Human Rights Advocate Jobs in Manhattan, NY (NOW HIRING)

Title: Senior Compliance Attorney

Department:  Litigation, U.S. Program Division

Center Background: The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global human rights organization working to ensure that reproductive rights are protected in law as fundamental human rights worldwide. With offices in New York City, and Washington, D.C.; Nairobi, Kenya; Bogota, Colombia; and Geneva, Switzerland, the Center is a non-profit, non-partisan organization changing law and policy throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the United States. Our 270+ diverse professionals are committed to advancing the Center’s human rights mission through game-changing litigation, legal policy, and advocacy work. This has powered the Center’s exceptional growth to an operating budget of over $60 million and won the respect of law firms in countries around the world. Our global pro bono network includes over 3,000 lawyers across 6 continents, 88 countries, and 140+ law firms. Last year, law firms contributed over $35 million USD in pro bono legal services. The Center’s Strategic Plan sets a high mark for impact: By 2030, half of the world’s population will be living under stronger protections for reproductive rights than they were in 2020. The Center has a record of success to back up this ambitious goal. Since our founding in 1992, the Center has transformed how reproductive rights are understood and applied by courts, governments, and human rights bodies worldwide on issues including maternal health, abortion, assisted reproduction, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights. We have won groundbreaking cases before national courts, U.N. Committees, and regional human rights bodies. The Center has also led development of historic, proactive legislation advancing robust protections for reproductive rights. It has built the legal capacity of women’s rights advocates in more than 65 countries and counting. To learn more about the Center, please go to www.reproductiverights.org 

The Job: The Center seeks a Senior Compliance Attorney to join the Center’s U.S. Litigation team at a critical time for reproductive rights and access across the United States. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion, there have been significant changes to state and federal laws impacting the ability of health care providers to offer abortion care and individuals to access that care. These changes, coupled with new and emerging threats posed by a hostile federal administration, have made the legal and regulatory landscape increasingly complex and difficult to navigate for health care providers and supporters of abortion care. 

The Senior Compliance Attorney will support the U.S. Litigation team’s growing need for compliance assistance in light of the shifting legal landscape and heightened enforcement risks post-Roe. The Senior Compliance Attorney will advise Center clients on abortion-specific laws and regulations, general healthcare laws and regulations, and other state and federal policies that impact clients’ provision of high-quality reproductive health care, including abortion care, maternal health care, and assisted reproduction.  We are seeking an individual with a background in advising clients and managing client relationships and prior experience conducting complex legal analyses of state and federal laws and regulations. 

The positions will be based in the Center’s New York City or Washington D.C. offices in a hybrid model of 3 days in-office, 2 days working from home. 

Primary Responsibilities:

• Conduct legal research and analysis on state and federal laws and regulations governing the provision of abortion care and other reproductive health care. 
• Provide timely, accurate compliance advice and support to help clients mitigate risks and comply with the rapidly changing U.S. legal landscape. 
• Establish and maintain strong client relationships; communicate regularly with Center clients; coordinate with partner organizations and outside counsel. 
• Implement effective systems to manage and track compliance inquiries and ongoing compliance matters. 
• Work collaboratively with the Litigation team to integrate compliance support into our provision of legal services and provide support to other aspects of the U.S. Litigation team’s work, as needed. 
• Represent the Center at public events, conferences, and coalition meetings. 

Compensation: The annual salary for this position begins at $165,000 and scales commensurate with experience. This salary reflects a position based in New York City or Washington, D.C. This salary will be subject to a downward locality adjustment if authorization is granted to work outside the location listed in this posting. Note that most of the salaries listed on our job postings reflect New York, NY salaries, where our National offices are headquartered.

Union Status: This position is not covered by the Center’s collective bargaining agreement.

FLSA Exempt Status: This is an exempt position.

Benefits:

• Health: The Center provides a comprehensive health insurance plan with no in-network deductible and best-in-class reproductive healthcare coverage, including infertility. The Center also offers Dental and Vision coverage. 
• Well-being: The Center offers resources to help prevent and recover from burnout through different programs that enable mental, physical, and community well-being. The Center provides generous leave, including paid parental leave, personal days, vacation, and sick leave. We are closed the last week of December to allow staff to spend winter holiday time with their loved ones.
• Investment: After the first year of employment, the Center will contribute 7.5%* of your annual salary to a 401(k) (*applicable only in US and Kenya).

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Center is committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff. We strongly encourage people from all communities to apply. If you are excited about this role but unsure about whether your experience aligns with the job description, we encourage you to apply. You may be the right candidate for this or other roles. To learn more about the Center’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, please visit Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | Center for Reproductive Rights.

Center policy on visa sponsorship for U.S.-based positions: Applicants for employment in the U.S. must have valid work authorization that does not now and will not in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S. by The Center for Reproductive Rights.

•  Member in good standing of the bar of New York or DC based on the office where the attorney is based. If not currently admitted to that bar, the candidate must be a member in good standing to another state's bar and agree to become admitted within eighteen months of their start date to the bar of New York or DC based on the office where the attorney is based. Membership in multiple jurisdictions is a plus. 
• At least seven (7) years of post-law-school legal experience. 
• Demonstrated expertise in healthcare law; experience providing direct compliance advice to clients and undertaking complex legal analysis of state laws and regulations; experience on abortion-related legal matters and/or experience in the reproductive rights, health, and justice movement is a plus. 
• Excellent research, writing, and oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex legal issues to non-legal audiences in a clear and succinct manner. 
• Strong organizational and time management skills, including ability to handle multiple tasks and meet multiple deadlines simultaneously, and to provide rapid responses to client inquiries in a fast-paced and rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.  
• Ability to maintain high level of expertise in relevant substantive law. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to effectively communicate, delegate, and supervise junior attorneys and paralegals on a project basis. 
• Strong commitment to the Center’s mission, purpose, and values, along with experience or knowledge of reproductive rights legal issues, reproductive justice, racial justice, or other human rights, civil rights, criminal law, or social justice issues.  
• Demonstrated commitment to inclusive equity work and incorporating inclusive equitable principles into legal, programmatic, and partnership work.