Deputy Director of Operations

This role will be based in our Richmond, Charlottesville, or Falls Church offices.

Salary Note: Salary range is $110,000 to $161,592 based on years of relevant experience and LAJC’s formal salary scale, upward 12% cost-of-living adjustment ($123,200 to $180,983) is available for positions based in Falls Church. To allow for salary growth within the position over time, the anticipated hiring range for this position is between $110,000 - $142,947 ($123,200 - $160,100 12% adjustment for Falls Church). Placement on the range will be based on factors such as years of relevant experience, budget, and internal equity. 

About the Legal Aid Justice Center:

The Legal Aid Justice Center is a nationally recognized, non-profit organization that partners with low-income clients and communities of color in Virginia to fight for racial, social, and economic justice. We understand that the harms our clients endure are inextricably linked to overarching systems of injustice. Together we are dismantling those systems through a combination of community organizing, litigation, policy advocacy, public relations, and individual legal services.  

Founded in 1967, LAJC has offices in Charlottesville, Richmond, Petersburg, and Falls Church and provides services under six key program areas: Civil Rights & Racial Justice (focuses on the criminal legal system), Housing & Consumer Justice, Youth Justice, Health Justice & Public Benefits, Immigrant Justice, and Worker Justice. As examples of LAJC’s recent work, our lawsuit and organizing against the state forced reform of Virginia’s unemployment insurance system, including advocacy that resulted in the distribution of over $1 billion in illegally withheld payments to over 160,000 Virginians. During the pandemic, we demanded and secured a statewide eviction moratorium and emergency pandemic protections that helped hundreds of families avoid eviction. We reduced incarceration across the state, including reducing the population of a local immigration detention center down to historically low levels through a coordinated effort of organizing paired with impact and individual litigation.  Our staff are on the front lines of some of the most important anti-poverty fights happening today.  

With a staff of over 90, the past few years have been a time of exciting growth and opportunity for the organization. In addition to the growth of programmatic efforts including increased organizing capacity, LAJC has expanded its operations and administrative capacity, created new opportunities for professional growth and leadership among staff, engaged in ongoing race equity work, and explored changes to organizational structure to deepen its efforts to create long-term, sustainable, community-driven change. 
    
LAJC’s latest strategic plan is available at https://www.justice4all.org/lajc-strategic-plan-2022-2026/#area d.
   

For more information about LAJC’s work and programs, visit www.justice4all.org.

About the Position:

You are responsible for overseeing the strategic and day-to-day operations that support the growth and financial health of the organization. You will manage the strategic director of all operational activities including finance, technology, operation (facilities, equipment), and human resources. You will design, build, and oversee systems to provide an infrastructure and support to our advocates as they advance an ambitious community-driven agenda in pursuit of racial, economic, and social justice. You will also work closely with Executive and Leadership team members to lead the organization's efforts to develop a well-defined organizational culture that reflects our commitment to racial justice and is welcoming, energizing, and empowering to employees of all identities, communities, and experiences. As a thought partner to the Executive Director and member of the LAJC's Executive Team, you will help steer the organization and support it in fulfilling its mission as it grows in complexity, impact, and reach. 

Job Duties:

• Operational Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Capacity Building:
  • As a growing organization this position will work to ensure that our infrastructure, systems, internal culture, and policies reflect our values while also managing our complexity.
  • Track and map complex projects and program areas to offer strategic analysis to help the team identify points of interconnectedness and co-create supporting practices and processes.
  • Design, implement, oversee, and reinforce operations systems within the organization.
  • Advise the Executive Director in effectively leading and supporting the organization through a period of growth and settling into associated changes.
  • Work closely with the Co-Deputies of Advocacy to ensure seamless communication and connection between operations and advocacy, including administration.
  • Design an effective internal communications system that encourages feedback.
  • Oversee and approve major systems changes, such as technology upgrades and facilities projects.
  • Help lead proposed expansion to new service areas, such as Hampton Roads

• Management, Supervision, and Mentorship:
  • Provide direct supervision and mentorship across lines of identity and difference, and in accordance with LAJC’s policies and procedures, to operational leadership (including but not limited to directors of finance, technology, facilities, human resources, people operations), and be accountable for success of the work in these areas.
  • Work closely with the Director of Finance and Executive Director to ensure compliance with internal controls and provide strategic analysis of financial results and their impact on operations and organizational health.
  • Work closely with department heads and program directors to ensure all policies, contracts, and other agreements are created and executed consistently with our mission
  • Collaborate regularly with advocacy leadership to evaluate operational support and consider how each department supports the programmatic efforts of our programs to become a more powerful force for accomplishing justice.
  • Ensure that senior staff prioritize the use of management protocols and tools, such as MOCHA, SMARTIE Goals, managing up, one-on-one check-ins, timely feedback, etc., and that senior staff aggressively promote professional development of their staff.

• Organizational Leadership:
  • Serve on the Executive Team and advise the Executive Director in effectively leading and supporting the organization through significant change.
  • Maintain and model unwavering commitment to racial equity and anti-racist practices by welcoming and inviting the examination of tensions and utilizing an equity lens to assure commitment and application of LAJC’s values with internal staff, external partnerships, and the communities we serve.
  • In partnership with the Leadership Team and all managers, develop and teach shared values/culture to model for the organization, in partnership with mid-level managers.
  • Be a strategic collaborator and thought partner to the Executive Director, Co-Deputy Director of Advocacy, and Leadership Team overall, including assisting with preparing reports and presentations to the Board of Directors.
  • Approach leadership with a mindset of “power with” rather than “power over” and regularly include others in decision-making.
  • Work closely with the roles and work of LAJC resource groups, such as the Internal Change Team (ICT) and the Organizing and Law Committee (O L) and provide guidance and mentorship to these committees as needed.
  • Serve as a thought leader and an agent for process improvement within the organization and a key member of LAJC’s management and leadership teams.
  • Lead and serve on LAJC committees or ad hoc work groups as needed.
  • Contribute to design, maintenance and implementation of internal communications and change managements procedures.

• Communications and Fundraising: Work with Executive Director and Development and Communications Teams as needed to brainstorm and develop relevant grant proposals, build strong relationships with LAJC donors, and assist with internal and external communications.

• Racial Equity: Promote racial equity across all dimensions, including within LAJC, by doing the following:
  • Helping to incorporate anti-oppression concepts and equitable frameworks across all spheres of the organization’s work;
  • Helping to recruit, retain, and support both staff and leadership that reflect the racial composition of our community;
  • Cultivating respect for the work of and expanding resources for non-attorney staff that are disproportionately people of color;
  • Creating spaces for staff to discuss issues of racial, gender, and all other issues of marginalization; and
  • Pushing for institutional and cultural changes by management, the board, and staff to further promote racial equity.

Salary : $110,000 - $161,592