Managing Director
April 20, 2026
The following is a comprehensive overview of the Managing Director role for the American Prison Writing Archive at Johns Hopkins University, though it is not the official requisition.
To apply, please access the Johns Hopkins University standardized requisition:
https://hiring.jhu.edu/careers/job/1133912802436
Please note: While the requisition lists a Master’s Degree in Library Science or related field as a minimum qualification, the hiring committee is committed to recognizing directly relevant educational, work, and lived experience to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.
The American Prison Writing Archive (APWA) at Johns Hopkins University is seeking applicants for a full-time, grant-funded Managing Director position (funding secured until June 2027, with strong possibility of renewal).
Onsite in Baltimore (hybrid, 3 days in-office). Target salary $80,000-90,000 plus full benefits.
Managing Director
April 20, 2026
The following is a comprehensive overview of the Managing Director role for the American Prison Writing Archive at Johns Hopkins University, though it is not the official requisition.
To apply, please access the Johns Hopkins University standardized requisition.
Please note: While the requisition lists a Master’s Degree in Library Science or related field as a minimum qualification, the hiring committee is committed to recognizing directly relevant educational, work, and lived experience to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.
The American Prison Writing Archive (APWA) at Johns Hopkins University is seeking applicants for a full-time, grant-funded Managing Director position (funding secured until June 2027, with strong possibility of renewal).
Onsite in Baltimore (hybrid, 3 days in-office). Target salary $80,000-90,000 plus full benefits.
Brief Role Summary
The Managing Director of the American Prison Writing Archive combines strategic vision, operational leadership, and public engagement to guide staff in executing APWA leadership’s vision of a robust, sustainable, and widely recognized collection of nonfiction writing about the American prison system.
Core Executive Status (Co-directing Function)
- Share decision-making and planning duties with current co-directors.
- Focus areas for shared executive function include project prioritization and implementation as well as strategic vision of the archive.
- Lead the daily operations and expansion of the APWA
- Must be closely familiar with the day-to-day work of staff, APWA’s archival operations, external projects, and the vision and decision of fellow co-directors.
- Lead efforts to apply for grant renewal informed by project growth and sustainability.
Essential Qualifications
- Organizational Experience – prior experience in organizational/project management is a must
- Experience in managing operations to meet strategic goals and missions
- Experience with grant-based models of operation
- Leadership and Lived Experience – Highly prioritize candidates with direct carceral experience
Preferred Qualifications
- Significant leadership experience in an organization, program or institute directly related or adjacent to archives, libraries, incarceration, writing programs, publishing, or legal work
- Grant writing experience
- Experience with Workday or SAP
- Advanced knowledge of Spanish
Key Responsibilities and Expectations
Strategic planning — 30%
- Lead programmatic and long-term planning including grant renewal proposal and coordination
- Strengthen and adapt broader strategic vision
- Support policy creation and analysis
- Identify opportunities for increased visibility of the Archive
Project and Operations Management – 30%
- Oversee all internal and external archive operations to meet strategic goals and mission
- Develop organizational systems for coordination of operations, reporting, and scheduling
- Execute strategy and ensure goals and timelines are met
- Oversee budget management
Staff Supervision and Accountability – 15%
- Agenda setting and facilitation of meetings
- Serve as a daily consultation point for staff for timely decision making
- Confer and coordinate with staff, advisors, executive leadership regarding ongoing projects, changes, or considerations
External Engagement and Ethical Stewardship – 15%
- Help to develop key relationship within and outside the university
- Ensure the APWA adheres to its ethical commitment to equitably engaging system-impact individuals in the APWA’s decision-making processes
- Ensure that collaborations with authors respect their full autonomy and authority by adhering to commitments such as informed and continuing consent and compensation
Institutional and Crisis Management – 10%
- Crisis management, including coordination and planning for potential PR handlings, privacy breaches, legal threats, and archival misuse
- Coordination with other executive leadership members and advisory board
- Delivery of regular reports to funder, invoice payment requests, subawards, and JHU’s office of Research Administration (grant management)
How to Apply
To apply, please access the Johns Hopkins University standardized requisition using the link below:
