The Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project (MHP) seeks a dynamic individual with strong leadership skills and commitment to legal and mental health advocacy to serve as its next Managing Director.
MHP’s mission is to disrupt and dismantle the cycles of homelessness, incarceration, and hospitalization that can trap New Yorkers with mental health concerns experiencing poverty. Our interdisciplinary team of attorneys, social workers, advocates, and organizers enforces and advances the rights of our clients. We are connected with and part of our community. We use a transparent and highly collaborative decision-making process to further our mission and goals. Our advocacy focuses on securing financial stability for individuals who are denied disability benefits; criminal justice reform; access to health care; and discharge planning from jails, prisons, and psychiatric hospitals. We engage in direct legal advocacy, community education, legislative advocacy, community organizing and coalition building, and impact litigation. We organize client-oriented workshops and provide direct services to hundreds of New Yorkers each year, and our innovative class action lawsuits have advanced the rights of tens of thousands of individuals, both in New York and across the nation.
Core Responsibilities:
The Managing Director will lead the MHP team in providing high quality, client-centered advocacy that is anti-racist and anti-oppressive. The ideal candidate has the ability to envision and then implement change; to support project-wide collaboration; and to set, refine, and communicate program goals.
Duties include:
- Lead the MHP team in developing, refining, and implementing the goals and direction of the project;
- Cultivate and maintain collaborative working relationships with other organizations involved in mental health advocacy and legal services;
- Represent the project and its goals, through traditional and social media outlets, coalition work, and outreach with elected officials and community leaders;
- Support and develop group cohesion and maintain a respectful and equitable work environment for all staff;
- Directly supervise MHP managers and members of the criminal justice advocacy team;
- Oversee current grant activity and project budget, and seek and retain funding in collaboration with project manager;
- Participate actively as a member of the Urban Justice Center Executive Management Team.
Qualifications:
The ideal candidate will be an energetic, dynamic, and creative individual who has a passionate commitment to the project’s work and possesses significant supervision, leadership, and management skills, with the ability to relate effectively to a diverse group of clients and staff.
- J.D. or M.S.W. preferred; M.P.A., Ph.D., and/or other relevant advanced degree, or at least ten years of comparable work experience;
- At least five years of experience in civil legal services, human rights, or mental health policy advocacy;
- Demonstrated experience and success in fundraising and grant-writing;
- Experience supervising interdisciplinary staff, as well as interfacing with and supervising other managerial staff;
- Excellent oral and written communication skills;
- Familiarity with principles of recovery, trauma, and harm reduction, and have a demonstrated capacity working within a human rights, anti-racist, and anti-oppression framework.
Salary and Benefits:
The salary for this role is competitive and commensurate with education and experience. The Urban Justice Center offers a flexible work environment. MHP currently has a hybrid work schedule that is still evolving. The salary range for the position is between $110,000-140,000, plus very generous UJC benefits including 401(k), exceptional medical and dental insurance, vision and gym reimbursement, pet insurance, 20 paid vacation days, 5 paid personal days, 12 paid sick days, 11 paid holidays, early dismissal on summer Fridays, and an additional paid week off between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Please note that the Urban Justice Center requires all employees to submit proof of vaccination against COVID, to the extent permitted by law, as a condition of employment. As part of the onboarding process, new hires will be asked to submit proof of vaccination prior to their first day of employment.
How to Apply:
Evaluation of prospective candidates will begin immediately. Applications, including a resume, cover letter, and writing sample, should be sent to the MHP Hiring Committee, mhpjobs@urbanjustice.org with the subject line “Managing Director.” Electronic submission of materials is required.
In your cover letter, we encourage you to be open about your vision for advocacy alongside individuals with mental health concerns in the larger fight against oppression, while operating in the context of a non-profit legal services organization.
The Urban Justice Center is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be afforded equal employment opportunities without discrimination because of race, religion/creed, color, national origin, sex, SOGIE, age, disability, military status, predisposing genetic characteristics, victim of domestic violence status, or marital status. People with lived experience of mental health concerns and/or criminal justice involvement are encouraged to apply.
UJC staff are represented for collective bargaining purposes by the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW, Local 2320. This is not a bargaining unit position. |