Statewide Manager of Justice Initiatives

Title: Statewide Manager of Justice Initiatives

Pay Grade: Senior Management 2

Starting Pay: $115,943.04 - $171,381.87

Departmental Mission Statement: The Office of Access, Diversity and Fairness (“OADF”) is led by the Chief Access, Diversity and Fairness Officer (CADFO) and is tasked with the overall responsibility for the Court’s policies and practices related to access, fairness, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The following six departments report to and are supervised by the CADFO: the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Office of Access to Justice and Court User Experience; Office of Court Services and Law Libraries; Office of Language Access; Office of Transcription Services, and Office of Alternative/Online Dispute Resolution Programs. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential components of dignified and respectful treatment. The creation of the OADF reflects The Trial Court’s commitment to ensuring that court-involved individuals, whether they are parties to a case, victims, attorneys, jurors, or court employees, are treated with dignity and respect, and are given the information necessary to understand and navigate court systems, policies, and practices.

The Office of Access to Justice and Court User Experience (A2J Office) supports the Trial Court and the communities it serves by acting as a court wide information source for A2J related needs. Through partnership and collaboration with the Trial Court and community stakeholders, the A2J office seeks to improve the experience for court users by implementing, assessing, and making improvements to programs and initiatives designed to enhance access to justice.

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE:

https://www.mass.gov/orgs/executive-office-of-the-trial-court

Notes:

• Applicants must submit a cover letter.
• Prior Massachusetts Trial Court experience strongly preferred.
• Travel will be required throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as needed.

• The position will remain open until filled, but interested candidates are strongly encouraged to apply by Friday, January 24, 2025, after which review of applications will begin.
• This position is designated Management and is covered by the Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual.

Position Summary: Working in the Office of Access to Justice and Court User Experience, the Statewide Manager for Justice Initiatives is responsible for managing and advancing the A2J Office’s involvement in initiatives to develop, standardize, simplify, and improve the accessibility of Trial Court forms, self-help, and instructional materials, as well as all related processes. This involves collaborating with Trial Court Departments, the IT department, and the various department under OADF. This work involves the various case types in each Trial Court department as well as basic operational knowledge of technology. The Statewide Manager also supports the overall mission and initiatives of the Office of Access to Justice and Court User Experience. This position will work closely with all Massachusetts Trial Court Departments, offices within the Executive Office of the Trial Court, and other internal and external stakeholders.

The ideal candidate will be a strong project manager with a background in leading complex projects with multiple stakeholders that will effectively advance access to justice and DEI goals within the Trial Court. This role requires excellent communication, collaboration, and project management skills, as well as an understanding of technological tools to enhance project workflow and analysis.

Supervision Received: Receives assignments and supervision from the Director of Justice Initiatives and Court User Experience or their designee. Performs duties that advance OADF and Office of Access to Justice and Court User Experience organizational priorities, in accordance with all established best practices.

Duties:

• Acts as a liaison for the Office of Access to Justice and Court User Experience and collaborates with key groups, including the Trial Court Departments, Court Service Centers and Law Libraries, the Office of Language Access, Information Technology Department (IT), Office of Workplace Rights and Compliance, and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, to develop standards and practices related to forms that best serve court users, with a particular emphasis on addressing the needs of self-represented litigants.
• Facilitates the coordination of all aspects of the development of forms, self-help, and instructional materials, and ensures compliance with standards and best practices.
• Works with Trial Court Departments, IT, and others to develop thoughtful form project workflows.
• Provides supervision to the Program Manager and other designated support staff on forms and self-help initiatives and related matters.
• Serves on committees, working groups, and initiatives to further the overall work of the Office of Access to Justice and Court User Experience.
• Tracks and manages the status of forms throughout the form creation and review process.
• Updates and maintains the Trial Court’s Forms Design Requirements and related standards and maintains a form inventory and index system.
• Serves as a thought leader and resource for form creators and form committees for various departments, and others in addressing simplification and standardization of forms and related processes.
• Trains content creators and form developers on plain language best practices, ADA compliant design, workflow development for form projects and related matters.
• Keeps apprised of current forms issues, policies, and technological changes in form creation and makes recommendations for use in the courts, when appropriate.
• Tracks federal and state requirements for compliance matters and ensures compliance.
• Ensures forms and self-help and instructional materials are easily understood by applying plain language principles in form creation.
• Designs a testing protocol. Develops and implements feedback mechanisms and strategies to gather user feedback and analyze findings with the goal to improve processes.
• Creates a communication strategy regarding forms and related processes for external and internal stakeholders.
• Travels throughout the Commonwealth to conduct site visits, and participate in meetings, seminars, as well as conferences.
• Performs related duties as required.

Job Competencies: All applicants must be able, through the interview process, to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the following areas:

Ethics and Values Communicates and demonstrates the ethics and values of the Trial Court.

Mission Understands, upholds, and communicates the Trial Court missions.

Applied Knowledge Understands research, information services operations, specialized tools, applications, and software, with some understanding of the various court departments and divisions.

Problem Solving Ability to successfully address data issues, draw conclusions, and make recommendations.

Customer Service Conducts oneself in a courteous and professional manner towards both Trial Court employees and the public.

Performance Measurement Understands the value and importance of performance measures as a basis for both individual and departmental assessments.

Commitment to Diversity Promotes an environment of diversity through understanding, respect, and positive communication with persons of varied economic and cultural backgrounds.

Collaboration Works with others cooperatively, demonstrating a willingness to be a team player, and contributing to a work environment that focuses on shared departmental goals.

Continuous Learning Demonstrates a commitment to continuously improving himself or herself through professional development.

Minimum Requirements: These are the minimum requirements necessary to apply for the position of Statewide Manager for Justice Initiatives in the Office of Access to Justice and Court User Experience:

Education and Experience:
A law degree or other graduate degree and Six (6) years of applicable work experience involving legal access, project management, and operations will be considered. Equivalent combinations of education and/or experience will be considered for satisfying the required minimum requirements.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• Demonstrated commitment to protecting and promoting the rights of people who are representative of Trial Court employees and court users, including people with disabilities, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, people from immigrant communities, and/or people with low-income.
• Project management experience, including leading teams from project conception to completion and evaluation.
• Understanding and ability to use project management software, collaboration tools, and other relevant platforms.
• Working knowledge of ADA compliance and practices.
• Proven ability to produce high-quality written content.
• Working knowledge of the principles of plain language, readability, and accessibility.
• Experience working in a legal or judicial environment (e.g., learning and development, training, or other diversity, equity, and inclusion-focused work within a judicial or legal environment)
• Experience and knowledge related to the creation, review, and management of legal forms and other written materials.
• Superior collaboration skills and the ability to work effectively with all levels of the organization.
• Exceptional communication skills and customer-service skills, with experience in explaining complex access to justice and DEI issues, or legal concepts and procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to collect and analyze information and data and make appropriate recommendations.
• Ability to work efficiently, independently, and as part of a team.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bilingual and/or Multilingual ability in ASL, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cabo Verdean Creole, Portuguese, Mandarin, Arabic, strongly preferred.
• Experience and knowledge in the use of computers and software, such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Adobe Experience Manager Forms Designer, eFile, HTML5 is strongly preferred.