Associate Director of Protection Based Relief, NIJC

Company: National Immigrant Justice Center
Location: Oak Park
Posted on: June 2, 2025

Job Description:

About NIJCThe National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) advances human rights and due process for immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers through direct legal services, impact litigation, advocacy, and public education. Headquartered in Chicago with offices in Washington, DC, Indiana, and San Diego, NIJC's team of 100 attorneys, paralegals, and professionals, along with 2,000 pro bono attorneys, is at the forefront of immigration reform.Job Summary:The Associate Director is part of NIJC's management team and is responsible for the overall direction, coordination and evaluation of all NIJC's legal services programs. The Associate Director will be responsible for oversight of the daily tasks associated with the provision of primary programmatic and administrative support to NIJC's immigrant legal defense project. The Associate Director will maintain a caseload and supervise NIJC's legal services team. The Associate Director will identify new and creative ways to respond to internal and external needs in the delivery of legal services, including ways to use new technology. This position will also participate in strategic planning and identification of new funding opportunities, reviewing grant proposals, tracking, maintaining and reporting on current grants, and providing programmatic and budgetary support for projects. Frequent communication with legal team, funders, government officials, immigrant and advocacy organizations will be required. Some travel may be required. The Associate Director participates in developing legal priorities across projects. The Associate Director works closely with various project staff in collaboration with the Director of NIJC. Individual accountabilities and work volume will be established through the development of annual Success Objectives, within the framework outlined below.Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Ensures the delivery of quality legal services in the most effective and efficient manner to the greatest number of individuals
• Provides legal representation to individuals in immigration matters
• Identifies emerging issues (external and internal) and develops a response to those issues
• Develops professional development plan for NIJC legal service staff
• Performs supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws
• Participates in strategic planning and budget development
• Manages administrative staff and provides support to supervisors managing projects
• Interviews, hires and trains employees; plans, assigns and directs work, appraises performance; addresses complaints and resolves problems for employees and program participants and implements and ensures that all licensing and agency standards are met
• Assists in the identification of new funding sources and grant proposals and reports
• Ensures ongoing compliance with grant requirements and works with program staff to meet grant goals in a timely manner
• Assumes responsibility for statistical data reports and analyses for NIJC projects.
• Works with program staff and management information system team, to ensure that program data input and database functions are targeted to meet grant writing and reporting needs.
• Develops relationships with legal service providers, immigrant service providers, and advocacy organizations throughout the Midwest and represents NIJC to these agencies.Supervisory Responsibilities:
  • Oversee the onboarding of the Asylum and LGBTQ staff to ensure quality
  • Creates benchmarks and KPI's (key performance indicators) for staff in conjunction with the legal supervisors/managers
  • Builds a positive culture that allows for the introduction of new processes or services and the winding down of services that are no longer responsive to the needs of the community and/or NIJC priorities.
  • Provides direct supervision to an internal team. Supports supervisors, staff, interns and volunteers as assigned
  • Delegates work and assignments to team members based on expertise, work experience, and time constraints.
  • Provides mentorship to team members applying for accreditation
  • Holds team members responsible for accurate reporting and analyzing client data and other metrics
  • Advances an anti-racist organization that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion
    Qualifications:To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
    • Education and/or Experience: A Juris Doctor and a minimum of five years of immigration law experience and two years of supervisory experience. Experience working in the non-profit field preferred.
    • Language Skills: Bi-lingual (Spanish/English). Ability to read, write, analyze and interpret immigration law, professional journals, and governmental regulations.Ability to draft and edit legal briefs, reports, correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from funders, managers, clients, media, and the public.
    • Mathematical Skills: Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios and proportions to practical situations.
    • Reasoning Ability:Ability to solve practical problems and deal with multiple variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram or schedule form.Physical Abilities StatementThe work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
      • Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time.
      • The person in this position occasionally needs to move about the inside of the office to access filing cabinets, office machinery, etc.
      • Constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a copy machine.It is the policy of NIJC not to discriminate against any applicant for employment, or any employee because of age, color, sex, disability, national origin, race, religion, or veteran status.By submitting your application, you acknowledge and consent to undergo a comprehensive background check as part of the employment process. This background check will be conducted in compliance with applicable state and federal laws.
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Keywords: National Immigrant Justice Center, South Bend , Associate Director of Protection Based Relief, NIJC, Executive , Oak Park, Indiana