Program Coordinator, Immigration Legal Services
Job Title: Program Coordinator, Immigration Legal Services
Reports to: Immigration Legal Services Director
Job Type: Full-time, hybrid
Salary: starting at $23/hour
Application Link: https://forms.office.com/r/E9Z09ZTc0u
Deadline: June 22, 2025
About Us
The Advocates for Human Rights is dedicated to implementing international human rights standards to promote civil society and reinforce the rule of law. Our Immigration Legal Services program provides free immigration legal assistance to people with no or low income. We work with thousands of people throughout the Upper Midwest each year who are seeking asylum, survivors of human trafficking, facing removal while in detention, or unaccompanied children. We engage over 1,500 pro bono attorneys, volunteers, and interns, to provide comprehensive support to our clients. The Advocates also collaborates with local and national partners to ensure access to immigration justice for refugees and immigrants in the United States.
Position Summary
As the Program Coordinator in our Immigration Legal Services program, you will serve as the vital administrative backbone for our work, with an emphasis on asylum and detained cases. You will be responsible for managing case opening, placement, and closing processes while providing critical support to legal staff and pro bono attorneys throughout the case. Reporting to the Immigration Legal Services Director while supervising a small number of volunteers and interns, this full-time (40 hours/week) position operates in a hybrid work environment with regular in-office presence needed for client meetings, file management, and team collaboration.
Who are we seeking to join our team?
We are looking for a dynamic individual who is driven by the hope of our clients and inspired by the generosity of our volunteers. You should be passionate about our mission, thrive in a supportive team environment, and possess excellent interpersonal and organizational skills to handle complex data management, case pitching, and client communications. You have an incredible attention to detail and are excited about creating and implementing systems to improve our work every day.
As Program Coordinator, you play an essential role in maintaining program quality during periods of rapid change, requiring the ability to innovate processes and balance competing demands while maintaining a client-centered approach to human rights work. You are nimble enough to stay on your toes in our fast-paced office atmosphere and cool-headed enough to serve our clients with compassion and care. You see the importance in the details, ensuring cases are properly documented and filed so we always meet critical deadlines.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibility of this position is to support and coordinate Immigration Legal Services' many projects with an emphasis on asylum and detained work.
Intake (10%)
- Input information into case management system
- Conduct occasional intake interviews with potential clients
- Serve as a point of contact for walk-in clients
- Draft and send letters and materials
Case Pitching, Placement, and Opening and Coordination (15%)
- Draft case summaries and support the case pitching process
- Support case pitching process, including identifying possible placements, drafting pitching emails, and sending conflicts information
- Manage client-facing and internal case opening procedures
- Schedule and support meetings between staff, clients, and pro bono attorneys
- Prepare and transmit case files to pro bono attorneys
Data Management (15%)
- Maintain database of pro bono attorneys and clients
- Maintain electronic and physical case files
- Keep track of major case dates, receipt numbers, deadlines, address changes, etc.
Case Closing (10%)
- Manage client-facing and internal case closing procedures, including drafting and mailing closing letters, scheduling closing meetings, etc.
- Manage transitions to new case matters, as needed
Interpretation/Translation (10%)
- Maintain volunteer interpreter database and coordinate interpretation requests
Outreach (15%)
- Assist with designing and improving outreach strategy
- Coordinate and participate in Unaccompanied Minor and Trafficking outreach events
- Create and maintain connections with contacts to facilitate outreach and case referrals
Legal Case Support (under attorney supervision) (15%)
- Assist staff with mailing
- As needed, help prepare immigration forms, including work permits, asylum, T-Visa, Freedom of Information Act Requests, as well as motions to immigration court and client affidavits
- Liaise with congressional offices and USCIS on behalf of clients
- Monitor immigration filings for in-house cases from filing, receipt, biometrics appointments and approval notices
- Assist with pro se clinics and referrals to partners
- Participate in legal clinics and detention center visits throughout MN, ND, and SD
- Assist staff with finalizing applications and filings
- Assist with coordinating social service requests
- Assist ILS Director with grant and board reporting
There is limited travel with occasional opportunities to travel through Minnesota and the Dakotas. This position directly reports to the Program Director and works alongside other Program Staff and Attorneys, and is part of the organizational team.
Qualifications
Required
- Two years of administrative or case management experience
- Excellent organization and time management skills, including the ability to meet deadlines and manage competing priorities
- Demonstrated success communicating with a diverse population
- A commitment to a client-centered approach to the work
- Flexible, willing to adapt as programming grows and shifts
- Innovative and creative, questioning and trying to improve processes and the pro bono and client experience
- Knowledge of, or ability to learn, immigration regulations and laws
- Ability to develop and maintain professional, collaborative relationships
- Ability to communicate effectively in writing and verbally
- Ability to lead a team and delegate tasks as appropriate
- Commitment to engaging in human rights work, social justice and international affairs
- Detail oriented with an ability to see the big picture and an eye toward systems management
- Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word and Excel)
- Self-starter who takes ownership over their work
- Flexibility and willingness to engage in an iterative process where you will take an active role in questioning and rethinking our processes
Desired
- Demonstrated experience supervising volunteers, interns or interpreters
- Demonstrated experience working with immigrant populations or survivors of trauma
- Demonstrated experience using Legal Server
- Fluency in a language other than English with a strong preference for Spanish
- Experience in immigration law and procedure
Compensation
Compensation is commensurate with experience. Generous benefits package currently includes vacation (employees accrue 3 weeks of vacation during their first year, and up to 6 weeks after 5 years employment), 3 personal days, and 9 paid holidays, 2 weeks of accrued sick leave annually, 6 weeks paid parenting leave); employer-paid premiums for medical, dental, and long-term disability/AD+D/life insurance; and pre-tax retirement plan.
Location and Status
This position is currently hybrid, with at least 2 days/week in our downtown Minneapolis office. This position is not eligible for fully remote work.
This position is represented by the Office of Professional Employees International Union, Local 12.
This is a non-exempt, hourly position.
To Apply
Please use the following link to submit your application, letter of interest, and resume: https://forms.office.com/r/E9Z09ZTc0u
No phone calls or e-mail inquiries, please.
Application Deadline: June 22, 2025.
The Advocates for Human Rights is an equal opportunity employer. The Advocates is committed to cultural diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability or any other legally protected status.
