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About the NIJ Office of the Deputy Director

The Office of the Deputy Director and its three sub-offices are responsible for operations, communications, and grants management. 

The Deputy Director is the primary integrating and strategic focal point of the NIJ staff. The Deputy Director oversees the activities of three offices: Operations, Communications, and Grants Management. The Deputy Director also assists the NIJ Director and Principal Deputy Director with other management aspects of NIJ staffing, programs, and mission requirements. 

The goals of the NIJ Office of the Deputy Director are to:

  • Bridge the science-to-practice gap by giving criminal justice professionals evidence-based knowledge they can use in their work. We collaborate with colleagues within NIJ as well as with recipients of NIJ awards to move NIJ-generated knowledge and tools into the hands of those working in the criminal justice profession.
  • Support the mission and staff of NIJ by providing leadership in the planning, development, management, and administration of all support lines of business including the management of grants and cooperative agreements.

Offices and Major Activities

Office of Communications Activities

Working with our colleagues here at NIJ and with practitioners, policymakers, and researchers in the field, we create content for:

The Office of Communications also manages or helps our NIJ colleagues to manage a number of in-person events, including NIJ’s Research for the Real World seminar series and substantive working group meetings, and we support colleagues who manage NIJ’s presence at national events, such as those sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association of Crime Analysts, the American Society of Criminology, and the American Criminal Justice Society.

Office of Operations Activities

Major operations activities include:

  • Administrative Support Services. The office provides support services for a wide variety of NIJ functions including facility and property management, space management, system access management, equipment services, and simplified acquisitions. The office also coordinates responses to all Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and advises on Office of Justice Programs (OJP) records retention and disposition requirements.
  • Audits. The office is NIJ’s central point of contact for all Office of the Inspector General and Government Accountability Office audits and inquiries, as well as internal audits conducted by the OJP Office of Audit, Assessment and Management. The office also provides information about NIJ programs and responds to special requests from Congress, principal Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, the public, and others.
  • Budget Formulation and Execution. The office oversees and manages all budget operations activities, including budget formulation and execution of NIJ’s operational and program budgets. We also coordinate the compilation of budget estimates and help identify program requirements.
  • Conference Cost Reporting. The office works closely with NIJ and contract and cooperative agreement awardees to obtain conference approval pursuant to DOJ policy. We advise on current policy and procedures and serve as the primary liaison to verify requirements and troubleshoot problems in order to obtain required approvals.
  • Contracts Oversight and Procurement. The the office manages NIJ’s procurement activities, including the purchase of specialized technical services, software and supplies. In this capacity, we work with other OJP divisions to direct a full range of contract activity, including the development of specialized statements of work, quality assurance surveillance plans, and independent government cost estimates. In addition, we oversee day-to-day contract administration actions, including contract modifications, monitoring of contract performance, approving of contract invoices, and other contracting officer representative functions.
  • Data Call Management. The office serves as the central point of contact for all data calls, working with NIJ program and support staff (as well as staff from other OJP bureaus, programs and support offices) to provide accurate and timely responses. Where needed, we coordinate with the OJP Office of the General Counsel and Office of the Chief Financial Officer to resolve issues and obtain clarifications.
  • Inter-Agency Agreements. The v manage all of NIJ’s financial inter-agency agreements with other federal and state agencies.
  • Human Resources Management. The office guides NIJ leadership in attracting, developing and maintaining a high-quality and diverse workforce. We coordinate with the OJP Office of Human Resources on recruitment, employee performance management, and continuous learning, as well as employee and labor management issues.
  • Peer Review and Solicitation Management. The office manages all technical aspects of the peer review process, from budgeting to contract administration. In addition, we develop timelines for inclusion in the Grant Forecasting Tool to ensure the timely processing of NIJ’s awards.
  • Planning. The office develops and implements long- and short-range plans and assists with the development of policies and strategic planning efforts. We serve on cross-agency working groups and boards to ensure that NIJ has the tools and technologies needed to support its mission and to ensure compliance with federal rules and regulations and OJP policies and procedures.
  • Training Development and Delivery. The office identifies internal knowledge gaps related to policy and procedure issues, and seeks out training mechanisms to fill these gaps. We also develop training materials to answer common questions and to clarify policy and procedure requirements.

Office of Grants Management Activities

The Office of Grants Management supports the mission of NIJ through the management and administration of grants and cooperative agreements that fund much of NIJ’s important scientific work. Our professional grant managers work in conjunction with NIJ’s scientists and award recipients throughout the grant lifecycle to facilitate the successful completion of grant-funded projects.

We are a customer-focused organization designed to help NIJ funding recipients meet the performance objectives of their grants while maintaining compliance with important statutory, regulatory and agency rules and guidelines.

Each NIJ grant is assigned a grant manager who will provide award recipients with technical assistance and guidance by:

  • Developing and executing funding agreements with clear performance objectives and compliance requirements.
  • Providing feedback and approvals for required grant reports and other deliverables.
  • Reviewing, approving and appropriately documenting important changes to grant agreements.
  • Conducting in-depth, proactive grant monitoring activities, including on-site visits to grantee offices and project locations.
  • Trouble-shooting grantee questions and concerns that arise during the course of a grant award.
  • Reviewing documentation to confirm that all grant performance and compliance requirements have been met prior to award closeout.

Contact the NIJ Office of the Deputy Director

General queries:

Grant-related queries:

  • For questions regarding your grant award, please contact your assigned grant manager.
  • For additional information on NIJ’s grant-funding opportunities and grant application guidelines, please visit the NIJ current funding page.
  • For grant management resources and reference materials, please visit the Office of Justice Programs’ Funding Resource Center.
Date Published: March 9, 2023