Innovation Associate

POSITION DESCRIPTION

ABOUT LSC:

Established by Congress in 1974 the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is the countrys single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans. LSC currently funds roughly 129 independent nonprofit legal aid organizations with more than 800 offices throughout the nation. LSCs mission is to promote equal access to justice and provide grants for high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income Americans.

JOB FUNCTION:

The Innovation & Learning Associate helps LSC develop test evaluate and share new approaches to delivering civil legal services and expanding access to justice. Working at the intersection of legal services technology data research learning and program improvement the Associate connects legal aid organizations LSC subject-matter experts project leads and technology partnerstranslating practical problems into approaches that can be researched tested improved and shared.

The Associate works with LSC staff legal services organizations and stakeholders to understand current workflows identify where technology or process redesign may help research available approaches and translate promising ideas into problem statements use cases pilot plans requirements and measures of success. The Associate coordinates participants and vendors supports pilots and user testing analyzes evidence and turns findings into improved practices learning activities field resources and proposals for future work.

The Associate independently advances assigned work within priorities and substantive direction established by project leads. The Associate may serve as the routine point of contact for grantees vendors consultants and internal partners; prepare strong first drafts and recommend practical approaches; keep work moving; and identify questions requiring senior decisions. The Associate does not set project strategy or technical architecture and is not expected to code solutions. The role does require curiosity and practical technical fluency: the ability to learn and test unfamiliar tools work with structured information and data and stay informed about advances in AI and other technologies that may affect civil legal aid and access to justice.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Opportunity Discovery and Project Development

• Works with legal aid organizations LSC staff and other partners to understand service-delivery challenges user needs existing workflows technology constraints and opportunities for improvement.
• Conducts environmental scans literature and market research and reviews of prior LSC grants and evaluations to identify promising practices unmet needs and transferable lessons.
• Maps workflows and translates needs into clear problem statements user stories use cases requirements learning questions and practical measures of success.
• Contributes research and first drafts for concept notes pilot designs scopes presentations proposals and related materials; researches potential partners tools and comparable initiatives.

Pilots Testing and Adoption

• Supports technology and service-delivery pilots from planning through testing and closeout by maintaining workplans schedules participant communications materials and follow-up.
• Coordinates routinely with vendors and implementation partners within an approved scope; communicates user needs and project feedback prepares meetings and materials tracks deliverables and open questions and routes contractual technical or strategic issues to the responsible lead.
• Helps shape and test content learning materials prototypes data products and other tools; documents usability concerns improvement opportunities and supports iterative revision.
• Plans and conducts user research demonstrations feedback sessions and structured testing with legal aid staff and other intended users; synthesizes findings into concrete recommendations for the next iteration.
• Supports participant recruitment onboarding training peer-learning activities office hours and technical-assistance follow-up for pilots and innovation initiatives.
• Develops or curates practical adoption resources such as prompt libraries examples FAQs and implementation guidance that help staff and learning communities use new tools safely and effectively.

Evaluation Learning and Field Resources

• Supports rapid-cycle evaluation through baseline and follow-up surveys interviews focus groups participation and adoption measures and selected workflow benchmarks.
• Collects cleans organizes and analyzes qualitative and quantitative information; identifies patterns implementation barriers limitations and practical implications.
• Captures participant questions examples and implementation challenges and uses them to improve training technical assistance tools and future pilots.
• Turns project findings into clear usable products including playbooks implementation guides case examples issue pages FAQs briefs presentations and other resources for the civil legal aid field.
• Works with the Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) program and other LSC offices to identify useful lessons from grants evaluations technical-assistance projects and grantee experience and make those lessons easier to find understand and apply.

Portfolio Coordination and Institutional Learning

• Maintains clear workplans and organized project records across assigned initiatives; tracks time deliverables decisions risks and follow-up by project.
• Documents recurring field needs promising ideas potential partners and funding opportunities approaches tested results barriers reusable resources and questions for future work for review with supervisors and relevant project leads.
• Manages multiple assignments within an agreed portfolio workplan flags competing demands early and seeks direction when priorities conflict.
• Supports periodic portfolio reviews by documenting incoming requests project results funding sources and reusable outputs.

Competencies Required

Innovation and Problem Solving

• Demonstrated ability to move from an ambiguous problem to a structured inquiry testable approach and useful work product.
• Strong curiosity about how legal services are delivered and how technology process redesign data training and organizational change can improve that work.
• Practical user-centered judgment: able to distinguish an interesting technology from a worthwhile solution and to incorporate feedback without losing sight of the underlying problem.
• Comfort experimenting learning from imperfect results and documenting both what worked and what did not.

Execution Collaboration and Communication

• Excellent project management coordination organization and follow-through with the judgment to communicate independently with vendors grantees consultants and internal partners within established direction.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including the ability to prepare clear concise briefs requirements resources presentations recommendations and correspondence for varied audiences.
• Ability to work effectively across offices and disciplines build productive working relationships without direct authority and recognize when an issue requires escalation or a senior decision.
• Ability to manage multiple assignments within an agreed workplan make sound day-to-day decisions and adapt as projects develop.

Research Evaluation and Learning

• Experience with applied research user research evaluation service design or continuous improvement including qualitative methods and basic quantitative analysis.
• Ability to synthesize information from multiple sources identify patterns translate evidence into practical recommendations and communicate limitations accurately.
• Ability to design and support learning activities and create resources that help varied audiences adopt and apply new tools and practices.

Technical Fluency

• Ability to learn unfamiliar tools test workflows systematically document findings and explain issues to technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Comfort working with spreadsheets structured information and data and engaging credibly with vendor implementation teams and technical staff.
• Sound judgment about privacy security human review responsible AI and other considerations that affect the safe use of technology in legal services.

COMPETENCIES REQUIRED:

Education and Experience

• Bachelors degree and approximately five years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. A relevant graduate degree may substitute for up to two years of experience.
• Relevant experience may include:

• Demonstrated ability to:

• Experience in civil legal aid access to justice or legal-services technology is preferred but not required. The successful candidate must demonstrate the curiosity judgment and commitment necessary to learn the field quickly.
• Familiarity with generative AI automation data or other emerging technologies and their responsible user demonstrated ability to develop that knowledge rapidly.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office and collaboration tools.
• Experience with the following is helpful:
  • Learning-management systems
  • Project-management platforms
  • Business intelligence tools
  • Data analytics and visualization tools
  • No-code or low-code tools

Salary and Benefits:

Salary Range: $93250- $97017

This is an 18-month term positionfunded through a private grant. Continued employment beyond the initial term is contingent upon the availability of additional funding and organizational need.

Employees in this position are eligible for LSC benefits consistent with the terms of employment.

Application Procedure:

A cover letter and résumé must be included. To have your application considered please answer all application questions and provide all requested information.

Note: If you need an accommodation during the application process please notify OHR at

LSC is an equal opportunity employer.