Administrative Assistant

The Immigrant Defenders Law Center (“ImmDef”) is a next-generation, social justice law firm that provides high-quality representation and legal services to immigrants in Southern California. ImmDef was founded with the belief that no immigrant should be forced to go into court alone and our universal representation programs for children and adults are a first step towards that goal. Learn more about us at www.immdef.org.

ImmDef is hiring an Administrative Assistant in our San Diego office. Our San Diego-based Administrative Assistant will provide administrative and operational support to our Removal Defense and Cross Border Initiative programs.

Job responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Reception duties including but not limited to answering and routing telephone calls and visitors appropriately;
• Sorting, logging, distributing and sending mail;
• Filing, photocopying, scanning, faxing, and composing documents;
• Maintaining office common areas and assessing ongoing needs regarding furnishing and maintenance of break rooms, meeting spaces, and supply rooms;
• Communicating needs and repairs to supervisor, property management, and/or external vendors as necessary;
• Monitoring inventory and placing supply orders as needed;
• Assisting with basic IT function and maintenance requests, including
  • setting up for internal meetings, special events, and training series;
  • assisting with basic IT/operational setup for new hires, and;
  • basic troubleshooting and resolving of IT, phones, copy equipment and internet problems;
  • Serving as liaison between IT department and local office;
• Providing administrative and operational support to address client immediate needs including arranging travel and linking to shelters;
• Developing relationships with point persons at different social and health service providers;
• Assisting with scheduling and coordination for office and community education events;
• Maintaining a detailed log of all client interactions including services provided to clients for data collections purposes as well as ongoing assessment of case coordination;
• Providing administrative support to paralegals and attorneys as needed;
• Assist Cross Border Initiative team with preparing materials for community education events including updating PowerPoint, printing handouts and more;
• Assist Cross Border Initiative team with coordinating interpreters for community education events;
• Attending community education events as needed to support team and collect data;
• Updating internal reports after community education outreach;
• Other duties as assigned by ImmDef’s leadership team.

• Passion and enthusiasm for providing high quality client services;
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail;
• Ability to take initiative and problem-solving skills;
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Power Point;
• Minimum typing speed of 40 words per minute;
• Experience working at a nonprofit organization or a law firm is helpful;
• Demonstrated ability to work within a high-volume, busy law office is a plus;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in both English and Spanish;
• Enthusiasm for working at a mission driven organization and passion for social justice for immigrants required;
• Commitment to working in a diverse professional environment.
• DACA Recipients strongly encouraged to apply!

Level of Language Proficiency

• Spanish fluency is required and will be tested at time of interview.

We require COVID-19 vaccinations or weekly testing to be considered.

It is recommended that you submit Cover Letter to be considered. You can learn more about our programs at www.immdef.org.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply for a position fighting for our immigrant communities!

Immigrant Defenders Law Center is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. We value diversity in the workplace and strongly encourage applications from all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, ethnic group identification, citizenship, marital or familial status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, arrest or conviction record, or any other protected characteristic.

Due to the large number of applicants, we are unable to respond to every applicant and will only contact those who are invited to interview for the position.

This position is not a part of the ImmDef employee union bargaining unit.

Schedule:

• ImmDef’s standard work schedule is 35 hours per week, or 70 hours per pay period. The schedule for this position will be consistent with that of the San Diego team.

Holidays and Paid Time Off :

• 13 paid holidays
• 1-Week paid winter break between Christmas and New Years
• 15 vacation days per year
• 15 Sick Days per year

Health, Dental and Vision Insurance:

• ImmDef provides health coverage on the first of the month following 30 days on the job.
• We cover 100% of premiums for our base dental and vision plans for our staff members and 75% of base plan dental and vision premiums for their dependents. ImmDef also covers 98% of the base plan medical premiums for our staff and 73% of the base plan medical premiums for their dependents.

FSA and Dependent Care FSA:

• ImmDef offers FSA plans to help offset the costs of eligible health care expenses for you, your spouse, and your eligible dependents using pre-tax dollars
• We also offer Dependent Care FSA to pay for eligible dependent care services, such as preschool, summer day camp, before or after school programs, and child or adult daycare.
• Eligible for Parental Leave which includes six (6) weeks of ImmDef paid leave.

401(k) Retirement Savings Plan & Employer Matching:

• ImmDef staff are eligible to enroll in our 401(k) plans immediately upon hire, contributing pre-tax dollars towards their retirement goals
• After six months on staff, ImmDef will match 100% of contributions up to 3% of the employee’s salary
• Funds are vested immediately!

Public Service Loan Forgiveness:

• As a 501(c)3, full-time ImmDef staff with qualifying student loans are eligible for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Parking and Public Transportation Stipends:

• Staff members assigned to an office without free on-site parking are eligible to receive a parking stipend of up to $100 per month in actual accrued parking or transportation costs.
• Staff in all offices are eligible to receive a public transportation stipend of up to $100 per month in actual accrued public transportation costs.