Policy and Legal Director

Position Summary

The New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice seeks a highly talented and motivated Policy and Legal Director to lead and build out a growing team in New Orleans with an intersectional legal practice. The Policy and Legal Director 1) Delivers strategic policy and legal tools including litigation, analysis, draft policy etc. to campaigns and programs that advance the NOWCRJ members’ collective goals, 2) provides support and accountability to attorneys 3) represent clients in complex cases that are strategic to the collective goals of NOWCRJ. The Policy and Legal Director will report to the Executive Director of the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice and will work collaboratively with staff and members across the organizations.

About the Organization:

The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice is a multi-racial membership based organization dedicated to building the power and participation of poor people in order to expand democracy and transform the economy. We organize directly affected people, and couple their courage with strategic legal, policy, and communications work to build campaigns that advance racial justice, immigrant rights, and a fair economy. Our members are black and immigrant workers and families in New Orleans and rural Louisiana. The Workers’ Center anchors three grassroots membership organizations: the Congress of Day Laborers, Stand With Dignity, and the Seafood Workers Alliance, as well as the strategic legal and policy department that innovates law and policy strategies that build grassroots power. Over the last more then ten years, the Center’s organizing and policy victories have been highlighted in the New York Times, Time Magazine, and Newsweek. For more information go to www.nowcrj.org.

This position is based in New Orleans.

NOWCRJ’s Policy and Legal Department provides strategic policy and legal support to NOWCRJ’s membership in their efforts to build power. The department also protects members’ rights to organize and defends the NOWCRJ from legal attack. Our current work includes grassroots policy development to curtail criminalization, local policy work on wages, strategic immigration and detention work, administrative advocacy, and campaign support. Practice areas include workers’ rights, civil rights, criminal justice, immigration, and benefits.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Deliver strategic legal and policy work to campaigns and programs that builds member power.
  • Work with organizers to develop and provide legal strategies and tools that advance collective goals of the membership. 
  • Supervise Senior Staff Attorney to build NOWCRJ’s docket, in alignment with the organization’s strategic direction
  • Lead the development and execution of strategic litigation and policy including crafting ordnances, making interventions on State and Federal legislation and more in coordination with the organizing department
  • Represent clients, especially for particularly complex cases
  • Participating in strategy discussions, power mapping, action planning and support members in executing campaign fights
  • In coordination with the Executive Director and Organizing Director manage legal department work and assure it is aligned with the organizational priorities
  • In coordination with the Executive Director, Senior Staff Attorney and other staff build out the department

• Lead the Department Team
  • Provide support and accountability and development opportunities to the Senior Staff Attorney and assure that she is doing the same for any staff or fellows she supervises
  • Ensure that the whole team has ambitious goals and work plans in place to meet them
  • Build innovative, disciplined, positive culture within the legal department
  • Coordinate planning process across the department and organization to keep work plans up to date

• General Counsel to NOWCRJ
  • Provide legal analysis and opinions on law and policy issues relevant to NOWCRJ and its programs and activities
  • Provide legal analysis, risk assessment and review/advice on key communications including press releases, reports etc., and public actions
  • Obtain and oversee the work of outside counsel when needed.

• Support NOWCRJ Team
  • Actively participate in and support the overall work of NOWCRJ including organization wide, events and campaigns
  • Support specific organizing campaigns of other programs in the organization as appropriate
  • Support the Executive Director in identifying, building, and maintaining the NOWCRJ’s resources

Other duties as needed

This is not a 9 to 5 job—long and varied hours, with early morning, evening, weekend work is required.

Salary Range: Competitive, commensurate with experience

Key qualifications:

• Deep dedication to the leadership of directly affected people. Commitment to legal practice that empowers collective vision and action by low- income workers and communities of color.
• Desire and ability to integrate legal practice into an organizing model.
• Minimum 5 years demonstrated experience in labor, employment immigration, and/or civil rights law showing excellent skills and outcomes and innovative strategies.  
• Management or supervision experience including legal supervision, case development, and project management.
• Juris Doctor and active bar admission and/or willingness to take the Louisiana Bar Exam. 

• Ability to implement vision, think strategically, creatively problem solve, exercise good judgment, and lead change. 

• Excellent written and oral communication skills. 

• Bilingual (Spanish/ English), bicultural experience a plus 


This is not a 9 to 5 job—long and varied hours, with early morning, evening, weekend work is required.

NOWCRJ is an equal opportunity employer.  Women, people of color and LGBTQ individuals strongly encouraged to apply.

Applications will only be accepted electronically.  Please email a cover letter and resume to careers@nowcrj.org and mention this job title in the subject line of your email.   Please include a daytime phone number where we can contact you.  Application process will be open until position is filled.