Organizational Profile: In November 2018, New York City voters approved a ballot initiative establishing the New York City Civic Engagement Commission. The Commission focuses on promoting civic engagement across all of City government and making New York City decision making accessible to all New Yorkers. Specifically, the Commission is charged with running a citywide participatory budgeting program, providing poll site interpretation services, providing technical assistance to community boards, partnering with community-based organizations and civic leaders to increase awareness of City services, and assisting City agencies in developing civic engagement initiatives. Originally announced in 2018 as a mayoral initiative aimed at increasing voter registration and participation in NYC, and pursuant to Mayoral Executive Order 88 in 2021, Democracy NYC became a program of the CEC, thereby incorporating voter education and voter registration into CEC priorities.

Position Overview: The NYC Civic Engagement Commission is seeking to hire a Technology Strategist to implement diverse technologies to support participatory democracy in NYC. The Tech Strategist will lead the management and development of new features for the www.participate.nyc.gov site, the NYC instance of Decidim as well as other civic tech tools to support the commission.

This is an opportunity for a motivated, self-driven, civic technologist who can identify, pitch, and develop tools to increase civic engagement. As a member of the product team, the person in this role will be able to propose and participate in the ideation and implementation of strategic technology partnerships with other government institutions, academia, technology companies and community-based organizations.

About Decidim:
Decidim is a Free Libre Open-Source Software for participatory democracy that is working on more than 400 cities, regions and organizations worldwide. It’s being used in Barcelona, Helsinki, France, Italy, Mexico, to name a few. Decidim is a Ruby on Rails project, a generator, and some gems that help organizations to make decisions and deliberative processes.

More information:
- https://github.com/decidim/decidim
- https://decidim.org
- https://meta.decidim.org

Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, the Technology Strategist responsibilities include:
- Plann new features along with the Product Team for the NYC instance of Decidim;
- Document code, decisions, and information architecture leveraging best practices;
- Develop and maintain web services and interfaces;
- Contribute to front-end and back-end development processes;
- Build new product features or APIs;
- Perform tests, troubleshoot software, identify, and fix bugs;
- Collaborate with other departments, and team members on projects and sprints;
- Proactively identify opportunities for improvement in the CEC Digital Services and tools;
- Pitch and develop strategies in partnership with the Commission teams to support existing programs: Democracy NYC. The People’s Money, Community Boards, Poll Sites, TRIE Coalition among other CEC strategic initiatives;
- Research and understand the digital tools other cities, countries, and institutions use to promote civic engagement including participatory budgeting and voter education;
- Research the state of digital tools usage in New York City and investigate the barriers to access and use them;
- Learn from, collaborate with, and leverage existing civic tech initiatives in New York City with foundations, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, companies and more.

HOURS/SHIFT
Day - Due to the necessary technical duties of this position in a 24/7 operation, candidate may be required to work various shifts such as weekends and/or nights/evenings.

WORK LOCATION
New York, NY

TO APPLY
Special Note: Taking and passing civil service exams are necessary to maintain employment with the City of New York. Please check the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) website (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/work/exam_monthly.shtml) for important exam filing information. Please ensure that you are either a permanent employee in the civil service title listed on this posting, or, that you file for the examination when there is an open filing period. For more information regarding the civil service process, please visit the DCAS website at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcas/html/work/work.shtml

Interested applicants with other civil service titles who meet the preferred requirements should also submit a resume for consideration.

Please go to www.cityjobs.nyc.gov and search for Job ID # 617806

SUBMISSION OF A RESUME IS NOT A GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE AN INTERVIEW
APPOINTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO OVERSIGHT APPROVAL

NOTE: This position is open to qualified persons with a disability who are eligible for the 55-a Program.
Please indicate in your cover letter that you would like to be considered for the position under the 55-a program.

OTI participates in E-Verify

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college including or supplemented by 24 credits in the field of voice and/or data telecommunications or in a pertinent scientific, technical, electronic or related area, and four years of satisfactory fulltime experience in the performance of analytical, planning, operational, technical, or administrative duties in a voice and/or data telecommunications or closely related electronics planning, management, and/or service organization, one year of which must have been in a highly specialized capacity and 18 months must have been in an executive, managerial, or administrative capacity or in the supervision of staff performing work in the voice and/or data telecommunications field; or

2. An associate degree from an accredited college including or supplemented by 12 credits in the field of voice and/or data telecommunications or in a pertinent, scientific, technical, electronic or related area and five years of experience as described in "1" above; or

3. Education and/or experience equivalent to "1" above. However, all candidates must have at least a four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent and one year of the specialized experience as described in "1" above and must possess the 18 months of executive, managerial, administrative or supervisory experience as described in "1" above.

To thrive in applied civic technology the candidate for this role should have both experience as a technologist and as civic organizer. We understand that education and professional experience in both spaces is not common, so we are willing to support you develop skills in one of the two areas. To that effect you should apply if you are a strong developer with interest in improving civic engagement, or if you are a strong civic organizer with interest in applied technology. The successful candidate should possess either of the following: Technologist interest in civic engagement - Knowledge of back-end development: At least four years of experience on Ruby/RoR. - Knowledge of front-end development: At least four years of experience on HTML, CSS, JavaScript. - Process Management: At least four year of experience using Jira, GitHub Issues, Trello, Airtable or a similar tool to keep track of the testing process including providing detailed feedback to developers for bugs and unexpected behavior. - Collaborative Dev Management: At least two years of experience using Git and Github to manage collaborative projects. o Experience collaboratively working with agile/eXtreme or other collaborative frameworks. o Experience on pair programming/mentoring - Relational Database Management: Experience with PostgreSQL or MySQL. -OR- Civic organizer interest in applied technology - Management experience: 3+ years of staff management experience, leading to strong volunteer and/or staff management skills, including experience working with communities disproportionately impacted by inequality. - Experience in Civic Engagement: Candidates should have a demonstrated history of working in civic engagement and/or community organizing. This experience could include organizing events, workshops, or campaigns aimed at addressing community issues by understanding and connecting with diverse communities - Technological Proficiency: While not necessarily a developer, candidates should have a sophisticated understanding and experience using technology, including websites, mobile apps, and digital tools. Proficiency in project management software - Communication Skills: Strong written and verbal communication skills are necessary to explain technological concepts to non-technical stakeholders and to effectively engage with the community members - Problem-Solving Skills: Civic organizers often encounter unique challenges. Being able to identify issues, think critically, and find innovative solutions, including technological solutions, is a valuable skill - Relationship Management: Experience in building and maintaining strong relationships, networks, and partnerships is highly beneficial in this role - particularly with large organizations and companies. The successful candidate should also have the following: - The ability to work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team, including program leads, designers, and community organizers, is important to bridge the gap between technology and community engagement - Understanding of general User Interface Design and User Experience best practices - Highly resourceful, reliable, organized and detail oriented - Experience mapping and driving systemic improvements within complex service environments - Strong written and oral communications, facilitation, and presentation skills - Keen attention to detail, flexibility, and an enthusiastic work ethic - Experience communicating with diverse stakeholders and mediating diverse perspectives - Understanding of open-source software and product development for governments - Knowledge of digital tools for civic engagement and participatory democracy - A strong understanding of the ethical implications of technology, such as privacy and data security, is important when developing tools that interact with communities.

This position is also open to qualified persons with a disability who are eligible for the 55-a Program. Please indicate at the top of your resume and cover letter that you would like to be considered for the position through the 55-a Program.

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/.

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.