Co-Executive Director, Legal Services
About the role
Communities Rise’s mission is to foster movements to build power in communities impacted by systemic oppression. We do this by helping small businesses, nonprofits, and community-based organizations to grow, thrive, and build lasting economic power. While Communities Rise serves all eligible small businesses and nonprofits in Washington State, we prioritize organizations that are led by or owned by people of color.
Responsibilities
Strategy: Develop organization-wide strategy, including strategic planning, identifying new program opportunities, cross-department collaboration, and regular communication with the Board of Directors.
Finance: Lead the development of the annual budget, ensure grant funds are appropriately expended, serve as authorized signer on organizational accounts, and maintain the long-term financial sustainability of the organization.
Fundraising: Partner with the Development Director on annual fundraising, including developing strategy, planning annual fundraising event(s), grant proposals and reporting, meeting with funders, and donor stewardship.
Organizational Wellness/Human Resources: Manage human resources, including hiring, and develop policies and practices that support staff and organizational wellness.
Department Administration: Lead the planning and execution of: Legal Team staffing strategy, hiring, onboarding, and team stewardship; Collaborative cross-departmental programmatic planning; Analyze internal and external data to incorporate emerging community needs into operationalized programs, for the purpose of assessing responsiveness, effectiveness, and equity in programs and to administer changes as needed; Build and grow relationships with community consultants, partners, and volunteers that support legal services programs; Collaboratively identify and internally operationalize special initiatives to advance our legal services strategy; Meet internal and external reporting deadlines and internal requests.
Client Outreach Strategies: Support in the planning, execution, and evaluation of: Legal training offerings and other legal education initiatives; Ensuring the timely completion of contract deliverables for related funders and occasionally directly contributing to the development and delivery of our educational content; Legal services, including our legal clinic program, extended legal services, and other legal offerings; Ensuring timely completion of contract deliverables for related funders and occasionally representing clients when needed; Technical assistance offerings in partnership with the Development Director or external providers; Help plan and implement communications, marketing, and outreach strategies related to legal services programs, including development of client testimonials.
Staff Supervision: Supervise a legal program lead position and the Volunteer Engagement Manager. Hold regular supervisory meetings to support their respective work, including professional development, work planning, problem solving, assessing workload, and dividing new work among staff as necessary. Review and approve timesheets for payroll, including approving PTO requests and managing coverage of duties during leave.
Qualifications
The ideal candidate will have:
A Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
At least 5 years of experience practicing law, preferably in civil rights, public interest, or nonprofit law.
Experience managing a legal team, including hiring, onboarding, and team stewardship.
Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively communicate with diverse stakeholders.
Experience with grant writing and fundraising.
Experience with cross-departmental collaboration and strategic planning.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Experience with legal education initiatives and client outreach.
Experience with staff supervision and performance management.
Skills
Strong legal skills and knowledge of civil rights, public interest, or nonprofit law.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Experience with grant writing and fundraising.
Experience with cross-departmental collaboration and strategic planning.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Experience with legal education initiatives and client outreach.
Experience with staff supervision and performance management.
Benefits
Paid medical, vision, and dental insurance; 13 paid holidays plus week-long office closures in July and December; 12 vacation days and 12 Sick and Safe Time days in the first year; 100% of Paid Family and Medical Leave premiums paid by employer, 401K retirement plan and access to free personalized retirement planning advisors; monthly stipends for remote work and personal phone expenses; and paid professional development expenses.
Pay
$107,060
Schedule
Exempt, Full-time (Monday-Friday, 40 hours/week)
Contact
To learn more about Communities Rise, and to learn how to submit an application for this role, please see the full job posting here: Co-Executive Director, Legal Services Job Description.