Associate Director for Habeas Bridge Project

Acacia Center for Justice•Washington, DC

17h

About The Position

The Acacia Center for Justice (“Acacia”) provides legal support and representation to immigrants facing deportation through the development, coordination, and management of national networks of legal services providers serving immigrants across the country. Acacia’s goals are twofold: to support immigrant legal services and defense networks to provide exceptional legal services to immigrants; and to advocate for the expansion of these programs and the infrastructure critical to guaranteeing immigrants access to justice, fairness, and freedom. Acacia ensures accountable, independent, zealous, and person-centered legal services and representation to protect the rights of all immigrants. The Associate Director (AD) for the Habeas Bridge Project will lead the implementation and strategic development of the Habeas Bridge Project, a rapid-response initiative designed to defend the rights of unlawfully detained immigrants. This pilot program matches immigration attorneys with federally barred criminal defense attorneys to file emergency habeas petitions in federal court. The Associate Director will oversee project operations, mentor coordination, intake systems, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring the program is sustainable, scalable, and responsive to urgent legal needs.

Requirements

Uncompromising commitment to immigrants’ rights, racial equity, and person-centered approaches, with a demonstrated understanding of how systemic inequities shape access to legal information and representation.
Demonstrated experience leading interdisciplinary teams and managing programs to translate strategic goals into achievable work plans, build sustainable systems, and define clear roles, workflows, and deliverables.
Demonstrated high-level adaptability, readily embracing change and effectively managing diverse tasks in a fluid landscape, along with strong problem-solving skills and resilience under pressure.
Experience building partnerships with legal services providers to meet the needs of people in jails, prisons, and/or immigration detention
Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills; the demonstrated ability to build credibility within the immigrants’ rights field; and the ability to engage and persuade broader audiences without resorting to technical language
Demonstrated capacity to engage in strategic planning and innovation, especially to remove barriers to, expand, and strengthen legal access for all immigrants
Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with others toward short- and longer-term goals
J.D. and admission to practice law required
9-12 years of relevant work experience in legal access or representation services, immigration policy, or a related field
Experience managing teams

Nice To Haves

experience in immigration and/or federal litigation strongly preferred
Comparable work and educational experience will also be considered, particularly where the candidate has direct experience with the immigration legal system and has been personally impacted by it
Experience negotiating obstacles to access to justice for people in carceral, detention, or institutional settings
Experience providing legal defense to people who are detained or incarcerated
Experience with community organizing and connecting grassroots ideas to innovative solutions
Lived experience and/or demonstrated commitment to challenging inequities and racism in the immigration legal system
Demonstrated ability to promote team/coalition cohesion, to build staff morale, and to function as an equitable team member

Responsibilities

Develop and execute strategic work plans that set short- and long-term goals, success indicators, and milestones for piloting, scaling, and transitioning the project from incubation to sustained operations, ensuring alignment with the broader strategy set within the Program Design and Development team.
Oversee day-to-day operations of the Habeas Bridge Project, ensuring alignment with organizational and strategic goals and the project’s scope
Lead internal cross-teams collaboration (including Legal, IT, External Affairs, Communications, Development, REDA, and other Programs) to shape strategy, set priorities, and guide the vetting and approval of project activities and communications
Lead the final push and launch phases, including soft and hard rollouts
Design and oversee systems for recruiting, onboarding, training, and supporting federal criminal and immigration litigators to serve as habeas counsel and habeas mentors
In collaboration with the Public Education and Training team, develop scalable structures and processes for training curricula and resource libraries tailored to the Southern and Central Districts of California, with the capacity to expand to additional jurisdictions in later phases.
Maintain relationships with mentors and litigators, ensuring ongoing support and engagement.
Supervise the intake system, including screening criteria and referral workflows for emergency habeas petitions.
Ensure timely coordination between intake monitors, habeas counsel, and legal representatives for case assignments.
Develop secure information-sharing systems and protocols in coordination with Legal, IT, and Compliance teams, ensuring alignment with organizational data security standards and best practices.
Cultivate relationships with law firms, federal defender organizations, university clinics, and nonprofit partners.
Represent the project in NILRA working groups and other spaces of coordination with national partners.
Serve as the lead internal representative for the Habeas Bridge Project, coordinating and collaborating with existing program teams and other new initiatives across Acacia when project activities intersect or require alignment.
Collaborate with the Development team to identify funding sources and manage fundraising efforts
Monitor budget allocations and ensure responsible use of internal and external resources