Director of Legal Services

Job Description

Job Description

JOB TITLE:  Director of Legal Services  
EMPLOYMENT TYPE:  Full-Time  
REPORTS TO:  Chief Executive Officer 
LOCATION: Downtown Brooklyn  
SALARY: $90,000 - 100,000/annually  

ABOUT AAFSC: 

The Arab-American Family Support Center (AAFSC) is a non-profit organization that has proudly served immigrants and refugees for over 30 years. We provide an array of social services to help children stay safe, families remain together, and newcomers navigate life in New York City. While our doors are open to all, AAFSC has expertise in serving Arab, Middle Eastern, North African, Muslim, and South Asian communities. 

AAFSC's legal services focus primarily on immigration consultations, USCIS applications, referrals, and Know Your Rights trainings. The Director of Legal Services will build upon this foundation while helping AAFSC assess opportunities to expand services, strengthen representation, and respond to emerging community needs. 

JOB SUMMARY: 

The Arab-American Family Support Center (AAFSC) seeks an experienced and mission-driven attorney to serve as Director of Legal Services. We are looking for a legal leader who is passionate about immigrant rights and interested in growing a community-based immigration legal services program at a critical moment for immigrant communities. 

The Director of Legal Services will provide strategic leadership and day-to-day oversight of AAFSC's immigration legal services program. The Director will supervise a small but growing team (currently one part-time attorney and one Legal Services Manager), provide direct legal services to clients, oversee program operations, strengthen partnerships across New York City's immigration legal services landscape, and help shape the direction of the program. 

The ideal candidate is an immigration law generalist. They will be comfortable advising clients on a wide range of immigration-related matters, providing direct representation where appropriate, and leveraging referral networks when specialized expertise is needed. 

This Director will report to the Chief Executive Officer and work closely with program leaders across the organization to ensure legal services are integrated into AAFSC's broader continuum of support. The Director will also collaborate with AAFSC’s Assistant Executive Director who oversees community engagement and has longstanding expertise and familiarity with legal service needs in the communities AAFSC serves.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Program Leadership and Management 

• Provide leadership, management, and strategic direction for AAFSC's Legal Services Program. 
• Supervise and support legal services staff. 
• Oversee legal intake, case management, and client service workflows as well as data collection and reporting systems to ensure high-quality, efficient, and client-centered services. 
• Ensure effective stewardship of programmatic grants, including compliance with funder requirements, achievement of program deliverables, and collaboration with development staff on fundraising, grant proposals, reporting, and funder engagement.
• Serve as a thought partner to organizational leadership on the future direction of AAFSC's legal services work, leveraging insights on community needs, emerging immigration trends, and policy developments.
• Contribute to organizational planning efforts and cross-department initiatives that advance AAFSC's mission. 

Legal Representation and Community Education 

• Conduct immigration legal consultations, assess eligibility for benefits and relief, identify appropriate legal pathways, and provide client-centered legal advice, guidance, pro se assistance, referrals, or representation as appropriate. 
• Manage an independent caseload of immigration matters, including affirmative benefits and deportation defense cases. Depending on need and capacity, legal activities may include:
  • Filing immigration applications and petitions, including naturalization, family-based petitions, adjustment of status, humanitarian relief, work authorization, TPS, DACA, SIJS, asylum, and consular processing matters 
  • Filing applications for asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), U and T visas, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petitions, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, waivers of inadmissibility, motions to reopen, and appeals 
  • Representing clients in bond hearings, parole proceedings, and removal defense cases 
• Provide immigration-related training to AAFSC staff across programs. 

Partnerships and Community Engagement 

• Conduct community outreach, legal clinics, Know Your Rights training, community forums, workshops, town halls, and other public education initiatives. 
• Cultivate relationships with legal service providers, advocacy organizations, bar associations, law firms, pro bono partners, and community-based organizations. 
• Represent AAFSC in coalitions, working groups, and external forums dedicated to immigrant rights. 
• Strengthen referral pathways to ensure clients can access specialized legal representation and complementary services. 
• Partner with communications staff to develop educational materials, public information campaigns, and resources that help community members understand their rights and navigate the immigration system. 

Other Duties and Responsibilities 

• Participate in AAFSC meetings and internal and external training.
• ​​​​​​​Perform other duties as assigned.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

Required

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree and admission to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction. 
• Minimum of three (3) years of relevant immigration law experience, including working directly with clients.
• Broad knowledge of the U.S. immigration legal system and experience advising clients across a range of immigration matters. 
• Experience supervising staff, managing projects, or leading legal initiatives. 
• Excellent written, verbal, and public presentation skills. 
• Ability to balance direct client service responsibilities with program management and strategic planning. 
• Commitment to serving immigrant, refugee, and historically marginalized communities. 
• ​​​​​​​Job contingent on pre-employment background check. 
• ​​​​​​​U.S. Work Authorization required.  

Preferred 

• Experience managing or building a legal services program. 
• Experience handling or supervising more complex immigration matters, including humanitarian relief applications, waivers, appeals, removal-related matters, or other advanced immigration cases. 
• Familiarity with New York City's immigration legal services landscape. 
• Strong understanding of nonprofit program operations, including data tracking, compliance, reporting, and grant-funded services. 
• Experience developing community education initiatives and Know Your Rights programming. 
• ​​​​​​​Fluency in Arabic preferred; proficiency in additional community languages is a plus. 

We are an equal opportunity employer that values diversity at all levels. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.  

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