Center Director- Immigration Legal Services

Job Description

Job Description

We are seeking a high-impact, experienced leader for the role of Center Director of Immigration Legal Services. This executive position is centrally responsible for the comprehensive program management of our legal services, encompassing strategic program development, rigorous contract and regulatory compliance (including DOJ Recognition and Accreditation), meticulous grant reporting and budgeting, and direct supervision of professional staff. The Director will serve as a key advocate, driving community relations, outreach, and collaborative efforts to expand services and champion immigrant rights.

Key Responsibilities & Duties

The Center Director will drive the program's success across four critical pillars:

I. Program Compliance and Financial Stewardship

• Regulatory Compliance: Ensures all program goals are achieved, strictly adhering to DOJ Recognition and Accreditation requirements, as well as complex mandates from various contracts, grants, and funding sources.

• Fiscal Management: Prepares and rigorously oversees departmental budgets, monitors financial reports, and guarantees the timely submission of all required financial reports to the Finance department.

• Data Integrity: Compiles essential program data and prepares all necessary internal and external reports with accuracy and regularity.

II. Team Leadership and Development

• Direct Supervision: Provides comprehensive direct supervision to staff, interns, and volunteers, including focused training, professional development, performance monitoring, and evaluation.

• Internal Support: Acts as an internal resource for agency staff, providing crucial updates on immigration policies and changes to legal practices (CCASFNM staff).

• Policy Implementation: Implements and consistently enforces departmental and agency-wide policies and procedures.

III. Community Engagement and Advocacy

• Strategic Collaboration: Supports collaborations to establish and sustain comprehensive services. This includes attending regular stakeholder meetings, managing internal and external referral processes, and working with both non-profit and private legal service providers to expand capacity and address service-gaps.

• Outreach & Public Relations: Coordinates and executes robust outreach and PR activities, including attending community events, providing internal event support, and collaborating with the Development Team to promote internal work and external partnership successes.

• Immigrant Rights Advocacy: Actively supports and engages in immigrant rights advocacy efforts through outreach, public relations activities, and strategic community collaborations, including supporting public outreach events and press conferences.

• External Relations: Attends external partner meetings and collaborations regularly to build and maintain strong relationships.

IV. Mission Integration

• Core Values: Consistently incorporates and demonstrates the mission, vision, work, and core values of Catholic Charities in a positive manner with staff, clients, community members, and the general public at all times, adhering to the CCUSA Code of Ethics.

Qualifications Required:

• Bachelor's degree in relevant field or a satisfactory equivalent combination of education and experience
• Minimum 3 years of supervisory experience (Required)
• Minimum 2 years of experience in grant management and budget preparation (Required)
• Minimum 2 years of direct experience in a non-profit agency (Required)
• Must have the ability to become DOJ accredited representative within 12 months of hire
• Previous experience or formal training in immigration law; continous training must be maintained

Required Competencies:

• Proven ability to provide effective direct supervision and staff development within a professional setting.
• Expertise in grant reporting, contract compliance, and budget oversight, with demonstrated accuracy in financial reporting.
• Experience in DOJ Recognition and Accreditation compliance is highly desirable.
• Strong skills in grant proposal research and writing (in collaboration with a Development team).
• Exceptional capacity for complex community collaboration, public relations, and advocacy within the immigrant rights sphere.
• Commitment to cultural competence when interacting with both agency staff and the diverse service population.