Background:

Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, a department of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc., is a non-profit law firm which provides community education and legal representation to Southern California’s most vulnerable immigrant communities. Esperanza provides legal representation to immigrants who are in detention and/or removal proceedings, and focuses on particularly complex immigration cases which may involve unaccompanied minors, mental health issues, and cases with past criminal or gang history. Esperanza also provides community education programming to adults in the custody of ICE, children in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and to local sponsors who are considering becoming custodians for unaccompanied children in removal proceedings. Esperanza has provided legal services to immigrants and their families in Los Angeles for over 15 years. More information can be found about Esperanza atwww.esperanza-la.org

Responsibilities:

Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc., seeks to hire a Program Director to run Esperanza. The Program Director will report directly to CCLA’s Chief Administrative Officer. The Program Director will be responsible for oversight of the entire department, including contract management, implementation, compliance, and reporting, personnel issues, budgeting, fundraising, communications, and working with Esperanza’s Advisory Board. In addition, the Program Director is responsible for providing vision for the department, ensuring its fiscal sustainability, and advocating with CCLA for resources and other policies that would benefit Esperanza. The Program Director will be in charge of a department of 57 employees, 10+ contracts and grants, and a budget of approximately $4 million.

The Program Director should be extremely passionate about Esperanza’s work, have a demonstrated commitment to immigrant rights – particularly for those in detention, those with criminal convictions, and children – and have a desire to work with a fairly new Board, increase individual giving, and develop a comprehensive communications strategy. Finally, the Program Director should be willing to implement a new grant that provides for completing several joint trainings with the Advisory Board and going through a strategic planning process. While an exciting opportunity, candidates should expect to regularly work beyond 40 hours/week and be willing to work outside normal business hours to promote Esperanza and its work.

Qualifications:

J.D. required;

Experience supervising a large staff, preferably with several layers of management;

Experience working with funders and ensuring compliance with contracts;

Experience either sitting on a Board or working with a Board;

Experience fundraising, particularly with individual donors;

At least 5 years’ experience working with immigrant communities, especially those who are detained, those with criminal conviction, and children;

Knowledge of the following national programs: LOP, NQRP, ORR-DUCS, and LOPC;

Experience representing immigrants in removal proceedings;

Knowledge of California state-court proceedings such as Probate, Family, Delinquency, and Dependency courts;

Good organization skills, a must;

Ability to be flexible and respond to multiple demands;

Willingness and enthusiasm to work with individual donors and Advisory Board a must;

Passion for immigrant rights and social justice required.

Location:

Our office is located at 1530 James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90015. The position is based at Esperanza’s Los Angeles offices but may require some occasional travel to the Adelanto Detention Center (90 miles from LA), immigration shelters for unaccompanied minors (30 miles from LA), and state juvenile courts in Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino Counties (30-60 miles from LA). Mileage is reimbursed.

Hours: 40 hours/week, but willingness to work beyond 40 hours/week is required and expected on a regular basis.

Salary: $72,000 – $96,000

Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc., is an equal-opportunity employer.

How to apply

Email resume, cover letter, and at least 2 references to (1) Catholic Charities of Los Angeles Human Resources Department; P.O. Box 15095, Los Angeles, CA 90015, fax to (213) 251-3402,hrjobs@ccharities.org

EEO

No phone calls please.