About East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC)
EBCLC is a non‑profit legal services organization, a community‑based clinical program for UC Berkeley Law School and one of the Bay Area's largest providers of free legal services. With about 50 staff, 90 law students a year and a $7 million annual budget, EBCLC delivers multimodal, collaborative and holistic legal services to over 4,000 clients annually and engages in legislative and policy advocacy at the state and local level.
Opportunity
The Client Operations Manager plays a vital role in ensuring the smooth day‑to‑day operations of EBCLC's work. The position supervises front desk staff, coordinates intake and referral procedures with program directors, and maintains office systems and resources.
Primary Responsibilities
Team Supervision and Support
- Provide training and supervision to two administrative assistants to ensure they follow policies and protocols for providing timely, high‑quality assistance to clients who call or walk in to the office, as well as proper handling of office mail, client trust deposits and other administrative tasks.
- Provide training and other resources to support front desk staff, work‑study students and volunteers in providing high quality and professional services to clients in a culturally competent, trauma‑informed and client‑centered manner, with the ability to successfully navigate challenging client interactions through verbal de‑escalation.
- Develop and maintain a central repository of updated documentation for all admin team procedures and protocols, including screening and initial intake procedures, document and mail handling procedures and client trust handling procedures; ensure front desk staff are trained on new or updated procedures and receive refreshers on existing procedures as needed.
- Provide backup client reception and administrative support on a routine, as‑needed basis.
- Hold regular meetings with direct reports to check in on workloads, address challenges and offer guidance.
- Supervise work‑study students and volunteers providing administrative support to the organization, including managing the entire work‑study or volunteer lifecycle, including recruitment, selection and scheduling, and training.
Client Services and Coordination with Programs
- Develop and maintain a strong understanding of EBCLC's program operations, including client eligibility criteria and intake operations, and stay apprised of changes to program operations and administrative support needs.
- Work closely with Program Directors to coordinate and update screening, intake and referral procedures, and meet the ongoing administrative needs of programs.
- Ensure that screening and administrative processes are aligned with programmatic needs; in coordination with Program Directors, identify and implement improvements as needed to increase accuracy, reliability, and efficiency.
- Identify opportunities to improve EBCLC's client experience and coordinate with stakeholders across the organization to develop and implement improvements as needed.
- Ensure client referral lists and resources are accurate and regularly updated.
Office Administration
- Oversee administrative tasks for the organization, including ordering and managing inventory of all office supplies.
- In coordination with the HR Manager and Facilities Manager, assist with onboarding and orienting new employees, including ensuring access to office systems and equipment.
- Administer EBCLC's phone and auto‑attendant system to ensure appropriate call routing.
- Manage EBCLC's client case file storage on‑site and off‑site. Work with supervisor to establish and implement policies & procedures for case file storage and retrieval.
- Provide basic support to staff on office equipment (copiers, postage machines, etc.) and update staff directories on copiers as needed.
- Serve as an onsite response coordinator and point of contact for any law enforcement activity, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- Additional tasks as assigned by Supervisor.
Minimum Qualifications
- Minimum 4 years of client services experience in a social service and/or legal services organization, preferably including experience interacting with clients experiencing homelessness, poverty, trauma and/or mental health challenges.
- Minimum 2 years' experience supervising staff responsible for providing client services in a social service and/or legal services organization.
- Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work under pressure in an empathetic, patient, and professional manner.
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to effectively prioritize and manage multiple tasks, particularly during periods of high activity and in an environment with frequent interruptions.
- High emotional intelligence, demonstrated by an ability to interact effectively with individuals across a wide spectrum of backgrounds, abilities, identities, and experiences; as well as an ability to understand and incorporate both positive and constructive feedback.
- Sound judgment demonstrated by an ability to appropriately respond in new or novel situations, assess when additional information is needed prior to making a decision or taking an action, and identify the stakeholders who may be impacted or should be consulted regarding a particular decision or action.
- Strong familiarity and experience with Microsoft Office.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Desired Qualifications
- Spanish language skills strongly preferred.
Salary and Benefits
Starting salary for this exempt position is $77,000–$88,000, based on school graduation date, as dictated by the EBCLC salary scale.
Benefits include fully paid health insurance (medical, dental and vision) for employees and their dependents, life and disability insurance and generous paid leave (vacation, sick and holidays). EBCLC also offers flexible spending accounts for qualified health, dependent care and commute expenditures and retirement options.
Working at EBCLC
EBCLC is a unionized workplace and members of the bargaining unit are represented by the Engineers and Scientists of California Local 20, IFPTE. This position is part of the bargaining unit. EBCLC is strongly committed to advancing justice through education and advocacy, and the need to transform legal services and legal education. Please review EBCLC's mission, vision, programs and website, and ensure that your cover letter reflects how your background, experience and expertise have prepared you to be successful in performing the responsibilities of the position.
EBCLC is committed to building a culturally diverse workplace centered on equity and providing an inclusive, welcoming and culturally responsive environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors and clients. To achieve this goal, EBCLC works actively to improve our office climate, systems and structures, communications and community engagement to create an inclusive and respectful workplace where differences are acknowledged and valued. In your cover letter, please address how your personal background and experiences, professional or otherwise, have prepared you to contribute to our commitment to cultural responsiveness and diversity among our staff and high‑quality services to EBCLC's diverse clients.
We strongly encourage individuals from traditionally underrepresented communities to apply. EBCLC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior contact with the criminal legal system or any other basis prohibited by law.
Application Process
Interested applicants should submit an application by visiting our career website: The position will remain open until filled. EBCLC will review applications and interview applicants on a rolling basis and will only review complete applications.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement: EBCLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and other protected characteristics. We are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace.