data that they need to safely, sustainably, and equitably reduce incarceration in the US criminal justice system. We’re focused on deepening our impact in each of our 16 (and growing!) state partners, expanding to new states, and growing the team. That’s where you come in.

In this role, you’ll work closely with the Growth Analyst, Chief of Staff, Product Analyst, and Executive Director to bring in the funding required to advance our mission. You’ll create written content that keeps our supporters up to date on and excited about our work, and that drives vocal advocacy for our organization and our accomplishments. We’re looking for someone who loves the art of writing and editing, who is thoughtful, proactive, and a team player. 

About us

Recidiviz is creating safer, healthier communities by improving outcomes for people in the criminal justice system. We build technology to reduce the number of people in prison and to help criminal justice leaders embrace data-driven decision-making. 

Using software tools and thoughtful product design, we’ve been able to safely and permanently reduce incarceration and improve outcomes. We work side-by-side with leaders of the criminal justice system, people in prison and on supervision, and ecosystem partners to build a better path forward. In addition to the revenue we earn from state partners, some of the most respected philanthropists and foundations support our work.

People who succeed at Recidiviz lead with kindness and humility, assume good intent, learn from failure, and fix problems when they see them.

About the role

If you’re a writer in search of a high-impact mission, you’ve found it here. You’ll flex excellent writing skills across a wide variety of content, speaking to our current supporters and helping reach new ones. The revenue your work drives will accelerate the impact of Recidiviz’s existing tools and fuel explorations of innovative ways to improve the outcomes for people in the criminal justice system. 

Core responsibilities

• Own and execute a content strategy that drives sustainable revenue:
• Write regular updates to Recidiviz’s donors, supporters, and prospects, meeting audiences where they are in their understanding the criminal justice system, technology, and their motivations for driving change
• Know Recidiviz’s work inside out, soup to nuts, comfortably translating technical achievements for non-technical audiences. 
• Harvest stories of people who have benefited from our tools and tell their stories. 
• Co-own and co-execute a philanthropic pitching  strategy, side-by-side with our Growth Analyst: 
• Draft high quality funding applications, reports, pitch decks, and follow ups. 
• Craft narratives to support new areas of work, responding to an ever-changing funding landscape as you build excitement for Recidiviz’s current and future work. 
• Open and close fundraising rounds efficiently. Pick who to pitch, when to pitch them, and how to pitch them.
• Create all pitch and prep materials. Unstick stalled pitches. 
• Manage the fundraising pipeline to hit revenue targets. 

Wild success

A year from now you will - 

• Close active fundraising rounds, focused on increasing adoption of Recidiviz tools and piloting how to bring Recidiviz tools directly to people in prison and under community supervision. You’ll have done this by - 
• Writing high quality, customized proposals for funders 
• Preparing compelling pitch decks 
• Kept Recidiviz’s small and diverse donor base excited about Recidiviz’s work and proud of our progress. You’ll have done this by -
• Writing updates on key projects
• Writing case studies for a diversity of projects  
• Writing personalized outreach

Minimum qualifications

• You’re a crisp, punchy, and clear writer (no jargon or flowery language here!). You love to write. You know that great writing transcends words on paper, and shapes how everyone views Recidiviz and our work. You can make complex topics and ideas simple to understand. You adapt writing to varied audiences and desired tones.
• You’re thoughtful, proactive, and analytical. You can slow down or stop a moving train when you spot risk. You can speed up a stalled train. You can look weeks, months, quarters out and identify opportunities and risks. Without letting perfect be the enemy of progress, you leave no stone unturned and maintain a high bar of polish for the work that crosses your desk. 
• You’re a curious and strategic thinker. You listen well and ask questions, eager to get to the root cause of an issue. You are committed to maximizing upside, exploring an opportunity from all angles before committing. 
• You’re introspective and a great teammate. You lean into your strongest qualities and work on your biggest opportunities. You pick up balls that are dropping. You roll up your sleeves to do what it takes to move the mission forward. You identify gaps and fill them temporarily, while designing and advocating for the right long-term solutions.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience grant and proposal writing is preferred, but not required. We think a writer from many backgrounds can be successful in this role! 

Compensation

Compensation levels are standard across the organization and are set as rungs, not bands. These levels help us ensure equitable compensation and responsible stewardship of our resources. Please note that we do not negotiate compensation offers. 

The compensation for this role is geographically based. For employees based in the Oakland, CA metropolitan area, the salary for this role is $94,000. For employees based in the New York City, NY metropolitan area, the salary for this role is $90,000. For employees based elsewhere in the United States, the salary for this role is $72,000. 

What we offer

• Effective, extremely thoughtful colleagues, working together on a mission that matters
• 90% medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage for you and your dependents
• Flexible time off, including 20 days of PTO and 13 paid holidays
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• 401(k) retirement plan with 5% company match and no vesting period
• Complimentary One Medical membership (depending on location)
• Partnership with Carrot to provide employees with inclusive fertility and family-forming benefits, as well as a small but growing number of hormonal health and gender-affirming care benefits
• Monthly ClassPass credit for personal wellness
• Free mental health support via Talkspace
• Well-located offices in Oakland and Manhattan, with the flexibility to work remotely or go into either office as you choose
• An annual company offsite each spring and other ad-hoc gatherings
• All the exhilarating challenges and stretch opportunities of a tech startup, combined with the mission-driven heart of a nonprofit

More about Recidiviz

Recidiviz was an all-volunteer effort until early 2019, when Clementine, Andrew, and Joshua founded the organization. Since then, we’ve built an A-team of software engineers, designers, product managers and domain experts, from companies like Google, Apple, Dropbox, Opower, and Sidewalk Labs. Recidiviz was part of Y-Combinator’s 2019 class and has received support from some of the most respected philanthropists and foundations, including Ford Foundation, Mackenzie Scott, Schmidt Futures, Arnold Ventures, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Mozilla Foundation.

Today, Recidiviz works with over 16 state partners – big and small, red and blue – and covers more than 30% of the US incarcerated population. We have helped to get tens of thousands of people out of the criminal justice system, safely and equitably, and saved states nearly $1 billion. In the next five years, Recidiviz plans to partner with 40 states and help 250,000 people who are stuck in the system to get out and stay out. In addition to partnering with state Departments of Corrections, Recidiviz collaborates with and learns from partners – from organizations like the Correctional Leaders Association (CLA) to community based organizations and justice-impacted individuals, whose perspectives guide our work.

To learn more about how we do what we do, check out our 2022 Year in Review, read some press coverage, or watch our TED Talk. And if you’re really keen to see our work, you can dive into our Github :).

An important note

Lasting change is always built on diversity. Recidiviz recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, gender identity and all protected status as required by applicable law. We consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a special need that requires accommodation, please let us know in your application. Even if you don't think you meet all the criteria above, drop your resume, and we'll take a look – you might be great for another role or another time!