Overview

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

CLIENT OPERATIONS MANAGER

Apply here: https://ebclc.org/about-us/careers/

East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) is a non-profit legal services organization, the community-based clinical program for U.C. Berkeley Law School, and one of the Bay Area’s largest and most effective systems disrupters. With a dual service and teaching mission, EBCLC is a racial justice organization committed to building a culturally diverse workplace, centered on equity. With about 50 staff, 100 law students a year, and a $7 million annual budget, EBCLC is the largest provider of free legal services in Alameda County, providing multimodal, collaborative, and holistic legal services to over 4,000 clients annually and engaging in legislative and policy advocacy at the state and local level.

The Opportunity

The Client Operations Manager plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth day-to-day operations of EBCLC’s work, with responsibility for three key functions within the organization:

  1. Lead and supervise EBCLC’s front desk staff responsible for initial screening of all community members who call or walk into EBCLC’s Berkeley office, ensuring all community members are treated with compassion and respect, and are appropriately referred either to internal intake processes or provided high-quality external referrals if their needs cannot be met by EBCLC.
  2. Coordinate closely with Program Directors to ensure screening and administrative procedures are aligned with evolving programmatic and organizational needs and are followed consistently and reliably by all members of the administrative team.
  3. Maintain and administer office systems and resources to ensure staff across the organization have the needed office tools and resources to perform their work effectively and efficiently

The ideal candidate is a skilled supervisor who is able to develop and inspire a positive and high-functioning team; a dedicated advocate who knows and consistently models best practices for providing compassionate client services in a social-services environment; a collaborative co-worker who demonstrates humility, curiosity, and an ability to work effectively with staff across the organization with a focus on our mission; and a careful and detail-oriented office administrator with a passion for learning new things and identifying opportunities for systems improvement. This position is supervised by EBCLC’s Director of Finance & Administration.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Team Supervision and Support

  • Provide training and supervision to two administrative assistants to ensure they follow policies and protocols for providing timely, high-quality assistance to clients who call or walk-in to the office, as well as proper handling of office mail, client trust deposits, and other administrative tasks.
  • Provide training and other resources to support front desk staff, work-study students, and volunteers in providing high quality and professional services to clients in a culturally competent, trauma-informed, and client-centered manner, with the ability to successfully navigate challenging client interactions through verbal de-escalation.
  • Develop and maintain a central repository of updated documentation for all admin team procedures and protocols, including screening and initial intake procedures, document and mail handling procedures, and client trust handling procedures; ensure front desk staff are trained on new or updated procedures and receive refreshers on existing procedures as needed.
  • Provide backup client reception and administrative support on a routine, as-needed basis.
  • Hold regular meetings with direct reports to check in on workloads, address challenges, and offer guidance.
  • Supervise work-study students and volunteers providing administrative support to the organization, including managing the entire work-study or volunteer lifecycle, including recruitment, selection, and scheduling, and training.

Client Services and Coordination with Programs

  • Develop and maintain a strong understanding of EBCLC’s program operations, including client eligibility criteria and intake operations, and stay apprised of changes to program operations and administrative support needs.
  • Work closely with Program Directors to coordinate and update screening, intake, and referral procedures, and meet the ongoing administrative needs of programs.
  • Ensure that screening and administrative processes are aligned with programmatic needs; in coordination with Program Directors, identify and implement improvements as needed to increase accuracy, reliability, and efficiency.
  • Identify opportunities to improve EBCLC’s client experience and coordinate with stakeholders across the organization to develop and implement improvements as needed.
  • Ensure client referral lists and resources are accurate and regularly updated.

Office Administration

  • Oversee administrative tasks for the organization, including ordering and managing inventory of all office supplies.
  • In coordination with the HR Manager and Facilities Manager, assist with onboarding and orienting new employees, including ensuring access to office systems and equipment.
  • Administer EBCLC’s phone and auto-attendant system to ensure appropriate call routing.
  • Manage EBCLC’s client case file storage on-site and off-site. Work with supervisor to establish and implement policies & procedures for case file storage and retrieval.
  • Provide basic support to staff on office equipment (copiers, postage machines, etc) and update staff directories on copiers as needed.
  • Serve as an onsite response coordinator and point of contact for any law enforcement activity, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
  • Additional tasks as assigned by Supervisor.

SALARY AND BENEFITS

Starting salary for this full-time, exempt position is $77,000 – $88,000, based on relevant experience, as dictated by the EBCLC salary scale.

Benefits include fully paid health insurance (medical, dental, and vision) for employees and their dependents, life and disability insurance, and generous paid leave (vacation, sick, and holidays); EBCLC also offers flexible spending accounts for qualified health, dependent care, and commute expenditures; and retirement options.

Workplace Expectations

The Client Operations Manager is required to work on-site at our office in Berkeley five days per week (Monday through Friday) during business hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WORKING AT EBCLC

EBCLC is a unionized workplace and members of the bargaining unit are represented by the Engineers and Scientists of California Local 20, IFPTE. This position is part of the bargaining unit. EBCLC is strongly committed to advancing justice through education and advocacy, and the need to transform legal services and legal education.

Additionally, EBCLC is committed to building a culturally diverse workplace centered on equity and providing an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients. To achieve this goal, EBCLC works actively to improve our office climate, systems and structures, communications, and community engagement to create an inclusive and respectful workplace where differences are acknowledged and valued.

We strongly encourage individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply. EBCLC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior contact with the criminal legal system, or any other basis prohibited by law.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

  • Minimum 4 years of client services experience in a social service and/or legal services organization, preferably including experience interacting with clients experiencing homelessness, poverty, trauma, and/or mental health challenges.
  • Minimum 2 years’ experience supervising staff responsible for providing client services in a social service and/or legal services organization.
  • Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work under pressure in an empathetic, patient, and professional manner.
  • Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
  • Ability to effectively prioritize and manage multiple tasks, particularly during periods of high activity and in an environment with frequent interruptions.
  • High emotional intelligence, demonstrated by an ability to interact effectively with individuals across a wide spectrum of backgrounds, abilities, identities, and experiences; as well as an ability to understand and incorporate both positive and constructive feedback.
  • Sound judgment demonstrated by an ability to appropriately respond in new or novel situations, assess when additional information is needed prior to making a decision or taking an action, and identify the stakeholders who may be impacted or should be consulted regarding a particular decision or action.
  • Strong familiarity and experience with Microsoft Office.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Spanish language skills strongly preferred
  • Previous training in de-escalation a plus

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested applicants should submit an application by visiting https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/All/e08277ee-1903-4833-9119-446abffa1ca5/East-Bay-Community-Law-Center The position will remain open until filled. EBCLC will review applications and interview applicants on a rolling basis and will only review complete applications.

In lieu of a cover letter, all applicants will be required to respond to the following screening questions to submit an application:

  1. Please review EBCLC’s mission, vision, programs, and website. Based on what you learn, please describe why you are interested in working at EBCLC.
  2. Please describe how your background, experience, and expertise have prepared you to be successful in performing the responsibilities of the position.
  3. Please address how your personal background and experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to contribute to our commitment to cultural responsiveness and diversity amongst our staff.
  4. How many full years of experience do you have working in client-facing positions within social service and/or legal service organizations?
  5. How many full years of experience do you have supervising staff (not interns or volunteers) working in client-facing positions withing social service and/or legal service organizations?

A complete application must include responses to the required screening questions listed above, a resume, and names/contact information for three professional references. Please submit your resume and professional references as one single pdf file by uploading it under “Upload your Resume.”

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