Director of Operations

State of Washington Office of Civil Legal Aid; Washington; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

Washington State Office of Civil Legal Aid seeks a Director of Operations to oversee budget development, HR, regulatory accountability, and agency-wide operations. The role requires regular Olympia presence with hybrid/remote flexibility and occasional travel within Washington State.

The DoO reports to the Director and partners with program leaders to ensure efficient, equity-informed operations while supporting the agency’s mission to provide civil legal aid to low-income residents.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5–7 years of progressive financial and operations leadership.
• Ability to exercise discretion and sound independent judgment on organizational matters.
• Operate with autonomy, manage multiple priorities, adapt to changing needs, deliver results.
• Strong systems thinker with capacity to improve processes and cross-functional collaboration.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; proficient in MS Office tools.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate annual, biennial, and long-term budget planning and expenditure tracking.
• Develop budget requests and fiscal notes with leadership and program leads; liaise with legislative staff.
• Oversee procurement practices and vendor relations with a focus on equity.
• Ensure coordination across programs, contracts, and HR processes.
• Lead internal IT functions and liaison with other state agencies for outsourced IT.
• Promote continuous improvement and manage agency-wide initiatives as a project manager.
• Supervise central support staff and ensure consistent, efficient operations.
• Represent the agency in judiciary and cross-agency task forces and work groups.

Skills

Leadership

Discretion

Autonomy

Systems thinking

Written and verbal communication

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Position: Director of Operations

Agency: Washington State Office of Civil Legal Aid

Job Type: Permanent Full-Time

Salary: $140,000 - $155,000

Location: Washington State (location flexible; hybrid/remote work arrangements available)

Open: September 4, 2026

Close: Open until filled. Review of applications will begin on September 28, 2026.

This is primarily a hybrid/remote position, however, a regular presence in Olympia, Washington is required. In addition, this position requires occasional travel in Washington State for meetings and events.

Introduction

The Washington State Office of Civil Legal Aid (OCLA) is an independent judicial branch agency. Created with an understanding that the provision of legal aid services to indigent persons is an important component of the state’s responsibility to provide for the proper and effective administration of justice, OCLA’s mission is to secure, invest and oversee the use of public funding for civil legal aid to low-income people in Washington State and to ensure accountability for public funds dedicated to the purpose.

Since 2005, OCLA has administered and overseen general civil legal aid in Washington. Today the agency also supports legal aid to victims of crime and domestic violence, children in foster care, kinship caregivers, indigent tenants facing eviction, and individuals reentering society following completion of their terms of incarceration.

Consistent with The Washington State Supreme Court’s June 4, 2020, Statement to the Legal Community (Download PDF reader), OCLA acknowledges that it and its contracted civil legal aid providers operate in a law and justice system historically grounded in racism and that time and again has administered justice differentially depending on the racial identities of those involved. OCLA was an initial subscriber to the Washington Race Equity and Justice Acknowledgments and Commitments. As outlined in its Race Equity and Justice Statement of Purpose, OCLA is committed to being an active partner in carrying out the Washington State judicial branch’s commitment to ensuring equity and justice for people and communities throughout our state.

Find out more about OCLA here

Reporting to the OCLA Director, the Director of Operations (DoO) is responsible for budget development and tracking, human resources, regulatory accountability, and general agency operations. The DoO coordinates administrative processes to ensure alignment, consistency, effectiveness, and efficiency across the agency.

Responsibilities

• Coordination of annual, biennial, and long-term budget planning including assisting the OCLA Director and program leaders with overall agency and programmatic budget development and expenditure tracking.
• With the OCLA Director and program leaders, develop decision packages and fiscal notes, engaging with legislative staff and others to ensure effective and successful representation of the agency’s budget requests.
• Oversee standardized, equity-informed agency contracting and procurement practices.
• Ensure effective coordination of all programs, contracts, and vendor relations.
• Oversee human resources for the agency ensuring processes are consistent, equitable, and appropriately aligned with best practices.
• Lead internal IT functions and serve as the agency’s liaison to other state agencies for outsourced IT functions.
• Assist in leading a culture of continuous improvement throughout the agency and serve as a project manager for related initiatives.
• Supervise central support staff and ensure administrative work is coordinated across the agency to ensure consistent practices, efficient operations, and appropriate backups.
• Represent the agency in judicial branch and other task forces, work groups, and planning committee on matters that affect the agency’s core mission and responsibilities.
• Serve as OCLA’s primary liaison to other agencies for matters relating to budget and accounting and select human resources operations.
• Participation in OCLA’s Race Equity and Justice Statement of Purpose.
• Workeffectively as a critical member of a small team of professionals in a highly mission-driven environment.

This position will also perform other duties as assigned by the OCLA Director or the OCLA Director's designee. The position may work in consultation with other OCLA program staff, as needed, to support cross-program and agency-wide operations.

Required Qualifications

• A minimum of 5-7 years of progressive financial and operations leadership.

• Demonstrated ability to exercise discretion and sound independent judgment on matters of organizational significance.
• Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy, manage multiple priorities, adapt to changing organizational needs, and achieve results in a dynamic environment.
• Demonstrated systems thinker with the ability to strengthen organizational capacity by improving systems, processes, and infrastructure while enhancing cross-functional collaboration, and organizational effectiveness.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite applications, especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and SharePoint.
• Ability and willingness to periodically travel both in-state and out-of-state for work-related events

Desired Qualifications

• Familiarity with state government operations, risk management, personnel management, policy development, and budget administration.
• Skill in managing and leading teams, developing and monitoring budgets, facilitating group meetings, and solving complex operational problems.

• Experience working with diverse populations including racial, ethnic, linguistic, LGBTQIA2S+, disability, immigrant, and houseless communities.
• Knowledge and understanding of courts, court systems, administrative, and related law and justice systems that affect low-income people.
• Experience working within a remote environment.