Job Type: Full-Time 

Job Title: Director of Learning

Location: Remote

Prison Journalism Project (PJP) is looking for a Director of Learning who will provide strategic and operational leadership for all of Prison Journalism Project’s learning programs, driving the organization’s Journalism as Literacy approach across every training pathway. 

PJP is a fast-growing independent, non-profit journalism and education organization that aims to train incarcerated writers with the tools of journalism, so they can be published widely and contribute to an informed and intelligent public discourse about mass incarceration. Throughout our holistic programming, writers build literacy and professional skills necessary for successful reentry and employment through hands-on learning. 

This role sits at the intersection of curriculum design, editorial collaboration, partnership development, and program assessment. The Director of Learning ensures that PJP’s training infrastructure is coherent, accessible across literacy levels, and aligned with the organization’s broader goals of expanding who can participate in journalism and publish their work for a public audience. The Director of Learning works closely in collaboration with full-time directors and the CEO and will be responsible for managing a skilled team of contractors. This role starts immediately. 

Key Responsibilities 

  • Lead strategic and operational direction for all learning programs under PJP’s Journalism as Literacy approach
  • Design and manage curriculum for Learning+, a three-year training and publishing progression for incarcerated writers
  • Oversee writer assessment and competency attainment across programs
  • Manage and support a volunteer mentor program for advanced writers
  • Provide strategic oversight of PJP Inside, a quarterly print magazine, including full production cycle management
  • Expand magazine distribution to new facilities and manage printing/mailing logistics
  • Oversee the Handbook Certification Program, a 14-module correspondence-based journalism curriculum
  • Manage Learning Coaches across programs, ensuring quality grading and constructive feedback
  • Lead design and development of digital journalism courses on the Edovo prison tablet platform
  • Oversee On Assignment, a developmental publishing blog for emerging writers
  • Manage the Prison Newspaper Project, which supports prison publications nationwide
  • Build and maintain external partnerships with Departments of Corrections, community organizations, and academic affiliates
  • Develop content for the Faculty Affiliate Program and its quarterly newsletter
  • Drive program assessment using qualitative and quantitative metrics to demonstrate impact
  • Refine PJP’s competency framework and ensure materials are accessible across literacy levels
  • Support organizational strategic planning and report quarterly progress to the CEO
  • Contribute to grant writing and reporting related to Learning programs
  • Manage a team of staff and contractors, including invoice approval and workload coordination
  • Lead monthly Learning team meetings and support overall operational efficiency
  • Manage annual department budget and review monthly expenses
  • Work with CEO to manage and expand organizational capacity

Key Skills

  • Equity-Centered Practice — Deep commitment to working with incarcerated populations and designing programs that expand access to journalism and literacy
  • Curriculum and Instructional Design — Ability to build structured, multi-level learning programs accessible to writers across a wide range of literacy levels
  • Editorial Judgment — Strong journalism background to assess writer development, guide content quality, and collaborate with editorial staff
  • Program Management and Multitasking — Capacity to oversee multiple complex programs simultaneously, each with their own timelines, stakeholders, and deliverables
  • People and Contractor Management — Experience leading distributed teams, managing performance, and coordinating volunteers
  • Data and Assessment — Ability to design and implement both qualitative and quantitative evaluation frameworks to track writer and program outcomes
  • Partnership Development — Skill in building and maintaining relationships with external organizations, including corrections departments and academic institutions
  • Strategic Thinking — Comfort contributing to organizational planning, setting goals, and translating mission into measurable program priorities
  • Communication and Writing — Strong written communication for grant reporting, newsletters, curriculum content, and stakeholder correspondence

Desired Qualifications 

  • Adult learning leadership, curriculum development experience and expertise in monitoring and evaluating educational initiatives
  • 2+ years experience working in a newsroom or teaching journalism. Prison newsroom experience is a plus
  • High executive function: 5+ years experience in an educational leadership role. Prison education work is a plus
  • Has their pulse on the kind of stories newsrooms and readers today are looking for 
  • Experience creating and delivering training for incarcerated students
  • Strong interpersonal skills
  • Strategic thinker 
  • Google Suite mastery
  • Comfortable with public speaking 
  • Ability to foster a healthy work culture 
  • Understands the importance of building an equitable and inclusive team and culture 
  • Understands the importance of Duty of Care 
  • Leadership and coaching skills 
  • Exceptional time-management and organizational skills
  • A strong writer with solid news judgment
  • Fluency in English with a masterful grasp of grammar and AP style

More About PJP

Prison Journalism Project (PJP) trains incarcerated writers in journalism and publishes their work for a broad public audience. Founded in April 2020, we are the country’s largest publisher of writing from inside prisons.

We publish reported stories, essays and firsthand accounts written by incarcerated people that document daily life inside prisons and the broader systems that shape it. Some pieces are personal reflections, while others are reported journalism based on interviews, observation and research. Together, they provide a grounded, firsthand view of incarceration that rarely reaches the public record.

Our impact so far:

  • PJP has published more than 2,500 stories by over 800 writers.
  • Our programs reach writers in 44 states across 261 facilities.
  • Over 200 writers are currently enrolled in our learning programs, which provides frequent publishing opportunities while they also build literacy, communication and critical thinking skills.

Our writers’ reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera English, USA Today, The Marshall Project and dozens of regional outlets — bringing perspectives to public discourse that are rarely heard. Our quarterly training publication, PJP Inside, is read by over 17,000 incarcerated people per issue.

What distinguishes PJP’s journalism is that reporting is produced through a structured learning model that expands who can participate in the practice of journalism. Many of our writers come to journalism with little prior experience and a wide range of literacy levels. Through accessible assignments and an empathetic editing approach, our learning coaches and editors meet writers where they are and help them develop the skills to report and write clearly. This approach allows us to work with a broad range of contributors — from first-time writers to experienced reporters — and to surface stories that might otherwise remain invisible. The result is journalism that reflects the depth and diversity of life inside prison, bringing forward stories that matter and that convey a truthful, firsthand understanding of the system.

EEOC/Diversity Statement

PJP is an equal opportunity employer. We commit to fostering an environment in which people of all identities are welcomed, valued and supported. We seek to create an organization with diverse voices and experiences that are representative of our society and the communities we serve. Harassment and discrimination in the workplace is not tolerated. We are committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion within our workplace and encourage all qualified applicants to apply. We promote a climate of mutual respect.

Salary and Benefits 

$85,000 – $100,000

36-hour four-day work week 

Generous paid time off

Health, dental and vision insurance

401K 

Application Requirements 

Please submit:

We will begin reviewing applications on May 11, 2026.

Questions? Reach out to learning@prisonjournalismproject.org