CAPACITY BUILDING ASSOCIATE

Partners for Justice (PFJ) was founded to transform public defense locally and across the United States, diminishing the effect of race and wealth on legal outcomes. This means ensuring that public defenders are equipped to assist clients with the underlying drivers of legal system involvement, to secure better legal outcomes both inside and outside the courtroom, and to help more clients emerge from prosecution with their rights, life, and future protected. Since our launch in 2018, PFJ has grown rapidly and we now support 18 public defender agencies across the country through embedded collaborative defense teams and capacity-building support.

PFJ is seeking a Capacity Building Associate to support our transformative technical assistance and training work with public defender offices and state agencies throughout the country. Through this technical assistance, PFJ is able to leverage its Collaborative Defense model, a flexible and adaptable approach to public defense designed to meet public defenders where they are, to support partners in their implementation of client-led, holistic services. The Capacity Building Associate will report to Vichal Kumar, PFJ’s Capacity Building Director.

Responsibilities

• Support Capacity Building Projects: Work directly with our Capacity Building team to provide technical assistance, training and support to public defender offices and state agencies including meeting with partners, attending site visits and interviewing staff and clients.
• Prepare Proposals and Reports: Provide customized proposals to prospective partners, draft regular reports on progress of technical assistance for funders and public defender leadership and prepare presentations for leadership and external stakeholders.
• Resource Creation: Spearhead the creation of PFJ’s Collaborative Defense toolkit, an external resource bank designed for public defenders and other stakeholders to learn more about the CD model and utilize resources to implement collaborative practice.
• Knowledge Management: Ensure relevant learnings from capacity-building projects are captured and disseminated to the PFJ national team, including our Client Advocate program. Organize and disseminate relevant resources developed from capacity-building projects.
• Partnership Development: Working with PFJ’s National Team, identify and cultivate opportunities to share PFJ’s expertise with external audiences, including developing a calendar of presentation opportunities, communicating with partners, and maintaining PFJ training proposals.
• Impact Measurement: Partner with PFJ’s Impact Measurement Director to develop and refine internal approaches and tools to measure the impact of our capacity building work and identify opportunities to improve the delivery of our technical assistance.

Desired qualifications

People who share lived experiences with our clients are encouraged to apply for current openings, given the insight such experience brings into the systems in which we operate.

Desired skills or experience:

• Commitment to PFJ’s mission and to our vision of collaborative, client-centered representation for low-income people involved in the criminal legal system
• Dedication to serving racially or socioeconomically marginalized communities
• B.A. in a relevant field and minimum of two years of relevant full-time work experience. A relevant advanced degree may substitute for up to two years of work experience
• Outstanding writing skills are required; past experience drafting proposals, grant reports, research reports or other long-form professional reports is preferred
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Prior experience working within a public defender’s office or legal aid provider is a strong plus. Prior experience in providing technical assistance or management consulting is also a bonus
• While we primarily work remotely, occasional travel is required and candidates should expect to travel to partner offices throughout the United States
• Ability to work productively in a remote environment with distributed teams and/or experience working in a start-up environment

Compensation and other benefits

This is a full-time, salaried position with a salary range from $55,000 - $70,000, commensurate with skills and experience. PFJ’s benefits package includes employer-paid medical and dental coverage, a 401k program, and reimbursement for Bar or other professional dues among other programs. PFJ employees work remotely with the benefit of flexible hours. We also encourage our team to rest and take care of themselves, which we support with unlimited sick leave and vacation, as well as 12 office holidays and a year-end rest period. Twice per year, PFJ staff are asked to travel for our national conference and a team-building retreat.

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy & Fair Chance Hiring

PFJ provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. Furthermore, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the fair chance ordinances of the jurisdictions we work within, including but not limited to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act.

To apply:

Please send a cover letter, resume, and two references to hiring@partnersforjustice.org with “Capacity Building Associate” in the subject line. Be advised that if you do not include this subject line, we may not receive your application.