Front Desk and Operations Manager

A little about us!

Our vision is to live in a world where people have the right to move and resettle across borders with dignity and respect. We work towards this vision through our mission: defending immigrants against deportation, promoting community education and empowerment, and engaging in policy advocacy. We also work towards this vision internally by building a horizontal, consensus-based organization.

Our team: We started in 2013 with a team of 1.5 and now are 19 (2 based in San Jose and 17 in San Francisco). Our majority POC staff and board of directors are diverse in their migration backgrounds, and extremely supportive of each other. What brings us together is our dedication to our work, each other, and the larger movement for immigrants’ rights.

Our work: We operate on three levels: direct legal representation, policy advocacy, and community empowerment and education. Staff at Pangea participate in traditional nonprofit legal advocacy – zealously advocating for immigrants in their removal proceedings and appeals. We also act as movement builders – working with clients, their families, grassroots organizers, legislators, and media to create systemic change. Our goal for representation is not only to achieve positive legal outcomes for each client, but also to provide our clients with opportunities for politicization and social transformation, thus advancing the larger movement for immigrant justice.

Our offices: Pangea’s main office is located in downtown San Francisco, near key immigration offices, including the detained and non-detained immigration courts, ICE, USCIS, and the asylum office. Our San Francisco office is also within a few blocks of muni and BART. Pangea’s Santa Clara County office is located in the San José Unified School District office, allowing us to partner with and serve parents, teachers, and students.

Our internal work: Pangea is more than a job; it’s an opportunity to become a director and share ownership in an organization that reflects the values we want to see in the world. Over the last 12 years, we have built an organization where everyone receives equal pay, authority is delegated by consensus, and everyone’s responsibilities are equally important regardless of organizational role. All employees serve on 1-2 organizational “hubs” that help run, build, and strengthen our organization. After 9 months of employment, new employees are voted on to become co-directors of the organization and voting members of at least one hub. We are committed to continuing to develop our organizational model guided by our social justice ideals, and we invest significant time in its upkeep and growth.

We are hiring a Front Desk Receptionist and Operations Manager based in our San Francisco office.

Job Title: Front Desk Receptionist and Operations Manager

Primary Responsibilities

• Create a warm and welcoming atmosphere as the first point of contact with diverse community members, clients, government officials, funders and other partners
• Receive and respond to a high volume of community phone calls, schedule consultations, and provide referrals
• Staff the front desk from 9am-5pm – in person – from Tuesday through Thursday and Mondays on a rotating basis
• Provide general administrative support, process mailings, and deliver files to court
• Work with the Development team to manage the organization’s individual giving operations and support other development operations
• Participate in Pangea’s Operations “Hub” and ensure that the organization’s operations run smoothly
• Help to maintain and grow Pangea as a democratically-run organization

Required Skills and Experience

• Fluent in spoken Spanish and English
• Experience working as a receptionist or similar role
• Highly organized and able to prioritize time

Bonus Skills and Experience

• Fluent in written Spanish and English
• Experience working at an immigration office
• Experience working with survivors of trauma
• Experience with non-profit development work

Alignment with Pangea’s Points of Unity

We are looking for someone who can relate to and embody our Points of Unity. These are the internal

organizational principles that our team created together in 2015, and we frequently turn to them when creating new policies or making difficult decisions.

• We believe that all people are equal in rights and should be free to move. We dream of a world without borders.
• We were created to fill a gap in free and low fee deportation defense services.
• We recognize that education, legal empowerment, and policy advocacy are essential to changing perspectives around migration and migrants’ rights.
• We believe in the oneness of all people and we embrace the common humanity of every person; our interactions are guided by love.
• We treat every person we meet as an individual with a unique story.
• We are committed to excellence and providing high quality services.
• The law is a living document. Its flaws do not constrict us. We use it strategically to ask boldly for the best for our community.
• We are positive and solution oriented. We value fresh attitudes, innovation, and creativity. We challenge conventional thinking in order to redefine what is possible.
• We practice humility. We listen, learn, reflect, evaluate, and grow.
• We value our team’s individual and collective well-being. We create mechanisms to support well-roundedness and our team’s mental, physical, and spiritual health.
• We recognize a tension between serving as many people in need as possible, taking challenging, legally complex cases, and valuing our own health and well-being. We strive to maintain a balance between these three goals.
• We are committed to equity regarding compensation, responsibilities, and shared ownership.
• We strive to create an organization that is both financially sustainable and autonomous.

All about benefits and compensation.

First 9 months: The first 9 months at Pangea are considered a “sponge” period. During this time, an employee receives and absorbs significant training and orientation around our horizontal model. During the sponge period, an employee receives evaluations at three-month intervals, is a non-voting member of the team, and receives the same salary as all other teammates (currently $80,000/year).

After 9 months: After successfully completing the sponge period, an employee is voted on as a full member of the team. Their title is updated to that of Co-Director, and they get voting rights.

In terms of benefits:

• Staff have a 4-day work week (Mon-Thurs) and our physical office is closed Fridays.
• We offer health insurance through Kaiser (Silver Plan) at no cost to staff, and cover 50% of dependent premiums.
• We contribute up to $2,400 to Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA) to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses.
• We contribute up to $3,500 to Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (DCFSA) to help cover eligible childcare and dependent care expenses.
• We have a Simple IRA plan with an automatic 2% employer contribution.
• We offer commuter benefits.
• We pay for professional membership fees, trainings, coaching, and staff development.
• Our vacation benefits start at 12 days in the first year and increase with tenure up to 20 days per year.
• We close our office for 13 holidays a year, as well as a week over the winter holidays.

Fluent in spoken Spanish and English