Justice in Recruitment Project Coordinator at the Center for Migrants' Rights

Organization Description

Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (“CDM” or Center for Migrants’ Rights) is the first transnational migrant workers’ rights organization based in central Mexico and dedicated to improving the working conditions of migrant laborers in the United States. Since 2005, CDM has used transnational advocacy to combat the abuse of migrant workers occurring all along the migrant stream. With offices in Zacatecas and Oaxaca, Mexico and Baltimore, Maryland, CDM employs four complementary strategies to win improvements in working conditions for migrants. Through worker outreach, education, and leadership development; intake, evaluation, and referral; policy advocacy; and litigation and case support, CDM removes the U.S.-Mexican border as a barrier to justice for migrant workers and their families.

CDM’s team has worked in over 100 towns in more than 23 states throughout Mexico. CDM’s U.S.-based policy office brings transnational migrant worker voices to critical debates around immigration reform and improving workplace conditions. Our programs bridge the gap in migrants’ access to justice by empowering workers all along the migrant stream and providing critical support to advocacy efforts in both Mexico and the U.S. www.cdmigrante.org

Position

CDM is seeking a highly motivated, self-starting individual to coordinate the Justice in Recruitment Project (“JIR”), a ground-breaking workers’ rights initiative, for a two-year period. The JIR is a multi-source, investigative effort to uncover the players and processes involved in low-wage labor recruitment along the Mexico-U.S. migrant stream. By identifying migrant labor recruiters, employers, and their networks and by assessing the trends in their interactions and practices, the JIR will generate previously unavailable information about pre-employment and post-employment conditions of migrant workers. Using this data, the Coordinator will provide policy analysis and outreach to policymakers, migrant workers and their allies in order to:

• Push for improved regulation in the foreign labor recruitment industry;
• Hold employers and recruitment firms accountable for workers’ rights violations in the recruitment process;
• Enhance migrant worker advocacy on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border;
• Empower migrant communities through know-your-rights education.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

The Project Coordinator will:

• Coordinate efforts on the Justice in Recruitment Project across all of CDM’s program areas
  • Organize & conduct informational surveys with migrant workers in sending communities and other migrant worker advocacy organizations
• Analyze qualitative and quantitative data for information relevant to the JIR project
• Use an online database to produce reports on survey results
• Work with a programmer to maintain and customize database (note: knowledge of computer programming is NOT required)
• Produce a policy report on foreign labor recruitment
• Seek out opportunities for collaboration with partner organizations and policymakers
• Develop multimedia “know your rights”’ materials and trainings for migrant workers and their allies on recruitment issues
• Participate in “know your rights’’ trainings in sending communities
• Make recommendations for legal advocacy needs with respect to recruitment practices
• Work with an outside firm to design an electronic, interactive map of recruiter relationships
• Send regular progress reports to the Executive Director and program staff
• Support grant-writing and reporting activities for the JIR project
• Keep CDM staff abreast of legal developments in recruitment-related policy and laws with potential impact on CDM clients

Coordinating the JIR is a unique opportunity to be a vital agent for change in support of migrant workers’ rights. The Coordinator will enjoy a great deal of flexibility to develop creative solutions to recruitment-related workers’ rights abuses, including debt peonage, visa fraud, and human trafficking. Through this work, the Coordinator will lead CDM’s efforts to set new precedents for the administration of foreign labor recruitment programs in the U.S. and worldwide.

Given the binational nature of the JIR, the Coordinator position will be split between CDM’s Policy office in Baltimore, Maryland and CDM’s headquarters in Mexico City. The Coordinator could choose to live in either location. The position requires a two-year commitment to the project.

Qualifications

An ideal applicant should possess the following qualifications and qualities:

• A Juris Doctor or equivalent law degree is preferred, but not required. In the alternative, a master´s degree in public policy or related field; or a Bachelor of Arts or Science or licenciatura along with at least 3 years of related experience
• Demonstrated commitment to social justice
• Ability to work independently and take initiative
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Spanish
• Excellent research and writing skills
• Strong presentation skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Quantitative and Qualitative analysis skills
• Interest in technology as a social justice tool
• Basic experience with multimedia / online information dissemination tools will be helpful (ex: blogging, twitter, facebook, GIS, Publisher, Photoshop)
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Cross-Cultural competency
• Legal and/or policy experience highly desirable
• Willingness to travel (between the U.S: and Mexico, and to migrant-sending communities in Mexico)

The position is available immediately. Applications will be accepted until position is filled. Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, writing sample and a list of three references, including their contact information, to info@cdmigrante.org. No phone calls please. Competitive salary with benefits.