Job Title: Community Engagement Manager
PVN ID: BK-2208-005001
Category: Research
Location: BROOKLYN COLLEGE

Job Description

General Description

NYC FloodNet is a cooperative of communities, researchers, and New York City government agencies working to better understand the frequency, severity, and impacts of flooding in New York City.  

NYC FloodNet is seeking a full time Community Engagement Manager to join our team. With funding from NYC for the next five years, FloodNet will be responsible for manufacturing, deploying, operating, and maintaining a citywide flood sensor network totaling up to 500 active sensors across the 5 boroughs. A core component of FloodNet is the collection of actionable flood data that will be open-sourced and made freely available to our key groups of stakeholders: community members, City agencies, and researchers. As the project progresses, the FloodNet team will work closely with NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) to  transition the network to City ownership at the termination of the project. 

FloodNet was founded on principles of community engaged science. This engagement philosophy is a people-centered approach, valuing local knowledge and the historical context that is unique to each community. The team believes in a practice of creating reciprocal relationships, engendering exchanges of knowledge and resources while understanding dynamics of power, privilege and systemic injustice.  Foundational work has already included community workshops, one-on-one relationship building and youth education programming. 

This position will interface regularly with engineers, researchers, student interns, city officials and community members. This one-year contracted position can be extended annually for up to four additional years contingent on funding availability from NYC. The position will be managed by Brooklyn College through the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, with satellite offices at New York University (NYU) Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC). Regular visits to site locations across all 5 boroughs of NYC will be required.

About the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay

The Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay (SRIJB; srijb.org) is hosted by Brooklyn College and is a partnership between New York City, the National Park Service and CUNY acting on behalf of a consortium of research partners. The SRIJB supports inclusive and equitable planning and decision-making for climate adaptation and environmental stewardship in Jamaica Bay and beyond through research, education and public engagement.

Equal Employment Opportunity

CUNY encourages people with disabilities, minorities, veterans and women to apply. At CUNY, Italian Americans are also included among our protected groups. Applicants and employees will not be discriminated against on the basis of any legally protected category, including sexual orientation or gender identity. EEO/AA/Vet/Disability Employer.

Other Duties

  • Liaise and coordinate between the CUNY/NYU project teams and communities across all five boroughs for each sensor deployment  
    • Gather community priorities and needs related to flood resilience and communicate them to the FloodNet team
    • Coordinate co-production of products
    • Coproduce with communities a list of high impact flooding locations for sensor/gateway deployments.
  • Coordinate with community organization to assist in sensor deployments
    • Outreach to organizations in new target areas
    • Communication on sensor deployment dates, timelines, and stewardship
  • Organize, convene and facilitate workshops to gather community input on sensor deployments and data usage and accessibility. Collect and communicate community feedback to the project team.
  • Build and maintain a database of community organizations, members and contacts to track and coordinate communications and outreach between the FloodNet project team and communities  
  • Identify target audiences for workshops, outreach, and educational materials, with a focus on neighborhoods and communities most vulnerable to floods and the impacts of climate change due to historic disinvestment  
  • Develop accessible and understandable educational programming and materials on sensor technology and applications, FloodNet data access and interpretation, methods of flood reporting, flood risks and risk reduction.
  • Stay current with local and national community science initiatives and best practices

Qualifications

Required: 

  • Masters's Degree in a STEM field, a Social Science field or a Sustainability field with 3-5 years of experience working directly with communities
  • Willingness to attend weeknight and weekend meetings. 
  • Demonstrated strong interpersonal and communication skills. 
  • Demonstrated ability to work with diverse groups/populations. 
  • Demonstrated proficiency in project planning and management. 

Preferred: 

  • Ph.D. degree in STEM, Sustainability or Social Sciences with experience in community engaged science practices
  • Bilingual/Multilingual
  • Experience in community organizing in NYC and/or working with NYC communities

Experience and/or Interests:

  • Community engagement and environmental justice
  • STEM Education
  • Open data, open science, community science
  • Public program development
  • Group facilitation skills

RFCUNY Benefits

RFCUNY Employee Benefits and Accruals

About the Research Foundation

The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) was established as a not-for-profit educational corporation chartered by the State of New York in 1963. RFCUNY supports CUNY faculty and staff in identifying and obtaining external support (pre-award) from government and private sponsors and is responsible for the administration of all such funded programs (post-award).

RFCUNY stands between CUNY’s principal investigators (PIs) and the sponsors who support them and strives to fulfill its essential responsibilities to both groups. Working closely with individual PIs and Grants Officers on the campuses, RFCUNY oversees employment, accounting, audit, reporting, purchasing, and special responsibilities that include management of a planned giving program; liaison with governmental agencies and foundations; negotiation of agreements; facility construction and renovation; protection and commercialization of intellectual property; and compliance with applicable standards in research involving human subjects, animal care, environmental and radiological safety, and conflicts of interest.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The Research Foundation of the City University of New York is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Americans with Disabilities Act/E-Verify Employer. It is the policy of the Research Foundation of CUNY to provide equal employment opportunities free of discrimination based on race, color, age, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic violence victim status, arrest record, criminal conviction history, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

Key Features

Department
Science and Resilience Institute at Jama
Status
Full Time
Annual Salary Range
$80,000.00 - $110,000.00
Closing Date
Mar 06, 2023 (Or Until Filled)
Bargaining Unit
No

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