Career Center

The American Prison Writing Archive is the first fully searchable digital archive of non-fiction essays and poetry by incarcerated people writing about their experience inside U.S. prisons and jails today.

The APWA seeks an Associate Manager. This full-time position is responsible for coordinating growth and dissemination efforts and raising the public profile of the Archive.  Working closely with Program Executive Doran Larson, Project Director Vesla Weaver, program assistants, and the Sheridan Libraries team working to incorporate the APWA digital holdings, the Associate Manager will, among other evolving responsibilities, serve as the lead coordinator of team members in transitioning, developing, and expanding the American Prison Writing Archive.

The Associate Manager will oversee extensions and improvements to the Archive and acquisition process, including but not limited to: greater outreach to authors less well represented in the archive; establish connections to other scholars, nonprofits, libraries, and research endeavors with which to collaborate; build out new ways of making the Archive accessible to incarcerated communities, scholarly communities, policy organizations, and the public; and continue developing the critical extensions and enlarging the visibility of the Archive. 

The Associate Manager will oversee communications about the Archive in social and print media, develop an active presence of the Archive in research, policy, and reform circles, communicate with key interlocutors and stakeholders, develop and execute high-profile convenings, and anticipate growth opportunities for the archive.  The Associate Manager will be a critical point of contact for regional gatherers of essays and sponsoring organizations.  

Specific Duties & Responsibilities:

Management Duties

The Associate Manager, working with and reporting to Larson and Weaver, will help to coordinate and oversee a number of initiatives in two major areas:  Growth of the APWA, and Dissemination of its contents.

APWA Growth

• Catalyze efforts to identify and coordinate payment to print venues that reach incarcerated people (IP) to carry the APWA call for essays;
• Manage setting up agreements with existing archives and projects that feature the writing of IP in order to incorporate their current and future holdings into the APWA
• Manage set up of JPay accounts to facilitate e-submission of news essays by and correspondence with IP
• Assist in identification and ongoing communications with regional prison witness gatherers (approximately ten) across the U.S., including in their efforts to gather testimony from system-affected communities
• Manage the call for applications, selection process, communications with and activities of formerly-incarcerated APWA Fellows

APWA Dissemination

• Work with the APWA's lead publication coordinator to identify publications that will carry APWA essays and writing about APWA contents and authors
• Do follow up with magazine and presses that take on APWA writing projects
• Assist with convenings (in-person and virtual) that highlight APWA activities and research
• Assist in seeing that the APWA is featured on appropriate research and community project websites
• Launch collaborations with extant organizations and networks (i.e. Freedom Reads, Square One Project, NYU Prison Education program, Frederick Douglass Project for Justice, etc.)

• Serve as a member of the APWA management team; participate in development of APWA policy, strategies, ethics, and procedures

Minimum Qualifications (Mandatory):

• Bachelor's Degree
• Three years administrative experience as well as progressively responsible related experience
• Additional related experience may be substituted for education to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula*

* JHU Equivalency Formula: 30 undergraduate degree credits (semester hours) or 18 graduate degree credits may substitute for one year of experience.  Additional related experience may substitute for the required education on the same basis. For jobs where equivalency is permitted, up to two years of non-related college course work may be applied towards the total minimum education/experience required for the respective job. 

** Applicants who do not meet the posted requirements but are completing their final academic semester/quarter will be considered eligible for employment and may be asked to provide additional information confirming their academic completion date.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Graduate Degree in a related field, e.g. law, legal studies, criminology, education, program administration, social services, public policy
• Experience as a manager, trainer, advisor, or similar role
• Experience in a supervisory role in prisoner-support project setting or organization related to incarceration
• Experience providing professional support to incarcerated and/or formerly incarcerated people
• Experience as part of a prisoner support program
• Prison experience, or experience in similar institutions (e.g. reentry facility, juvenile detention center, immigrant detention center).
• Experience working for a local, regional, or national organization that has worked on issues related to the criminal legal system or prison education

Special Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Demonstrated experience developing new systems or programs
• Demonstrated cultural competency and experience engaging with Africana / African American / Latinx and LGBTQ communities, as well as justice system-involved individuals 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Demonstrated excellent time management skills, organizational skills, and demonstrated ability to meet deadlines
• Excellent interpersonal skills to collaborate and work effectively with a team
• Demonstrated adaptability and flexibility, as well as willingness to expand into new areas as the Archive develops and grows
• Excellent attention to detail
• Experience and/or willingness to help supervise others supporting the Archive's operations 

Successful Candidates Will Have:

• Demonstrated ability to speak with thoughtfulness and critical understanding about prison writing and its value to current thinking about carceral-state practices
• Demonstrated ability to speak with thoughtfulness and critical understanding about the social and historical contexts of prison work
• Demonstrated ability to speak with thoughtfulness and critical understanding on issues of diversity and inclusion
• Demonstrated understanding of the principles, ethics, and complexities of using first person essays from vulnerable communities
• Superior managerial, communication, and organizational skills
• Demonstrated commitment to social justice and equity
• Solid computing skills (Microsoft Office suite, Excel Spreadsheets, database experience)
• Demonstrated ability or interest in cultivating social media fluency and communications skills

Classified Title: Administrative Program Coordinator
Working Title: Associate Manager, American Prision Writing Archive  
Role/Level/Range: ATP/03/PC  
Starting Salary Range: $51,210 - $70,480 annually (commensurate with experience)  
Employee group: Full Time 
Schedule: M-F 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM 
Exempt Status: Exempt 
Location: Homewood Campus  
Department name: ​​​​​​​Political Science  
Personnel area: School of Arts & Sciences 

The successful candidate(s) for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background check.

The Johns Hopkins University values diversity, equity and inclusion and advances these through our key strategic framework, the JHU Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion.

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

EEO is the Law
Learn more:
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Accommodation Information

If you are interested in applying for employment with The Johns Hopkins University and require special assistance or accommodation during any part of the pre-employment process, please contact the Talent Acquisition Office at jhurecruitment@jhu.edu. For TTY users, call via Maryland Relay or dial 711. For more information about workplace accommodations or accessibility at Johns Hopkins University, please visit accessibility.jhu.edu.

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