Legal Services of New Jersey coordinates and leads the statewide Legal Services system in New Jersey. Unique nationally, in its core commitment to economic and social justice LSNJ provides statewide advocacy, direct representation, technology infrastructure, community legal information, government liaison, funding, training, expert legal backup and other support to the network of five regional Legal Services non-profits that serve all 21 New Jersey counties.
 Founded in 1972, LSNJ now seeks a successor to the only chief executive officer in its history, De Miller, who will step down in mid-2020 after leading the organization since its creation.
 Applications must be received at LSNJ offices by the close of business on November 26, 2019. It is expected a decision will be made by early spring, and that the successful candidate will be begin an orientation period in June, 2020, with the actual transition to take place in early summer.
 Interested applicants should immediately submit a thorough curriculum vitae, detailing specifically how the candidate meets each of the key characteristics listed below. The cover letter should detail (a) the reasons for the candidate considering leaving a current position, if any; (b) the reasons for seeking this particular position, (c) the candidate’s date of admission to the New Jersey bar, or if not admitted, (d) whether the candidate is eligible to be waived in immediately pursuant to New Jersey Supreme Court rules (the letter must detail how the rule requirements will be satisfied); and (e) salary requirements. Three recent professional legal writing samples must be included, along with a completed employment application. A link to a printable employment application may be found at https://www.lsnj.org/jobs/ApplicationForm.pdf.  All applications will be held in confidence. Send all documents to ceosearch@lsnj.org.
Candidate characteristics.  Recognizing that no one candidate will score highly in every one of the following areas, the successful candidate will evidence the highest overall evaluation across the characteristics set forth below. These areas are not arranged in any particular order of priority, and are not of equal weight.
Organization and leadership

Ability to lead within a collaborative, collegial, committed and intensive work environment
Experience leading a large non-profit organization, particularly one with characteristics and complexity comparable to those of LSNJ
Ability to inspire confidence, trust and dedication in supervised staff
Ability to maintain composure and lead in the face of great stress
Ability to bring and sustain a high level of enthusiasm and energy
Ability to bring skills of conciliation to interactions with employees, as well as the ability to be decisive in irreconcilable situations
Ability to lead an organization in a bi-partisan and non-partisan manner when advocating in the public arena

Legal background

Excellent legal and general writing skills
Substantial experience supervising lawyers and other legal workers, especially in a non-profit civil legal representation context
Knowledge of and experience with the Legal Services program nationally and in New Jersey
Excellent reputation for integrity and legal ability
Experience with legislative and rulemaking advocacy and processes
Experience with complex trial level litigation
Experience with significant appellate litigation

Other personal qualities and background

Demonstrated ability to relate effectively to people who reflect the demographic diversity of New Jersey residents living in poverty, and who in fact live in poverty
Strong academic record
Able public speaker
Has left previous employment on good terms, without a record of significant problems
Absence of negative public perception
Absence of public association with partisan political activity.

LSNJ is committed to a workplace built upon fairness, diversity in all of its aspects, a healthy life-work balance, and respect for colleagues and clients. Benefits include comprehensive health and retirement plans and in-house trainings that offer CLE credit.
The organization. LSNJ, based in Edison, New Jersey, currently has 170 staff and is responsible for some $50 million in public and private grant funds, a large part of which is subgranted to the regional Legal Services organizations. LSNJ has over fifteen specialized direct representation projects, and advocates at the state and national levels in every major area of poverty law. Its legal work is buttressed by numerous essential professional units in poverty research, social work, language services, information technology, multimedia productions, publications, outreach, public information, and development. LSNJ’s staff is very experienced, stable, at the top of their areas of expertise in every major area of law affecting those living in poverty, and deeply committed to their clients and equal justice. LSNJ’s board is deeply engaged in oversight of the organization, and will make the hiring decision.