Director, Community and Access to Justice Program

About NYLAG:

Founded in 1990, NYLAG is a leading civil legal services organization combating economic, racial, and social injustice by advocating for people experiencing poverty or in crisis. Our services include comprehensive, free civil legal services, financial empowerment, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community partnerships. NYLAG exists because wealth should not determine who has access to justice. We aim to disrupt systemic racism by serving individuals and families whose legal and financial crises are often rooted in racial inequality. NYLAG goes to where the need is, providing services in more than 150 community sites (e.g. courts, hospitals, libraries) and on our Mobile Legal Help Center. NYLAG’s staff of 400 impacted the lives of 129,000 people last year.

Job description

New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) seeks a dynamic full-time director for its Community and Access to Justice Program Unit (CAPU), an interdisciplinary team of attorneys, paralegals, and volunteers providing civil legal information, resources, and representation to individuals who otherwise may not have been able to access legal assistance. The unit’s next director must have a vision for community centered programming that meets the ever-changing needs of NYC residents.

The Director develops and implements strategies for outreach and engagement through various community-based legal access initiatives, including NYLAG’s Mobile Legal Help Center, Legal Hand, and the UJA Safety and Stability Project, and advises and collaborates across all NYLAG units to strategize and support community-based lawyering and outreach.

They will be responsible for the overall unit operations, providing legal and programmatic oversight to the unit and engaging with communities and other stakeholders to ensure services responsive to community need. The job requires substantive knowledge and experience in the areas of law in which CAPU practices (including but not limited to housing, benefits, immigration) and legal and human services resources across the city. The Director must demonstrate experience with community lawyering models; project development; intake; building networks with partners, elected officials, and volunteers; supervising staff; working in a unionized environment, and managing grants/budget and programs. The director is also responsible for creating and sustaining emergency response programming through innovative programming.

The Director will report to a Vice President and will play a key leadership role in shaping and expanding the organization’s impact across the city.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide legal and programmatic oversight to the CAPU team, a staff of ten.
• Strategically develop and implement outreach, education, and direct services within underserved communities using innovative access to justice models.
• Work collaboratively with internal and external partners to develop creative, responsive, and community informed programming.
• Develop and implement unit priorities, develop long-term strategies, identify and respond to programmatic issues, create trainings protocols, practice guides, and resource lists for staff and volunteers, and other responsibilities as needed to ensure we can fulfill CAPU's mission.
• Create materials, publications, education sessions, and lead presentations, workshops, and clinics for clients and communities in non-legal language, to break down barriers to accessing information and resources across areas of law relevant to community needs.
• Oversee programmatic implementation of hotlines, centralized intake processes, community programs, and more. Leverage technology and adapt systems to enhance and expand access to services.
• Collaborate with internal programs across NYLAG to connect clients in need of services, share resources, and manage internal referral processes.
• Develop and manage relationships with communities, community-based organizations, legal and human service organizations across NYC, elected officials and staff, volunteers, and pro bono partners.
• Work closely with finance and development teams to manage funding, grants, and budgets.
• Actively partner with NYLAG’s Pro Bono & Volunteer Unit to further develop pro bono opportunities and training to expand access to services for communities.
• Other duties as needed.

Qualifications

• Member in good standing of the New York Bar is required.
• At least eight years’ experience as a practicing attorney in housing, immigration, benefits, and/or family law; with a preference for those who have experience across multiple fields.
• Experience in managing projects and grants and supervising teams.
• Expertise building and managing relationships with community-based organizations, elected officials and staffers, government agencies, and pro bono partners and volunteers.
• Dedication to advancing social, racial, and economic justice through direct service work within communities.
• Commitment to providing client-centered, trauma-informed services, and understanding of vicarious trauma
• Ability to leverage technology for to enhance provision of services and project management.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Highly organized and able to juggle multiple priorities.
• Fluency in a second language is strongly preferred.

In addition, successful candidates will:

• Demonstrate commitment to active mentorship of staff and effective team building.
• Be innovative and adaptable, including efficiently leveraging resources to strengthen our collective capacity to do our work, and confident navigating and support staff in dynamic situations.
• Embrace incorporating perspectives of communities, community-based organizations, and stakeholders in identifying programmatic goals and priorities.
• Demonstrate ability to cultivate and develop inclusive and equitable working relationships with staff, clients, and community members.

NYLAG’s Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

NYLAG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, veterans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and those with lived experiences in the communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply.

Employment type

Full Time

Professional Level:

Managerial

Salary Range:

The current salary range for this position is between $133,000-145,000 (commensurate with experience).

Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k, life insurance, long term disability, commuter benefits, flexible spending accounts (FSA) for Medical and Dependent care.

Application Instructions: Please save resume and cover letter in one pdf.

Covid Vaccination Policy: Please note, to safeguard the health and well-being of our employees and clients, NYLAG requires all employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, unless a medical or religious exemption is approved.

NYLAG is committed to a hybrid work policy for staff whose work does not require their full-time presence in the office. NYLAG’s current policy is that most staff are required to work in NYLAG’s offices or do other in-person work at least two days each week. This policy is subject to change.