HR and Operations Manager

The National Homelessness Law Center (Law Center) seeks a strategic, collaborative, mission-driven thought partner to serve as our HR and Operations Manager. The Law Center serves as the legal arm of the national movement to end homelessness and is looking for an HR and Operations Manager compelled by the national housing crisis and energized by our vision of housing as a human right and dismantling structural racism as we seek to end homelessness.

ABOUT THE LAW CENTER

Founded in 1989, the Law Center fearlessly advances federal, state, and local policies to prevent and end homelessness, while fiercely defending the rights of all unhoused persons. Our work has put unhoused children back in school, won new resources for affordable housing, prevented homelessness for renters, overturned laws that criminalize homelessness, and built support for the human right to housing, now a major component of federal domestic policy. We play a critical role in protecting, defending, and promoting the rights of unhoused persons to ensure they can lead national, state, and local efforts to end homelessness.

Our core conviction is that no one should have to go without safe, affordable housing, especially in a country as wealthy as ours. The Law Center’s work, in partnership with national, state, and local partners, is critical now more than ever as the eviction and affordable housing crises, exacerbated by the pandemic, push record numbers of people and families into homelessness. People of color, people living with disabilities, women, children, the elderly, victims of interpersonal violence, and members of the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately and uniquely affected by homelessness, and our work consciously and affirmatively seeks to address these interrelated inequities. In April 2021, the Law Center welcomed its second Executive Director, Antonia Fasanelli, a national leader recognized for her expertise in housing and homelessness law and policy. The Law Center elevates the power and voices of persons with lived expertise in working toward systems change.

We are proud of our high-quality and committed team of 14 staff persons and our large corps of volunteer attorneys. The Law Center’s budget for 2025 is $2.3 million. The Law Center is financially sound and maintains a reserve. For more information on our work, explore our website at www.homelesslaw.org.

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF POSITION

The HR and Operations Manager will serve as a key second member of the Law Center’s Operations team. As with most Operations positions this role will wear multiple hats to support a growing, geographically distributed team: benefits administration, managing the employee lifecycle, legal compliance, administrative functions, and IT. This role is pivotal in ensuring the Law Center’s infrastructure and HR processes are efficient, compliant, and aligned with organizational goals and values while fostering a positive and inclusive work culture where employees thrive. Current staff are located in Washington, DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Texas, Arizona, and Washington state.

This is a full-time, exempt role operating out of our DC headquarters 2-3 days a week.This position is part of the Law Center’s Management Team (non-bargaining unit), reports to the Operations Director, works closely with the Executive Director, and collaborates with all internal teams.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Human Resources Administration (70%)

• Administer all benefit plans (health, dental, vision, disability benefits, paid leave). Liaise with brokers and benefits providers, educate and communicate with staff about benefits, oversee renewal and open enrollment, and keep abreast of benefit trends to suggest enhancements to the Law Center’s benefits package;
• Stay current on changing federal, state, and local employment policies and regulations (employer/SUI registration, overtime pay, paid family leave, etc.) to ensure ongoing legal compliance. Coordinate appropriate compliance training for staff;
• Collaborate with supervisors on talent recruitment: drafting of job descriptions, posting openings to attract a diverse applicant pool, coordination of resume reviews and interviews;
• Work with supervisors to manage seamless and engaging on-boarding and oversee all aspects of off-boarding including exit interviews, benefit terminations and transition plans;
• Ensure Personnel Handbook and employment posters are up to date;
• Manage timely processing of time sheets and leave requests and maintain accurate leave balances;
• Foster employee engagement and inclusive culture by recognizing employee birthdays, organizing social activities, and soliciting and incorporating feedback from staff (staff surveys, listening sessions, etc.);
• Maintain accurate and complete employee records (hiring documents, up to date job descriptions, documentation of performance reviews);

Organizational Administration and IT (30%)

• Provide on-site facilities management for the DC office, including identifying areas that require maintenance and managing maintenance tickets;
• Ensuring both remote and in-person workspaces are properly equipped and supplied;
• Liaise with IT vendor to monitor technological needs and to ensure technology is being effectively utilized to share data and facilitate processes;
• Maintain organization wide calendar, monitor main phone extension and general email account and route to appropriate staff;
• Assist Executive Director with calendar management including scheduling and preparing materials for full Board and Board Committee meetings;
• Support development and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures;
• Recommend improvements to systems, processes, and procedures to ensure that our workflows and interdepartmental collaboration and communications are optimized.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree. A focus on Human Resources, Business Administration, Public Administration, or related field a plus;
• A minimum of 4 years experience in generalist human resources management or similar roles. Experience in a social justice nonprofit, a unionized workplace, or a geographically distributed workplace strongly preferred;
• Thorough understanding of labor laws, regulations, HR best practices. HR certification (SHRM, PHR) preferred;
• Demonstrated ability to execute short-term, deadline-driven daily tasks, as well as to manage multiple long-term projects requiring input from and collaboration with others;
• Strong relationship-based competencies (verbal and written communication, empathy, conflict resolution, collaboration, trust building);
• Excellent judgment and decision-making abilities.Able to handle sensitive matters with confidentiality;
• Technical skills: Office 365, Sharepoint, Zoom and other remote work technologies.

WHO YOU ARE

• You excel at managing multiple priorities, attention to detail, and staying organized to meet deadlines.
• You take ownership of tasks and follow through until completion.
• You are a successful collaborator across internal teams and with leadership.
• You give and receive constructive feedback, are willing to learn, and ask for help when needed.
• You have a positive, problem-solving attitude.
• You thrive in a values-aligned organization.
• You support unions/unionized workplaces.
• You have a justice-oriented understanding of how race and power impact relationships, organizational culture and partnerships. You are committed to personal and professional practice around deepening this understanding, through continuous learning, reflection, and growth.
• You have a strong commitment to social justice and the values and mission of the Law Center, viewing homelessness through a structural and anti-racist lens; the Law Center also encourages those with lived expertise of homelessness or housing instability to apply.

SALARY AND LOCATION

Salary: To ensure equitable compensation the Law Center uses labor market benchmarking as the basis for establishing the salaries of employees across all roles at the organization. Aligned with this practice and in support of upholding internal equity, we do not negotiate salaries above the range for this position. The salary range for this position is $70,000 to $80,000.

Location: The Law Center’s headquarters is in Washington, DC.For this position, we will require the HR and Operations Manager to work out of the DC office 2-3 days per week and residence within 1 hour of commuting distance is required.