Program Manager - Operations at Rikers Island - The Petey Greene Program, New York

About Us

The Petey Greene Program supports the academic goals of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people through high-quality volunteer tutoring programs, while educating volunteers on the injustice manifest in our carceral system.

We envision a world in which all incarcerated people have access to high-quality academic programs and we strive to inspire our alumni - both students and tutors - to become advocates, and to take on leadership roles that reimagine the criminal legal system.

The PGP operates the largest multi-state volunteer tutoring program for currently and formerly incarcerated people. Since our founding in 2008, we’ve served over 21,000 students across more than 140 programming sites—including correctional and reentry programs—placed over 9,000 volunteers, and partnered with 40+ universities in seven states and Washington, D.C.

The PGP is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, but the majority of our 40 employees are based across the Northeast in regions where the PGP holds programming.

The Role

The Program Manager – Operations at Rikers Island will be responsible for developing and implementing operational and administrative processes to support the provision of high-quality educational programming for incarcerated students at Rikers Island, as part of the launch of PGP educational programming at Rikers Island.

The Program Manager will be responsible for managing day-to-day program operations as well as developing and leading processes that support the PGP’s program team at Rikers Island. This also includes collaborating closely with NYCDOC education, programs, and administrative teams to collect and process volunteer and staff clearances, schedule required orientations, as well as plan transportation across the Rikers Island complex and movement within facilities. The role will also support in scheduling of PGP instructors, coordinating with NYCDOC to ensure student access to tablets, as well as managing vendor relationships for subcontracted educational programming.

The Program Manager will regularly collaborate and coordinate with other PGP program managers focused on ELL, college-readiness, and inside tutoring support, in addition to supervising two staff members: the Data Entry Specialist and the Volunteer Engagement Coordinator. In these aspects of the role, the Program Manager will be responsible for overseeing timely and compliant data entry to meet both NYCDOC and PGP requirements, as well as supporting in the onboarding, management, and ongoing support of volunteer tutors. The Program Manager reports to the PGP’s Associate Director of Rikers Island Programs.

Candidates will reside in the greater New York City area. The role is primarily on-site at Rikers Island, with the expectation that the Program Manager will be in-person at Rikers Island three days per week, along with one in-office day at our coworking space, and at least one work-from-home day.

This position is grant-funded through December 2028, with the possibility of renewal dependent on renewal of funding.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Regional Programming Responsibilities
  • In collaboration with the PGP’s Associate Director of Rikers Island Programs, develop and implement administrative and operational systems that support staff, instructors, volunteers, and students involved in PGP’s educational programming at Rikers Island
  • Oversee the week-to-week operations of PGP’s volunteer tutoring program at Rikers, monitoring high-level trends and troubleshooting challenges
  • Collaborates to screen, interview and select volunteers, ensuring that PGP is providing high-quality tutoring for incarcerated students at Rikers Island
  • Coordinate with PGP colleagues to incorporate volunteer tutors into educational programming to offer supplementary and 1-on-1 support to incarcerated students
  • Regularly monitor volunteer and tutoring data to ensure consistent implementation of processes
  • Ensure timely and compliant data management and data entry that meets both NYCDOC and PGP requirements, as well as regular sharing of data between the PGP and NYCDOC
  • Act as the point of contact for staff and volunteers in their completion of NYCDOC clearance and orientation requirements
  • Coordinate with NYCDOC administrators to plan staff and volunteer transportation across the Rikers Island complex, as well as movement within facilities
  • Collaborate with other Program Managers as well as Associate Director of Rikers Island Programs to schedule PGP instructors, ensure student access to tablets, and managing vendor relationships for subcontracted educational programming
  • Supervise two members of the PGP’s Rikers Island team, the Volunteer Engagement Coordinator and Data Entry Specialist
  • Builds and maintains relationships with NYCDOC stakeholders, including programs and education teams
  • Participate in daily on-site meetings with PGP’s Rikers team members to align services, ensure coordinated student support, and collectively navigate daily work inside a carceral space
• National Organizational Responsibilities
  • Participates in and prepares for weekly meetings with the regional team and all PGP staff

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 2-4 years of work experience or Associates degree and 3-5 years of work experience
• Experience with and knowledge of programmatic operations
• Experience working with volunteers
• Exceptional facility, and proven track record, with interpreting programmatic data and implementing metrics-driven approaches to program management
• Ability to develop, implement and adapt processes to meet program needs while remaining aligned with current organizational systems
• Ability to adjust communication style for various stakeholders (incarcerated students, correctional facility administrators, university or other educational partners, volunteer tutors, etc.)
• Extremely organized and detail-oriented
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships with a diverse group of partners
• Ability to problem solve independently and with a team
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Proficiency in Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, and Google Calendar
• Awareness of issues related to mass incarceration and broader social justice concerns.
• Must be able to be cleared to enter NYCDOC facilities (if you have concerns about this requirement, we encourage you to still submit an application or reach out to us so we can discuss further)

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous managerial experience (experience managing early-career professionals preferred)
• Experience with a CRM or project management software
• Experience with and knowledge of tutor-centric educational programs
• Ability to develop and adapt processes for low-tech/no-tech environments
• Experience working with or knowledge of the New York City Department of Corrections as an employee, partner, or a formerly incarcerated person.
• Experience leading programming in carceral environments
• An understanding of the US criminal legal system and local policies.

The Petey Greene Program is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its personnel decisions based on race, ancestry, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/domestic partner status, religion, age, disability status, veteran status, or former incarceration status.

We are committed to ongoing learning and reflection and we are continuously working to ensure that the Petey Greene Program is welcoming and supportive of staff members of all identities, including system-impacted people, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ people. We also believe that this work should be led by system-impacted people, whose perspectives and direct knowledge of the problems are necessary to achieving freedom and educational justice.

Benefits

The Petey Greene Program’s staff make our work possible and we are committed to providing a comprehensive benefits package to support employee’s well-being and professional growth. These benefits include:

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits with the PGP covering 60% (dental and vision) to 82% (medical) of premiums
• 100% employer-paid life insurance and short- and long-term disability benefits
• 401k retirement plan with 1% employer contribution
• Voluntary benefits offered including Pet Insurance and FSA Commuter and Transit Benefits
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave
• Paid winter break between Christmas and New Year’s day, in addition to 10 paid holidays throughout the year
• Full-time employees accrue 20 days of vacation time, 1 floating holiday, and 12 days of sick time per year
• PGP closes at 1 PM on Fridays from June through August
• Dedicated funds for employees to use towards professional development each year
• Monthly technology reimbursement
• Access to a local coworking space