Administrative Secretary

The Justice Center of Southeast Massachusetts (JCSM), a subsidiary of South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc. (SCCLS), a non-profit legal services program providing free civil legal assistance to eligible low-income and elder residents is hiring a full-time Administrative Secretary The Justice Center is located in Brockton, MA.

The Organization:

JCSM is a subsidiary of SCCLS, the principal provider of free, civil legal aid to low-income residents of Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the Islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. SCCLS’ core mission is to achieve justice for eligible clients through community-based advocacy. The organization prioritizes legal services in housing, public benefits, elder law, domestic relations, employment, education, immigration, and consumer matters. The organization’s law offices are located in Hyannis, New Bedford, Fall River, and Brockton.

Principal duties, which may be modified accordingly based on the needs of the office, shall include, but not limited to, the following:

1. Providing direct support to the Managing Attorney of the office in which the Administrative Secretary is in the fulfillment of their official responsibilities.

2. Coordinating with all legal secretaries, to ensure the smooth flow of work through the office and to distribute the workload equitably. Provide administrative support to the office, including review, sorting and stamping incoming mail and faxes and ensure daily delivery of outgoing mail to the post office.

3. Directly manage and as appropriate refer incoming calls for assistance, including client eligibility screening, taking messages for staff, and making appointments or referrals for clients.

4. Greet and assist clients and others appearing at the office for assistance, including soliciting information from clients about their legal problems.

5. Maintaining clients' accounts, office petty cash, and all office docket control and other files, if so assigned.

6. Assembling office forms and statistics and filing and transmitting to others as appropriate.

7. Maintaining office supplies and routing supply requisitions and purchase orders.

8. Assisting in equipment and resource inventories.

9. Acting as office or unit timekeeper if so assigned.

10. Training or supporting the training and onboarding process for new employees.

11. Opening and closing cases and assembling office forms, statistics, and filing, compiling information with regard to office caseloads and transmitting to others as appropriate.

12. Maintaining and servicing office equipment, including but not limited to:

a. postal machine

b. fax machines

c. TTY

d. photocopier

e. computers and peripherals

13. Maintaining staff attendance records as directed by the Managing Attorney.

14. Working with the Managing Attorney to ensure front office coverage.

15. Consulting with the Managing Attorney about circumstances affecting the operations of the front office.

16. Use any available language skill which they possess to assist clients whether or not a multi-lingual increment has been approved; however, translation activities shall be commensurate with the administrative secretary's knowledge and experience and with the demands of other activities in the administrative secretary's individual work plan, if any.

17. Order and maintain an adequate supply of client informational pamphlets for the office.

18. Performing other duties as are reasonably related to the functions of an Administrative Secretary as set out in this job description, as assigned by the Managing Attorney/Executive Director or designees.

Qualifications:

1. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required; commitment to working clients from all backgrounds who may have experienced poverty, trauma or discrimination required;

2. Prior experience advocating or serving the needs of those clients desirable; experience with case management desirable; experience with community education desirable, and prior experience working as An Administrative Secretary or in a similar role desirable;

3. Knowledge and experience in various areas of the law desirable, especially with housing, benefits, elder, family law, and consumer legal issues;

4. Ability to work independently and as a team member; goal and detail oriented with ability to prioritize;

5. Ability to work effectively with people from diverse cultures, with diverse opinions and values, including with staff, volunteers, students, community members and funders;

6. Fluency in a second language which reflects our client communities (Spanish, Portuguese, Cape Verdean Creole) strongly preferred;

7. Ability to be flexible and multitask; willingness to become familiar with a variety of substantive law matters; ability to establish hybrid client and colleague relationships with a combination of in-person and remote work;

8. Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, social media, or graphic design; familiarity with other technology platforms desirable. Willingness to become effective and efficient in use of case management system required.

SCCLS offers competitive compensation based on comparable public interest salaries and commensurate with experience with a salary. Multi-lingual annual increment to base salary may be added for demonstrated language skills (written, oral, or both). Generous benefits and leave offered.

For full consideration, submit resume and cover letter to: Lissl Thelin at [email protected] with subject line: ADMIN SEC.

SCCLS is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we welcome applicants from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. We strive to foster a healthy, inclusive environment where all staff, clients, and community members are valued, empowered, and recognized, especially individuals who come from marginalized communities that are often under resourced, underserved, and underrepresented.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $50,100.00 - $79,800.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Brockton, MA 02301