Senior Researcher, Criminal Justice

About the role

The United States Program (USP) of Human Rights Watch (HRW) is seeking a Senior Researcher to play a leadership role within the US Program in identifying, researching, and advocating to change key US human rights issues as they relate to criminal justice. The US Program works to advance human rights in three priority areas -- criminal justice, immigration, and democracy -- in ways that center racial justice and equity. In partnership with allied organizations, USP undertakes research and provides expertise to evaluate ongoing human rights violations in the US, identifies goals and targets for remedy, and engages in advocacy for change. In addition to its own work, USP collaborates with the multiple HRW thematic and regional divisions that work in the United States as well. The Senior Researcher will lead USP's criminal justice research and advocacy. This role reports to the Director of the US Program, based in New York. The successful candidate will be based within commuting distance of one of HRW's US offices (New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, or San Francisco) and may be expected to work from office up to 3 days per week. Candidate Profile : The Senior Researcher should have demonstrated experience and deep subject matter expertise in criminalization; policing, use of force, and other law enforcement practices; racial justice and systemic discrimination, including racial profiling; due process and other criminal legal system processes; and accountability for police misconduct and other law enforcement harms. The ideal candidate will have strong qualitative and quantitative research skills, including legal analysis, policy review, and data interpretation and will have demonstrated expertise in designing and leading complex research projects from inception through publication. The ideal candidate should be a recognized expert in the area of criminal justice and related topics with the experience of being consulted by policymakers, journalists, academics, activists, and others interested in US criminal justice concerns.

Responsibilities

• Lead internal HRW policy discussions on issues relevant to their work;
• Make recommendations to the US Program regarding the strategic research and advocacy projects it should prioritize regarding criminal justice, and develop and lead on those projects;
• Identify issues or reform opportunities in the US criminal justice policy environment by regularly communicating with a wide range of participants in, and observers of, the criminal justice system, including litigators;
• Anticipate and respond to news events in order to press human rights issues, assess when and where to make public in

Benefits

Additional Information

FULL-TIME JOB VACANCY Senior Researcher, Criminal Justice United States Program Multiple US Locations Considered Application Deadline: July 13 th , 2026

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