Administrator - Ithaca, NY

LEGAL ASSISTANCE OF WESTERN NEW YORK, INC.

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT May 2022

ADMINISTRATOR, ITHACA NY

Organization Information and Mission Statement

LawNY® provides free civil legal help to individuals and families struggling with poverty in a nearly 10,000 square mile 14 county area with an urban center in Rochester and rural counties in western New York, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier. We provide services through seven fully staffed offices located in Bath, Elmira, Geneva, Ithaca, Jamestown, Olean and Rochester and we maintain satellite offices in Lakeville and Lyons and a business office in Rochester. Including AmeriCorps paralegals, we presently have approximately 170 staff members, including approximately 85 attorneys.

In 2020, LawNY® closed 4,881 cases benefitting 10,532 people. The breakdown of the cases was as follows: housing (27%), income maintenance (26%), family (22%), health (13%), consumer (3%), employment (3%) and other (6%).

LawNY® has a revenue side budget of over $15.2 million, with approximately 90 contracts with various federal, state, county and city agencies, as well as area United Ways, foundations and private donations.

LawNY® is committed to equitable inclusion across race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, sex, religion, economic circumstances, ethnicity, national origin, and culture. We are increasingly committed to creating a law firm where race equity, diversity and cultural competency are integral components of our work, from client advocacy to internal operations. We are actively seeking applicants whose work incorporates this perspective and whose lived and professional experience contributes to sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe.

Office Description

The Ithaca office has been serving clients in Tompkins and Tioga Counties for over 40 years.  With a staff of 20+, the advocates in the Ithaca office serve individuals with substantive legal issues in the areas of housing, public benefits, unemployment, consumer debt, foreclosure, disability advocacy, elder law, re-entry, family law, and other civil legal areas that impact an individual’s income, health, and housing. Our Ithaca staff includes attorneys, paralegals, and a legal support team who work closely across areas of specialization to bring a holistic approach to addressing legal issues affecting our clients and community.

Position Description

The Administrator is charged with working collaboratively with the Managing Attorney to ensure the day-to-day functioning of the office, including the development of future plans and projects to expand and support the work being done in the service area; assisting with grants management/reporting (with a heavy emphasis on utilizing our internal case management system to communicate data to funders and some narrative reporting); some fiscal functions; onboarding and organizing training for new staff members/AmeriCorps members; working to ensure coverage for various intake and reception tasks; examining and  making office processes more efficient, including using our case management system to improve client services and staff efficiency; playing an active role in regional LawNY workgroups; and other duties to be assigned as the individual develops in the position.

Responsibilities:

These are the most significant responsibilities and primary functions of the position.

• Office Management, including agenda development and facilitation for weekly office management and staff meetings, implementing new and ongoing office procedures, supporting staff in advocacy and outreach activities, and participating in LawNY operations work groups.

• Grants Management and Finance, including the preparation of quarterly invoices and program data reports (including case reports, client demographics, staff time, staff payroll records) for 5-10 local grants, approval of invoices from third party vendors, and collaborating closely with the managing attorney on grant, financial, and staff management projects.

• Case File Maintenance, including management of quarterly case closing process, case review for federal funding compliance, and managing the administrative closing file storage system.

• Coordinate Reception and Intake, including supervision of the receptionist; coordinating reception coverage when the receptionist is absent, and maintaining a reception and intake resource guide for receptionists and paralegals.

• Hiring and Onboarding, including coordinating candidate interview schedules, organizing and delivering training for new staff members/AmeriCorps members, organizing equipment and technology set up for new hires, including back end set up (email, logins, phone systems) and physical phones, computers, and desks.

• Office Space and Equipment, including monitoring the physical structure of the office/offices and office equipment, contracting supplies and repair personnel as needed, conducting inventory, maintaining inventory, procuring office supplies, and coordinating major purchases (in collaboration with managing attorney).

Qualifications: 

These are the traits, attributes, attitudes, and skills that speak to the candidate’s ability to succeed in the position. While no one candidate will possess all of the requirements listed, the ideal candidate will have many of the following qualifications. LawNY encourages each candidate to think about their own personal knowledge, skills, and experience, as well professional skills and experience, in relation to the list of qualifications.

• Demonstrated commitment to helping low-income and marginalized persons overcome institutional barriers to justice
• Embraces and actively promotes an inclusive and equitable work environment
• Excellent use of remote collaborative technology including GSuite, Microsoft Suite, Zoom
• Demonstrated excellent written and oral communication skills
• Ability to communicate new technical, procedural and policy changes in a clear and accessible manner
• Experience successfully managing and navigating personnel conflict and resolution
• Experience collaborating with a large, fast paced work environment, with and without direct supervision
• Experience working under multiple deadlines and managing simultaneous projects
• Demonstrated problem-solving abilities, time and task management, and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated understanding of the concepts of institutional and structural racism and their impact on underserved and underrepresented communities
• Experience incorporating the perspectives of multiple communities, including communities of color

Qualifications – Additional: The following are skills a candidate may possess based on past experience in a similar role, but are not required to apply for the job.

• Proficiency in a language other than English
• Degree in a relevant field or work experience with comparable responsibilities
• Prior experience and commitment working with and helping low-income, marginalized and/or other oppressed communities/persons overcome institutional barriers to justice.
• Experience managing confidential personnel data
• Experience using Legalserver or comparable case management software platforms

Salary:

Salary is set on a standardized organizational salary scale based on years of job experience. Upon job offer, candidates are asked to complete a form describing years of direct and comparable experience. Human Resources and the Executive Director review the form and provide the candidate with a proposed salary placement. The candidate may review and suggest alternate placement.

The salary scale intends to mitigate bias. LawNY conducts an annual equity audit to compare salary placement with staff demographics. 

The salary for an Administrator with five years of experience is $38,505.00 as per the LawNY salary scale. 

Benefits:

LawNY® provides an excellent package of fringe benefits including health, dental, vision, disability and life insurance as well as generous leave provisions.

We provide a superlative package of fringe benefits including:

• in 2022, 94% employer paid health insurance (with significant HSA contributions to offset high deductible plans);
• 100% employer paid dental and disability insurance; and
• $50,000 automatic life insurance.

We also provide a very generous leave package including, in the first year of employment, 20 days of vacation plus 13.5 holidays and two floating holidays.  Employees also receive 12 sick days and 5 personal days per year.  New parents receive 20 days of paid new parent leave.

LawNY® staff may qualify for public interest law school loan forgiveness programs.

Application Instructions:

To apply, submit your cover letter, resume, and three references through LawNY®’s BambooHR platform here: https://lawny.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=67. State clearly in your cover letter which position you are applying for.

To promote social justice and achieve our mission, LawNY® is committed to maintaining a diverse staff and creating an inclusive and respectful workplace.

In your cover letter, please explain how you think your lived and/or professional experience or background has prepared you to contribute to a work environment with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Questions? Contact Brenda Thompson, Human Resources Administrator at bthompson@lawny.org

Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY®) is an equal opportunity employer. LawNY® strongly encourages applications from Black, Indigenous and People of Color, women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with disabilities, and persons from other underrepresented groups whose background may contribute to working in and sustaining an environment that enables staff and clients to feel empowered, valued, respected, and safe. LawNY welcomes applications regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or any other consideration protected by law.