Summary
The Federal Judicial Center is the federal courts' agency for research and continuing education. Congress established the Center in 1967 as a separate organization within the federal judicial system at the request of the Judicial Conference of the United States. A nine-member board, chaired by the Chief Justice of the United States, determines its basic policies.
Duties
Within the Education Division, the FJC has an opening for an Assistant Division Director (ADD) to lead the Probation and Pretrial Services Education (PPSE) group. This group provides educational programs and resources for U.S. probation and pretrial services officers and their federal court system stakeholders. The Assistant Division Director reports to the Deputy Director for the Education Division. This position requires occasional overnight travel (approximately 15-20 days per year), and advance notice is given when travel is required. The Center does not pay for relocation expenses; however, Center employees receive reimbursement for all official business travel.
Who We Are
The PPSE group is composed of six people (including the ADD) and is one of five groups within the FJC Education Division (the others are Executive Education, Judicial & Legal Education, Multimedia Production, and Management and Professional Development Education). We are a mix of education specialists and attorneys, who serve as program managers responsible for program planning, design, development, and delivery, and program coordinators, who handle the administrative, financial, and logistical aspects of our programs. We develop, deliver, and evaluate professional education programs for U.S. probation and pretrial services officers and their federal court system stakeholders. Our program managers serve as trainers and facilitators alongside other faculty, such as U.S. probation and pretrial services officers, judges and court staff, and professors and other subject matter experts.
Our mission guides our work: We believe transformative education and training are essential to the administration of justice. We use proven instructional methods to inform, engage, and inspire the people we serve to reach individual and organizational excellence.
We consult with a probation and pretrial services education advisory committee comprised of U.S. probation and pretrial services officers in various roles. The committee suggests education needs and relevant topics, advises on priorities, assists with program execution, and helps to guide our efforts. Our programs include virtual workshops and webinars, multi-day in-person skill-building sessions, and regular coaching calls and follow-up, often over a year-long period. Last year, for example, we delivered 19 educational programs (9 national and 10 in-district) for a total of 832 participants. We also reached approximately 3,400 listeners with each episode of Off Paper: The FJC's Criminal Justice Podcast. PPSE members respond to training requests from courts, probation offices, and other related organizations.
Our strengths as a group include
- A passion to serve U.S. probation and pretrial services officers with relevant and meaningful education and resources
- A commitment to following the evidence to identify and meet our learners' needs, including understanding the nuances of their roles, the impact on the clients they serve, and the evolution of their professional development and growth
- Dedication to providing holistic programs tailored for our clients that lead to meaningful and lasting behavior change
- A strong sense of internal motivation and a bias toward action
- Adaptability
- Creativity
Collectively, we are a group of experienced professionals. Individually, we represent diverse backgrounds and viewpoints. The Center's current average employee tenure is almost 14 years. We believe people come here and stay because the mission is vital to our nation, the work is challenging and meaningful, the clients are engaged and supportive, and the culture is positive.
Who You Are
We are looking for a visionary leader and exemplary manager to guide us into the future with a continued emphasis on excellence, innovation, and impartiality in our competency-based programming. The ideal candidate is comfortable in the roles of leader, manager, advocate, diplomat, coach, mentor, advisor, and problem-solver.
We seek a leader who can
- Support us in achieving our mission
- Assess how effectively we are meeting the educational needs of our constituents
- Collaborate with us to maintain our high standards for quality
- Enhance our operations to run as smoothly as possible
- Juggle responsibilities and help the group (individually and collectively) do the same
- Value and grow our skills and capacity (individually and collectively)
- Engage and exchange ideas with the team and amplify good ideas
- Collaborate with others in the FJC, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the United States Sentencing Commission, the Courts, and various academic institutions
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
Key Requirements
The Federal Judicial Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to achieving a diverse workforce and an inclusive work culture. It strives to maintain a professional and collegial workplace in which everyone is valued and treated fairly and respectfully.
Qualifications
Mandatory Qualifications
- Education:
- An advanced degree in law, criminal justice, or a closely-related social science or experience at a level that would substitute for such a degree is required.
