Assistant Director for Policy & Research

Job Description This position may be eligible for remote work for up to 2 days per week, pursuant to the Remote Work Pilot Program. The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) protects and enhances the daily economic lives of New Yorkers to create thriving communities. DCWP licenses nearly 45,000 businesses in more than 40 industries and enforces key consumer protection and workplace laws that apply to countless more. By supporting businesses through equitable enforcement and access to resources, DCWP protects the marketplace from predatory practices and strives to create a culture of compliance. DCWP empowers consumers and working families by providing the tools and resources they need to achieve financial health and work-life balance. DCWP also conducts research and advocates for public policy that furthers its work to support New York Cityu2019s communities. For more information about DCWP and its work, call 311 or visit DCWP at nyc.gov/dcwp, sign up for its newsletter, or follow on its social media sites, X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Within DCWP, the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) focuses on initiatives that support New Yorkers and communities with low incomes in building wealth and improving their financial health. OFE is the first local government initiative in the country with the mission to educate, empower, and protect New Yorkers and neighborhoods with low incomes so they can build assets and make the most of their financial resources. OFE uses data and research, policy, partnerships, and convenings to advance its mission. Using this model, OFE is able to develop, offer, and advocate for innovative programs and products for all New Yorkers. The Research team analyzes multiple data sources for reporting and evaluation to help OFE fulfill its mission of improving the financial health of New Yorkers, reach its program goals and demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of its work; identifies patterns and insights that help identify systemic barriers across New York City to financial health; and creates publicly-available research reports and other materials. The Policy team monitors regulatory changes that would impact the delivery of financial empowerment services; develops policy priorities from OFEu2019s on-the-ground work; and with national stakeholders, supports the development of materials that further DCWPu2019s policy agenda. OFE is seeking an entrepreneurial, driven, innovative and highly-organized Assistant Director of Policy & Research to join OFEu2019s Policy & Research team and provide day-to-day management of the team. The Assistant Director will lead the divisionu2019s policy and research analysis and implementation of strategic initiatives for OFE, and should have strong project management, relationship management, and written and oral communication skills. The Assistant Director of Policy & Research will lead a research team in coordinating OFEu2019s data assets and working with OFEu2019s programs leadership to identify improvements to data collection and reporting. The Assistant Director of Policy & Research will support the policy team in drafting and moving forward DCWPu2019s legislative agenda. The Assistant Director of Policy & Research will also focus on growing OFEu2019s capacity to monitor and analyze the progress of the agencyu2019s student loan research and associated initiatives. Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to: - Lead efforts to develop an annual research plan and policy agenda that reflect the priorities and mission of OFE and DCWP; - Collaborate with OFEu2019s programs team, to understand and prioritize research projects and inform policy items that support the agencyu2019s legislative agenda and areas of emerging systemic financial stress to monitor; - Support OFE as it rolls out new initiatives that increase the financial health of all New Yorkers, including youth financial empowerment and student loan supports; - Supervise staff assigned to policy & research team and provide professional development, training and assistance, as needed; - Research new financial product ideas, technologies and research; identify linkages to OFEu2019s programs and services and provide market and consumer insights to inform OFEu2019s work; - Develop and lead OFEu2019s annual calendar of reports for timely and accurate results of its Free Tax Prep program services and financial counseling programs to comply with any mandatory reporting obligations, contractual agreements, and program evaluation and analysis; - Oversight of OFEu2019s current data collection processes and coordinate with DCWPu2019s divisions and within OFE to support the buildout of new ones as projects emerge; - In partnership with the financial empowerment programs teams, provide timely updates to OFE Executive Leadership and other stakeholders on the status of programs, progress toward deliverables, unanticipated challenges and strategies for addressing those challenges; - Draft an annual written publication schedule and oversee the work of the Policy and Research teams to draft various written products, including but not limited to research briefs, survey results, policy briefs or memos, position papers, and public comment submissions; - Support the Director of Policy & Research in participating in working groups and coalitions that OFE is a member of which or co-leads, including coordinating stakeholders; - Collaborate with other OFE team members to identify linkages across OFEu2019s programs and initiatives, and support cross collaboration amongst programs; - Understand the landscape of policy and advocacy organizations focused on improving financial health in New York City, as well as safe and affordable banking products and services, and build and maintain relationships with organizations providing those services; - Draft, proofread and/or edit a range of materials, including but not limited to grant proposals, publications, reports, program documents, policy memos, presentations, and press releases; - Build and manage relationships with City agencies, community-based organizations, funders, grantees, and other external stakeholders and act as a liaison internally with other DCWP divisions; - Implement and manage special projects as needed to reduce systemic inequality and build individual and community wealth and assets; and - Represent OFE at outreach events as appropriate and help to plan, organize and execute various events including meetings, conferences and convenings. CITY RESEARCH SCIENTIST - 21744 Qualifications 1. For Assignment Level I (only physical, biological and environmental sciences and public health) A master's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological or environmental science or in public health. To be appointed to Assignment Level II and above, candidates must have: 1. A doctorate degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and one year of full-time experience in a responsible supervisory, administrative or research capacity in the appropriate field of specialization; or 2. A master's degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and three years of responsible full-time research experience in the appropriate field of specialization; or 3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to

Created: 2025-10-06