Legal Services Director

IRC BACKGROUND:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933, the IRC is at work today in more than 40 countries and in 26 U.S. cities. The IRC’s Resettlement, Asylum and Integration (RAI) department creates opportunities for refugees and other vulnerable migrants to survive and thrive in the US. RAI serves over 50,000 individuals each year in the US through a diverse portfolio of programs aimed at achieving outcomes in five impact areas: Health, Safety, Economic Wellbeing, Education, and Power.

JOB OVERVIEW:

IRC seeks a Legal Services Director to provide vision, strategy, and leadership to immigration legal services programs across IRC’s four Northern California offices in Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, and Turlock. IRC NorCal has provided legal services to immigrants seeking naturalization, adjustment of status, family reunification, and assistance with other affirmative applications before US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) for decades. Over the past two years, IRC NorCal has developed a removal defense program in Turlock through the California Immigrant Justice Fellowship program and an affirmative asylum practice to serve the nearly 5,000 Afghans IRC assisted with resetting in the region, and is developing additional asylum and removal defense programs to meet unmet needs in the region.

The Legal Program Director will ensure the delivery of high-quality and impactful immigration legal services programs through direct supervision of program managers and leads. The Legal Services Director will bring vision and creativity to ensure legal services programs expand in a sustainable manner. The position will be a part of the senior management team in IRC NorCal and work in close collaboration with leaders and managers of other program areas, as well as with development and finance managers.  The Legal Services Director will communicate regularly with a wide range of community partners and stakeholders as well as the Legal Services Technical Unit (TU) at IRC’s headquarters.

This role requires thoughtful management and leadership, legal strategy, resource acquisition and development, advocacy, supervision, and the promotion of an inclusive and equitable professional working environment.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Program/Staff Management

• Oversee immigration legal services programs across four offices in a manner that supports exchange of ideas, encourages collaboration, and fosters professional development
• Develop clear roles, expectations, divisions of labor, and measurements of success, and ensure that caseloads and other duties of legal staff are equitable and reasonable
• Together with managing attorneys and program managers, ensure adherence to program procedures and implement best practices, including those outlined in IRC’s Immigration Legal Services Program Policy Manual, to maintain and improve the quality and efficiency of legal service delivery
• Provide supervision to managing attorneys, program leads, and program managers
• Build and disseminate knowledge and analysis to NorCal legal services staff, IRC colleagues, and the wider community about local and national immigration issues and trends that impact IRC clients
• Although the Legal Services Director will not carry an individual client case load, they should be ready and able to enter representation/co-counsel on client cases in the event of staff annual leave, staff transitions, complex cases that could impact the immigrant community, and other unforeseen circumstances
• Ability to advise on complex client cases involving criminal history, immigration law violations, current or previous removal proceedings, appeals, etc
• Assume responsibility and risk for outcomes of program’s client cases
• Work with managers to ensure program data is collected consistently, managed appropriately and reported timely, using IRC’s legal case management database and other relevant case management systems
• Coordinate with other IRC teams, including the Safety & Wellness Program, to develop multidisciplinary approaches and strategies to address client needs
• Work closely with the HQ Legal Services Technical Unit and leadership at other IRC US offices to foster knowledge sharing and ensure a consistent approach and strategy to immigration legal services and asylum programming

Program Strategy

• Develop sustainable program expansion plans with input from a wide range of internal stakeholders; incorporate client and community feedback wherever possible
• Manage public and private grants, including timely reporting, monitoring outcomes, and evaluation of program effectiveness
• Work with IRC NorCal leadership and IRC HQ on fundraising efforts
• Locate new funding sources and maintain relationships with current funders
• Work closely with IRC NorCal leadership and finance team on continually assessing deliverables and expenditures to make strategic decisions on programming, hiring needs, and staff responsibilities

Advocacy & Community Partnerships

• Represent IRC NorCal with external parties, including partners, public and elected officials, and community leaders
• Spearhead engagement in community and regional immigrant rights and legal services spaces; ensure IRC NorCal incorporates community feedback in strategic plans
• Coordinate with IRC’s communications and advocacy teams to publicly elevate client stories and trends which highlight issues endemic in the US immigration system
• Stay informed on current and national immigrant rights and immigration priorities through networking and maintaining relationships with key local and national organizations and network

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

Position Reports to: Executive Director, IRC NorCal

Position Directly Supervises:  a growing team of managing attorneys and immigration program managers

Other internal relationships: position is a member of NorCal regional senior management team, liaises with Site Directors of IRC NorCal’s four offices, program managers across disciplines, and works closely with the HQ Legal Services Unit

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

• Law degree (JD or LLM) from an ABA-accredited U.S. institution and admission in good standing to any state bar, or DOJ fully accredited representative with commensurate experience
• An expert in immigration law, immigration policy issues, and legal ethical obligations
• At least 7 years of relevant experience representing or overseeing the representation of clients both defensively before EOIR and on affirmative applications before USCIS (eg, asylum, adjustment of status, naturalization, family petitions)
• At least 5 years’ experience managing legal services programs, including involvement with strategic planning, funds development, and budgeting and grant operations
• Demonstrated leadership skills, including the ability to manage multiple teams across programs with distinct deliverables while prioritizing client-centered and trauma-informed services
• Demonstrated fundraising record
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Demonstrated commitment to representing low-income, disadvantaged clients
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills
• Written and verbal English fluency
• Bilingual in one or more languages of the immigrant community preferred (eg, Arabic, Dari, French, Pashto Spanish)
• Strong computer literacy, research and analysis skills

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The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability.  In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires candidates who are selected for interview to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be considered for this position.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity: IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity.  We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal. 

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

US Benefits: We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits.  In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $120 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.