- Experience:
- Some combination of 7 years of teaching, designing, and hosting educational programming
- Knowledge, regular use, and a commitment to applying the principles of adult education to create engaging, useful, lasting learning experiences
- Minimum of 3 years in a supervisory capacity
- Skills:
- Excellent skills managing projects, people, and resources
- Exceptional emotional intelligence, collaboration, and interpersonal skills
- Strong technical, writing, and public speaking skills
- Values:
- Integrity, honesty, impartiality, discretion
- Respect, diversity in its many forms, fairness, inclusion, collaboration, and collegiality
- Growth, feedback, clarity, openness, and transparency
- Excellence, curiosity, and innovation
- Wellness and resilience at the organizational and individual levels
Desirable Qualifications
In addition to the mandatory qualifications, you're a strong candidate for this position if you possess a collection of some of the knowledge, skills, experience, and characteristics listed below. The list represents a range of possible qualifications, not a checklist that must be met. A strong candidate for this position can demonstrate proficiency in some combination of these areas:
- Management Ability:
- Ability to work cooperatively, collaboratively, and respectfully with people inside and outside the organization
- Experience recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and providing training and professional development opportunities
- Experience managing a team with multiple direct reports in on-site and remote environments
- Experience developing, mentoring, and coaching group members
- Experience assessing and improving the quality and utility of educational programs and resources, the processes for creating them, and the performance of faculty and staff who deliver them
- Experience accomplishing goals within budget constraints and/or budget uncertainty
- Ability to set clear goals and guide the team to excel
- Experience building collaboration to boost productivity and success
- Diplomatic skills to successfully navigate internal and external relationships
- Organizational Culture:
- Experience working in the courts or familiarity with the workings of the judiciary, preferably at the federal level doing probation and pretrial services work
- Experience working in law, the courts, or law enforcement (e.g., as a U.S. probation or pretrial services officer, defender, prosecutor, investigator, law enforcement agent/officer, etc.), preferably at the federal level
- Success working in a hierarchical environment where smart, talented high achievers serve other smart, talented high achievers
- Experience organizing and facilitating problem-solving and decision-making meetings
- Education Acumen:
- A degree or certificate in adult education, instructional design, or similar
- Substantial experience developing and implementing training needs assessments using a variety of methods
- Skill in using a competency-based curriculum to design and deliver education
- Experience with and commitment to applying the principles of adult education to create engaging, useful, lasting learning in both in-person and virtual environments
- Experience measuring learning transfer for training programs in both the short and long term
- Proficiency with educational technology used to design, develop, deliver, and assess training
- Experience combining high- and low-tech tools to enhance and streamline processes, services, and programs
- Ability to balance pedagogical needs, financial and staff constraints, and other relevant considerations to determine the optimal delivery method for content
- Ability to think creatively about adult education in the judiciary context and support experimentation with new approaches
- Experience with performing the logistics, planning, execution, and project management aspects of in-person and online training
Education
An advanced degree in law, criminal justice, or a closely-related social science or experience at a level that would substitute for such a degree is required.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Selected applicants will be evaluated based upon the question responses provided during a structured interview.
Required Documents
Please see the "How to Apply" section.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from
schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
Application Procedures
In a brief cover letter referring to Announcement #24-06, please summarize how you satisfy the qualifications listed above. Applications without the required cover letter or with cover letters that do not address the qualifications will not be considered. Along with the cover letter, please include a current resume that specifies dates of employment and responsibilities for all related positions. A cover letter and resume in a single combined PDF document is required. Name the file using your last name, first name, and the announcement number, as follows: Lastname.Firstname.24-06.pdf. Information provided in the transmittal email will not be considered part of the application.
All applications should be submitted by email to personnel@fjc.gov.
When applying, please refer to Announcement #24-06. This vacancy will remain open until filled, but to assure full consideration, your application must be received by 11:59 p.m. July 17, 2024.
Next steps
Complete applications will be evaluated based on qualifications. The hiring manager will consider the most highly qualified candidates for a possible interview. Applicants will be notified by e-mail once the position has been filled.
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