Associate Director Detention Project, NIJC

Company: National Immigrant Justice Center
Location: Chicago
Posted on: June 1, 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 of Legal Services (Detention) will be part of NIJC's management team and will be responsible for the design, evaluation, and overall supervision and management of NIJC's provision of legal services to adult immigrants in detention. The Associate Director will report to NIJC's Legal Director and lead a team providing legal services to detained immigrants. These services include direct representation of detained immigrants in removal defense proceedings; appellate work before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the federal Circuit Courts of Appeal; and empowering immigrants to advocate for themselves through legal orientation and Know Your Rights presentations. As a member of NIJC's management team, the Associate Director will also participate in NIJC-wide strategic planning and collaborate with other NIJC teams to help formulate strategies to reduce or eliminate detention and encourage the management of migration through civil, not criminal, processes. The Associate Director will contribute to strengthening NIJC's pro bono network, particularly as it applies to NIJC's detained clients. The Associate Director will also help identify funding sources; meet with and present to potential funders; review grant proposals; and track, maintain, and report on current grants. Finally, the Associate Director will lead NIJC's Midwest Immigrant Defenders Alliance (MIDA) project, a collaborative project with multiple partner organizations that provides universal representation for detained immigrants in the Midwest.Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develops NIJC's detention team to be the national leader in providing universal representation to detained immigrants
• Ensures the delivery of high-quality legal services in the most effective and efficient manner
• Identifies emerging issues (actual and anticipated, internal and external) and develops prompt and proactive responses to those issues
• Manages the detention team in Chicago and possibly in other offices to identify trends and develop systems to manage those trends
• Supervises lawyers and paralegals providing legal representation
• Maintains a small caseload, provides limited legal representation to individuals in immigration matters
• Develops professional development plans for detention team members
• Manages the detention team including interviewing, hiring and training new employees; planning, assigning and directing work; appraising employee performance; addressing complaints and resolving problems for employees and program participants
• Participates in NIJC-wide strategic planning and budget development
• Collaborates with NIJC's Development team to identify new funding sources, engage funders, and develop grant proposals and reports
• Leads the MIDA project, including collaborating with partner organizations, representing NIJC in the MIDA Steering Committee, and overseeing the provision of capacity building and training to MIDA legal staff at NIJC and partner organizations
• Works with program staff and NIJC's information systems team to ensure ongoing compliance and that data and database functions meet grant writing and reporting needs
• Assumes responsibility for statistical data reports and analyses for NIJC projects
• Develops relationships with legal service providers, immigrant services providers, and advocacy organizations and represents NIJC with these organizations
• Other duties as assigned.Supervisory Responsibilities:
  • Oversee the onboarding of Detention 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 in Detention 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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