ABOUT EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS

Equal Justice Works is the nation’s largest facilitator of opportunities in public interest law. We achieve this through creating Fellowship programs for lawyers and community organizers, hosting the largest national public interest law career fair, advocating for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and supporting law students pursuing public interest law careers.

We bring together an extensive community of law schools, law students, lawyers, community organizers, legal services organizations, and supporters to promote a lifelong commitment to public service and equal justice. Following their Fellowships, more than 85% of our Fellows remain in public service positions, continuing to pursue equal justice for under-resourced communities across the country.
 

POSITION OVERVIEW
 

The Senior Program Manager leads the programmatic and administrative oversight of one or more post-graduate legal Fellowship programs that place groups of lawyers and law students at nonprofit legal services agencies (host organizations) to provide civil legal services focused around a particular issue area or community. In this position, the Senior Program Manager holds a portfolio with primary responsibility for two current programs, the Crime Victims Advocacy Program and the Opioids Crisis Response Program, and other initiatives as assigned.

The Crime Victims Advocacy Program is a multi-million-dollar national fellowship program funded by the Department of Justice, focused on providing client-centered legal assistance and enforcing crime victims’ rights for survivors in underserved BIPOC communities. Our newest program, the Opioids Crisis Response Program focuses on the legal needs of individuals and communities impacted by the opioid epidemic.

This position offers a challenging and fulfilling opportunity for a professional experienced in federal grant and program management who possesses a passion for public interest law. The Senior Program Manager plays an important internal and public-facing role with key stakeholders.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Leadership and Technical Expertise

• Build upon and refine the strategic vision and goals for the established and new programs, and related initiatives to ensure continued growth, effectiveness, and alignment with organizational vision and objectives.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with external stakeholders to enhance program development, fundraising, and effective implementation.
• Lead efforts to expand program outreach and impact through innovation and strategic partnerships, representing Equal Justice Works externally in meetings and conferences to advance program profile, growth, and innovation.

Program Management and Compliance

• Lead day-to-day program operations for programs, throughout the grant lifecycle to ensure successful start-up, coordination, implementation, delivery of program activities and reporting.  
• Manage relationships with subrecipient host organizations, Fellows, training and technical assistance (TTA) providers, other program stakeholders, and program donors.
• In partnership with Director of Finance and Program Manager, plan and carry out subrecipient monitoring, including host organization and Fellow calls, desk reviews of programmatic and financial documentation, and host site visits.
• Monitor program budgets to ensure alignment with financial goals and compliance with federal and private donor requirements. Coordinate financial progress reporting in collaboration with the Finance Team.
• Review and analyze program outcomes data to assess impact and effectiveness of programs. Prepare comprehensive grant report narratives for federal and private donors, ensuring accurate and timely submission.
• Maintain practice knowledge of all applicable regulations, grant terms and conditions, policies, and procedures to support organizational and subrecipient compliance, particularly for DOJ-funded initiatives.
• Maintain regular communications with donors, Senior Staff, the Institutional Advancement Unit, and other key program stakeholders.

Training and Technical Assistance

• Develop and oversee the delivery of ongoing training and technical assistance to host organizations and Fellows through webinars and individualized assistance.
• Shape workplans for program consultants and contractors, such as subject matter experts, evaluators and substantive training and technical assistance providers as assigned.

New Business Development and Fundraising

• Cultivate and strengthen strategic external relationships to advance programmatic and fundraising objectives. Represent programs at external conferences and trainings.
• Collaborate with the Institutional Advancement Unit, Finance and Senior Staff supports to draft program concept notes, funding proposals and proposal budgets.

Cross Organizational Efforts

• Engage as an expert contributor and leader in achieving cross-cutting organizational goals and initiatives, including annual Leadership Development Training, and organizational working groups and committees.
• Participate in inter-departmental and cross-departmental initiatives to advance unit and organization-wide projects and objectives.
• Work closely with Finance staff, Marketing and Communications Unit, Institutional Advancement Unit and Law School Engagement and Advocacy Unit to ensure integrated and aligned efforts across programs.

 Staff Management

• Directly supervise and mentor Program Manager, providing guidance, professional development opportunities and training, and fostering a collaborative team environment to support both the CVAP and Opioids Crisis Response Program and other initiatives.

 DIRECT REPORTS

• Supervisory responsibilities are included in this position.  

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• JD degree required with at least four years of staff and project management experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Extensive experience working on federally funded programs and requisite regulations, subrecipient grants management, compliance, and reporting
• Direct experience or deep knowledge of the public interest law sector, including understanding of social justice issues and familiarity with nonprofit organizations 
• Familiarity with issues related to crime victims’ rights, the opioid crisis, and/or underserved and BIPOC communities
• Proven experience project managing complex, large-scale initiatives that get results, thinking creatively to resolve anticipated and unanticipated issues, tracking, and managing projects with multiple moving parts 
• Strong leadership, communication, and public speaking skills
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and innovatively to resolve challenges and enhance program impact
• Experience supervising and developing staff
• Commitment to upholding Equal Justice Works’ mission, vision, values, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) principles

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The salary range for the Senior Program Manager, Fellowships position is $79,300 - $98,000, based on experience. EJW offers a comprehensive suite of benefits designed to support your total health and wellbeing, including unlimited PTO (Paid Time Off); additional paid holiday leave the week between Christmas and the New Year; sixteen weeks of paid parental leave for those with EJW for six months or more; excellent medical and dental insurance with Equal Justice Works paying 100% for employee premiums and 75% for dependent premiums; student loan repayment assistance; a $1000 professional development stipend per year; and access to free self-paced training programs. 

LOCATION

Daily activities are conducted in a typical office environment. EJW adheres to a hybrid work model whereby employees who live within a reasonable commuting distance within the Washington, DC metropolitan area must be in person in-office two times per week. 

Regular travel is expected to be up to 20% - 25%.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Visit www.equaljusticeworks.org to upload application materials. Interested applicants should submit a resume and a cover letter that describes their interest in and qualifications for this role.

BACKGROUND AND REFERENCE CHECKS

Finalists for this position will be required to satisfactorily complete a pre-employment background and reference check as a condition of employment.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Equal Justice Works is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. This employee is regularly required to sit, stand, bend, stretch and kneel for extended periods of time; frequently required to talk, hear, and use repetitive hand motions; and should possess the ability to push, pull, and lift to thirty pounds unassisted.

As a condition of this position, which is required to work at the Equal Justice Works office, and as a part of our continued efforts to maintain a safe workplace for employees and visitors, EJW is requiring all employees that work in the EJW office to receive an FDA-authorized and/or approved COVID-19 vaccination.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Equal Justice Works is committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspective, and skills and encourage people of diverse ages, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, disabilities, religions, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, work, and life experiences to apply.