Phone Services Advocate

The National Domestic Violence Hotline operates 24/7. The advocate responds to incoming calls from intimate partner violence victims, supporters, the public, and service providers to support and shift power back to those affected by relationship abuse. The advocate provides anonymous and confidential services including information, emotional support, referrals, and options to increase safety and to work towards creating a world where all relationships are healthy and free from violence.

This is a remote position, to be eligible you must live in Austin, TX.

Training Information

The Hotline will provide 4 weeks of hybrid training. The first week of training follows a hybrid model (in-person and virtual combined). The following weeks will be a virtual training via Zoom.

Dates: Our training is from Monday, June 3rd to Friday, June 28th, 2024.

Schedule: Monday through Friday from 9:30 am – 6:00 pm (CST)

Please note: Training is mandatory, you will need to attend every day and stay on camera. We cannot approve time off during training.

Compensation: $20.09/hour, plus shift & language differential (if applicable)

• Shift Differential (3:45 pm - 9:45 pm Monday - Friday): $1.00 per hour
• Shift Differential (9:45 pm - 7:15 am Monday - Thursday): $2.00 per hour
• Shift Differential (7:15 am - 9:45 pm Saturday and Sunday): $1.75 per hour
• Shift Differential (9:45 pm - 7:15 am Friday, Saturday, Sunday): $2.50 per hour
• Bilingual Differential: $1.25 per hour

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide advocacy services with a social justice and racial equity lens based on The Hotline’s Crisis Intervention Model, including safety assessment, education, and referrals to contacts as appropriate.
• Utilize critical thinking and strategic questioning skills to assess and appropriately respond to contacts.
• Consistently and accurately collect and record required caller information into the database system.
• Actively maintain a basic understanding of the dynamics of intimate partner violence and healthy relationships.
• Respond with compassion and awareness to people of various diverse backgrounds and identities.
• Utilize a social justice and racial equity lens, to communicate with integrity with all members of The Hotline staff and contacts.
• Utilize resilience strategies to deal with stressful situations, and to navigate contact crisis situations.
• Comply with The Hotline’s confidentiality policy and respect the confidentiality of all.
• Attend required meetings and training, including, but not limited to, advocate team meetings and in-service training, which may be scheduled outside the advocate’s normal work hours.
• Adhere to the assigned schedule, which requires availability during inclement weather and assigned holidays to ensure 24/7 hotline coverage.
• Be accountable and dependable, as it pertains to remote work responsibilities, and in-person activities as needed.

Education & Experience Required

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• A minimum of one year of continuous work experience in customer service, social services, call center, or related work.
• Experience with computers is required. Proficiency in Microsoft Windows, Office 365 (including Microsoft Outlook).

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Working knowledge of intimate partner violence and healthy relationships.
• Demonstrated ability to respond with empathy and compassion to victims in crisis situations, as well as with sensitivity to diverse cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds, values, attitudes, and languages.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Team-oriented, respectful, and approachable to contribute toward building strong working relationships.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bilingual in English and Spanish

Other Requirements/Working Conditions

• This role is a primarily remote position based in Austin, TX.
• Must have a home workspace that is confidential, secure, and free from distraction.
• This position may be required to spend some time in office.
• Must maintain standards of confidentiality related to agency information.
• Prolonged sitting or standing using a keyboard, phone, and computer.

All work is informed by, and conducted through adherence to, the values of The Hotline:

• Integrity: We conduct every aspect of our work to the highest ethical standards and hold ourselves accountable to them. We value transparency and staunchly safeguard the confidentiality of those we serve.
• Thought Leadership: We are committed to learning constantly, developing innovative practices and evolving strategies as necessary to achieve our mission and vision.
• Excellence: We value performance and results. We aspire to be the best and to embrace the challenge to exceed expectations.
• Collaboration: We work as a team within the organization and with a wide range of partners outside of it, in the belief that only through these partnerships will we achieve the broadest impact.
• Social justice: We value diverse perspectives and strive to incorporate an anti-oppression lens in all aspects of our work.
• Caring: We conduct our work with compassion and in the spirit of inclusion, and we meet all individuals with respect and without judgment.
• Survivor-centered: Our work begins and ends with the interests of survivors of relationship abuse in mind.

This description only includes essential functions of the job. These statements are not intended to be construed as exhaustive of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required for this position. Employees will be required to follow and any other job-related instruction and to perform any other job-related duties required by the job objectives, supervisor, and mission and values of The Hotline. This description does not modify any employee’s at-will status and is not a contract for continued employment of any duration.