Deputy Director

Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid•Minneapolis, MN

30d•$88,817 - $126,041

About The Position

Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA) seeks a strategic, systems-oriented leader to oversee the quality, consistency, impact, and effectiveness of legal services across the organization. The Deputy Director – Legal Services supports Managing Attorneys and Supervising Attorneys, strengthens supervision practices, ensures high-quality legal advocacy, and develops operational systems that help staff deliver effective services with limited resources and high demand. The role coordinates MMLA’s comprehensive legal-services model and ensures services are community-based and aligned with organizational priorities, mission, standards, and values. The position is based in either Minneapolis or St. Cloud, requires regular office hours in both offices, and involves frequent travel to MMLA locations statewide. This organization-wide role helps determine what legal services should be provided, where, and how, in response to prioritized legal needs and the needs of urban and rural communities. It makes budget, staffing, and resource-allocation recommendations and gives local offices, programs, units, and clinics substantial autonomy and independent judgment within organization-wide priorities. The Deputy Director works closely with the Deputy Director-Litigation and Executive Director to improve legal-services delivery, staff and volunteer support, supervision, and client education and engagement. As a member of the executive leadership team, the role advises on strategic direction, organizational effectiveness, and long-term sustainability, and serves as MMLA’s primary external representative in the Executive Director’s absence. Leadership development and continuity planning are central aspects of the position.

Requirements

Licensed to practice law in Minnesota or able to obtain a Minnesota license.
At least 5–6 years of leadership or supervisory experience.
Demonstrated experience managing or overseeing legal programs or teams.
Experience with budgeting, grants, or organizational operations.
Dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion principles.
Deep knowledge of civil legal services and public interest law.
Understanding of supervision systems, program management, and organizational leadership.
Knowledge of legal ethics, compliance, and funding requirements.
Strong executive-level leadership and decision-making skills; ability to manage and influence through multiple levels of leadership.
Excellent communication, collaboration, and conflict-resolution skills.
Strong organizational and systems-thinking capabilities.
Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint.
Ability to oversee complex organization-wide operations and align multiple units and leaders around shared goals.
Ability to lead in a unionized, policy-driven environment; balance strategic thinking with operational execution; manage ambiguity; and drive organizational change.
Experience managing organizational change and building consensus across stakeholder groups.
Commitment to MMLA’s mission, racial justice values, and service to low-income communities.
Ability to travel frequently between statewide locations, including St. Cloud, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Willmar.
Collaborative, transparent, and equity-centered leadership style, with high integrity, judgment, and accountability.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing multiple legal units or practice areas.
Experience working in a unionized environment.
Experience in legal services, nonprofit, or public interest law.
Experience with organizational strategy, restructuring, or system-wide initiatives.
Experience developing supervisors or senior leaders.

Responsibilities

Oversee legal-services delivery across all practice areas and locations, ensuring consistency, quality, impact, and alignment with MMLA’s mission, racial justice values, and funding requirements.
Develop and improve systems for case management, supervision, legal outcomes, caseload standards, workflows, case assignment, timekeeping, and compliance.
Identify service gaps, trends, opportunities for improvement, and strategic collaboration across practice areas.
Make budget, staffing, and resource-allocation recommendations to define appropriate services for the communities MMLA serves, including urban and rural communities.
Directly supervise Managing Attorneys and/or Supervising Attorneys responsible for legal practice areas.
Promote consistent supervision, including regular check-ins, performance evaluations, and feedback practices; support Managing Attorneys as program leaders, supervisors, and operational managers.
Partner with HR and organizational leadership on personnel practices, including compliance with collective bargaining agreements and consistent evaluation, discipline, and workload practices.
Advise on complex employee-relations matters such as grievances, performance management, and workplace concerns, and promote fair, consistent, well-documented management practices.
Partner with finance, grants, and operations teams to improve systems and align resources, program structures, budgets, and funding requirements with legal work and sustainability goals.
Advise the Executive Director and participate in the Management Committee, organizational planning, restructuring, and strategic initiatives.
Identify long-term staffing, program-structure, and service-delivery needs; build responsive organizational systems and improve communication and alignment across units.
Enable staff in each office, program, unit, and clinic to exercise autonomy and independent judgment regarding community legal services within organization-wide priorities and coordinated delivery.
Represent MMLA in professional, community, and legal networks; strengthen relationships with courts, agencies, and legal partners; and support the visibility and credibility of MMLA’s work with public and policymaking bodies.
Collaborate on external communications strategies and activities.
Participate in leadership development and executive-level decision-making, build understanding of organizational operations, governance, and strategy, and support executive leadership continuity planning.
Work closely with the Deputy Director-Litigation to ensure effective legal-services delivery, supervision, staffing, volunteer support, and client education and engagement.
Serve as MMLA’s primary external representative when the Executive Director is absent.
Travel frequently to MMLA locations statewide, including St. Cloud, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Willmar.