Civil Rights Corps (“CRC”) is searching for a seasoned leader to join and support our team as Chief of Staff (CoS).  This dynamic individual will be responsible for assessing organizational needs and capacities across departments and implementing creative and traditional steps to address those needs. They will support the internal culture by overseeing staffing, continuing education and training, and spearheading the development or refinement of policies related to people and culture. As a key thought partner and operational support to the ED/CEO, the Chief of Staff will have experience managing complex teams and responsible for supporting the implementation of leadership’s vision.

About Us

Civil Rights Corps (CRC) is a non-profit civil rights organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2016, CRC challenges wealth-based and race-based systems of oppression. We work to shift power to community-led movements, particularly those led by Black, Brown and poor people who are most affected by this legal system, so they can build sufficient power to create structural change. We work with individuals accused and convicted of crimes, their families and communities, people currently or formerly incarcerated, activists, organizers, judges, and government officials to challenge mass human caging, to create a legal system that promotes equality and human freedom, and to dismantle white supremacy. Civil Rights Corps engages in advocacy and public education and specializes in innovative, systemic civil rights litigation with the goal of re-sensitizing the legal system and our culture to the injustice and brutality that characterize the contemporary U.S. legal system. CRC has won groundbreaking litigation challenging the rise of debtors’ prisons, abusive private probation schemes, and wealth-based pre-trial detention. CRC works closely with community partners and is committed to fundamentally transforming the criminal system. CRC’s staff is comprised of passionate and dedicated advocates with a profound commitment to social justice and fighting inequality in all its forms.

Job Responsibilities:

Ensure the development and smooth implementation of key strategies outlined by leadership and the board:

• Work closely with senior leadership to run the organization on a day-to-day basis, from high-level strategy to personnel matters;
• Support COO in strategic planning, policy development, decision-making, project management, and special projects;
• Represent senior leadership with internal stakeholders;
• Advise the rest of senior leadership with internal communication and attending to staff needs, ensuring any problems are resolved;
• Keep the rest of the senior leadership abreast of the current organizational climate (employee well-being, project statuses, new proposals, etc.);
• Prepare presentations, updates, and reports in support of the Board of Directors meetings;
• Lead a consistent organization-wide approach to planning, learning, execution and assessment to increase organizational effectiveness;

Develop, support and maintain a strong, positive and collaborative work culture:

• Help develop and implement leadership’s plan to create, strengthen and/or support CRC’s internal culture, organizational work-related policies, and team structure;
• Represent management, along with the COO, in the labor management council and support the implementation of the CBA;
• Work with the COO to establish and maintain an HR structure for the organization;
  • Develop, implement, and review updated policies and strategies. Maintain a high-level awareness of all ongoing work throughout the organization and build connections across different streams of work to avoid duplication and amplify efforts;
  • Build relationships with staff in order to improve internal communications and increase operational responsiveness;
  • Develop and refine mechanisms for teams to work more effectively together and help ensure team members have the information and tools they need to be successful;
• Generate solutions to personnel conflicts as they arise;
• Design and facilitate effective and equitable hiring processes;

Administration:

• Manage leadership team meetings.
• Coordinate and prepare briefing memos, talking points, and background research to prepare leadership for internal meetings and external engagements.
• Handle confidential information.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Skills:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to write for various audiences on various technical and policy topics;
• Ability to manage a portfolio of duties and projects with various timelines and deadlines;
• Track record of working closely with, and building consensus among, executive level leaders, teams, and outside partners;
• Successful implementation of strategy at different levels of the organization
• A critical thinker who can analyze issues and provide strategic input;
• Strong management skills and ability to navigate interpersonal relationships in a productive manner;
• Ability to guide or oversee the guidance for staff with interpersonal conflict in the workplace;
• Ability to collaborate with individuals and groups to reach solutions to needs or issues; strong intuition and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to think creatively and suggest new proposals for organization-wide and team specific education and professional development;
• Ability to exercise high and strict levels of confidentiality and use professional judgment and discretion;
• Familiarity with G-Suite, Slack and other web-based applications;
• Comfort designing and facilitating conflict resolution processes;
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively.

Qualifications:

• JD with prior litigation experience required (civil rights or criminal defense litigation experience preferred);
• Experience working on improving organizational culture, human resources and/or internal policies;
• Experience recruiting and hiring staff as well as supervising and mentoring and providing critical and constructive feedback;
• Experience supervising team members in executing the priorities that have been identified;
• Experience implementing, overseeing or reviewing organizational evaluations;
• Demonstrated commitment to social justice;
• Proven ability to navigate sensitive personnel issues around identity, privilege and equity;
• Prior experience in an organizational leadership function.

A well-qualified candidate will possess the following:

• A recognized leader who elevates others;
• An ability to demonstrate respect, professionalism, and sound judgment clearly and consistently with all people;
• A network of relationships in the social justice movement space, criminal punishment community, or the nonprofit sector more broadly;
• Sophisticated understanding of workplace dynamics, nonprofit governance, and organizational effectiveness and development in social justice movement contexts.
• Strong conflict resolution skills; strong diplomatic qualities; proven capacity to build consensus and compromise within complex structures & teams

What’s attractive to the right candidate?

• The opportunity to strengthen the internal capacity of a young, innovative organization that is a leader in the field in a time of rising authoritarianism;
• The opportunity to support an important mission at a time of internal adaptation and evolution at CRC;
• The opportunity to work within a vibrant team of values-driven individuals;
• The opportunity to create organizational systems;
• A cultural aversion to superfluous internal bureaucracy.

Salary range: $165,000 – 180,000