Program Directors (WNC Health & Economic Opportunity Program)

WNC Health & Economic Opportunity Program: Program Directors 

Eastern Region: Avery, Burke, McDowell, Mitchell, and Yancey counties

Southern Region: Henderson, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania counties

Pisgah Legal Services (PLS) is a community-based non-profit legal aid agency governed by a local Board of Directors.  Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina (WNC), Pisgah Legal Services provides free civil legal assistance to low-income people in WNC. The organization currently has offices in Asheville, Brevard, Burnsville, Hendersonville, Highlands-Cashiers, Marshall, Newland, and Rutherfordton.  With over 100 dedicated staff, including over 30 attorneys plus program staff, and an active group of 300 volunteer attorneys, the program provides free services to nearly 20,000 people per year to meet their basic needs, primarily in the poverty law areas of housing, public benefits, domestic violence prevention, health care, immigration, and consumer law. 

Nature and Location of Position: Pisgah Legal Service is introducing a new program, the WNC Health and Economic Opportunity Program (HEOP) to support our mission in 18 Western North Carolina counties as part of a multi-year grant funded expansion of anti-poverty work within the broad areas of free tax preparation/tax credits and outreach/enrollment for Affordable Care Act health insurance.  Counties serviced include:  Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, McDowell, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania and Yancey.  The WNC HEOP is designed to have long-term impact through two main priorities: (1) reduce the child poverty rate in each WNC county and (2) increase the insured rate through quality, affordable health care coverage in each WNC county. The program will work in conjunction with the entire PLS legal aid staff to support expanding free legal assistance to help a growing number of low-income people each year to solve problems related to basic needs, particularly housing, domestic violence, health care, and insufficient income.  

There are two Director positions available: one in the Eastern Region, which covers McDowell, Yancey, Mitchell, and Avery counties; and one in the Southern Region, which covers Henderson, Polk, Rutherford, and Transylvania counties. Work will be done primarily within those counties and at offices within those counties, as well as from home. 

Responsibilities 

Pisgah Legal Services is seeking a Program Director to manage the expanded work of HEOP, a collaborative model of partnering poverty law legal services to address the Social Determinants of Health with non-legal ACA health insurance enrollment work and federal tax return work. The enhanced program will involve considerable community outreach and education to inform non-tax return filers that it is in their interest to file tax returns and avail themselves of the child tax credits, the earned income tax credits, and the ACA advanced premium tax credits.

Passion for promoting justice and overcoming barriers facing low-income people, being a creative and zealous staff member and a team-player and demonstrating commitment to achieving lasting results for clients and low-income communities are all important to this challenging role. By ensuring that the lowest-income people in Western North Carolina have increased incomes and access to health care, we will increase opportunities for positive outcomes at the individual and community levels. 

General Responsibilities

• Oversee regional aspects of program, staff and volunteers.
• Supervise a team of 2-5 staff building the program in the region. 
• Engage in issue spotting and holistic service delivery for the client community and/or which seek to effectuate systematic change in conditions that adversely affect the client community. 
• Help to administer major grant funding to implement this expanded and enhanced program.
• Maintain a small tax preparation and health insurance enrollment caseload. 

Outreach

• Implement a regional outreach plan to reach thousands of families who could benefit from HEOP services. 
• Engage community leaders and partner organizations that serve children, develop key community relationships and partnerships, and recruit volunteers.
• Provide education, outreach and trainings to constituents of partner organizations.
• Support and guide outreach staff. 

Tax Preparation and Health Insurance Enrollment

• Serve as regional expert in both tax preparation and health care enrollment in order to support staff and volunteers in their work. 
• Pass and maintain the certification to become a Healthcare Navigator/Certified Application Counselor provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
• Pass and maintain Advanced Tax Preparer, Intake/Interview and Quality Review, Volunteer Standards of Conduct, and Site Coordinator certifications through the IRS VITA Program on an annual basis. Trainings and support will be provided. 
• Work with individuals in one-on-one appointments to support health insurance enrollment or tax preparation. Program services may be offered in person, virtually via Microsoft Teams or Zoom, or a combination of the two.
• Work with Tax Credit Advocate and Health Justice Advocate staff to build out and support tax clinics, drop-off services, one on one appointments, and offering services within the community. 

Qualifications

• Commitment to PLS’ mission, values and vision.
• Experience in Affordable Care Act Enrollment preferred.
• Experience in tax preparation preferred.
• Availability and flexibility for early evening and weekend hours, especially during peak ACA enrollment (Nov 1-Dec 15) and tax filing season (Feb-Apr 15).
• Ability to work under time-constraints and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated commitment to serving low-income people and communities.
• Comprehensive understanding of Social Determinants of Health.
• Possess socio-economic and cultural sensitivity and ability to communicate with persons in crisis or under stress.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work well with teams and independently.
• Ability to work collaboratively with in a variety of nonprofit and health care stakeholders.
• Fluency in Spanish would be an asset. 
• Detail-oriented, accurate and organized.
• Desire and ability to work in a fast-paced environment. 
• Ability to prioritize and handle multiple tasks simultaneously. 
• Highly proficient in Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. 
• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal). 
• Valid driver’s license.

Required Certificates

• Upon hire, must be able to pass certification to become a Certified Application Counselor / Navigator for the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, and pass the Advanced VITA Tax Preparer exam.

Salary/ Benefits

Salary ranges from $44,639 -$76,372 depending on experience.  

Our salary scale is predetermined based on the years of relative professional work experience that qualify for this position to ensure equity in pay.  Pisgah Legal Services is a Living Wage Certified Employer in 18 WNC counties:  Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Clay, Cherokee, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, McDowell, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania and Yancey.

Employees are eligible for medical, dental, vision and life insurance coverage the 1st of the month following the hire date.  Pisgah Legal Services (PLS) pays 100% of the Employee and 50% of the Dependent Cost for BCBS Medical and Dental coverage.  PLS pays 50% of the Employee Coverage Cost for BCBS Vision coverage.   PLS pays 100% of Long-Term & Short-Term Disability Coverage, Life Insurance Coverage of 5x base salary + an additional $15,000 Life & AD&D Coverage.  401k Retirement Plan after 6 months of employment.  Additional Fringe Benefits includes Paid Parental Leave, 12.5 Company Holidays, 22 Paid Leave Days, Paid Sabbatical Leave for Attorneys, Employee Assistance Program for entire household and a great working environment with work life balance!

To Apply

Submit your online application with resume and cover letter through our Career Center located at https://www.pisgahlegal.org/jobs

PLS invites all applicants to include in their cover letter a statement about how your unique background and/or experiences might contribute to the diversity, cultural vitality, and perspective of our staff and legal services practice. 

Pisgah Legal Services is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. Prospective and current employees are encouraged to discuss ADA accommodations with our Human Resources department.

COVID-19 Safety Information:

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Pisgah Legal Services has worked tirelessly to promote evidence-based practices across our entire organization. With this in mind, as of January 4th, all Pisgah employees will be required to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccine.   Employees who are unvaccinated or have an approved exemption will be required to provide verified weekly COVID-19 test results.  We currently have COVID-19 safety precautions in place such as working remotely as our business allows, requiring face masks while meeting with clients or co-workers, providing outdoor meeting areas to meet with clients while wearing masks, limiting onsite visits by meeting virtually or by phone with clients.  Pisgah Legal Services also conducts temperature checks at our location upon arrival.