Executive Director

The Rome Group; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 175,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent benefits

Job summary

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri in St. Louis, MO, seeks an Executive Director to lead a staff of ~120 attorneys, social workers, paralegals and professionals across five offices, with overall responsibility for strategic planning, program development, and an annual budget of about $18 million.

The ideal candidate is a lawyer with substantial management and fundraising experience, able to strengthen external relations, diversify funding, reform structures, and advance access to justice across

Qualifications

• Must be a lawyer with significant, successful management experience.
• Experience leading multi-office organizations and fundraising.
• Ability to develop strategic plans and reform org structure.
• Strong communications and external relations.

Responsibilities

• Oversee ~120 staff across five offices and ensure effective program development and oversight.
• Lead strategic planning, budgeting (approx. $18M) and fundraising activities.
• Represent LSEM to service-area partners, funders and the broader access-to-justice community.

Skills

Leadership

Fundraising

Strategic planning

Communication

Legal background

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Job description

Executive Director

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

Celebrating Seventy Years of Providing Free Civil Legal Help for Low-Income Families.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Inc. ("LSEM"), one of the nation’s most comprehensive and successful civil legal services providers for low-income people and communities, is seeking an Executive Director. Reporting to a 27-member, community-based Board of Directors, the Executive Director will lead, manage, and inspire a staff of approximately 120 deeply committed attorneys, social workers, paralegals, and other professionals, in 5 offices serving 21 counties in eastern Missouri. The Executive Director will engage in strategic planning, program development and oversight, the development and implementation of an annual budget of approximately $18 million, and fundraising. As the external face of the organization, the Executive Director represents LSEM across its service area in Missouri, as well as among legal service providers and equal justice advocates across the US.

LSEM is a strongly rooted, financially stable, highly valued, legal services provider with an extraordinarily talented staff. With the retirement of its long-time Executive Director, this leadership transition is viewed optimistically as an opportunity to make some important changes in focus and operations. LSEM’s mission has expanded and its programs require enhanced alignment and cohesion. Management reform is a top priority, and the next Executive Director will be expected to provide wise and experienced leadership to implement beneficial action in the near term. The future for LSEM is compelling, both in terms of achieving its mission in Eastern Missouri, as well as in providing leadership for the access-to-justice movement nationally.

The next Executive Director of LSEM should be a lawyer with significant, successful management experience, that can be applied to address the challenges facing the organization, which include: improving communications; developing a renewed, relevant strategic plan with clear programmatic priorities; reforming the organizational structure and improving management systems and procedures to best implement the strategic plan; enlarging and diversifying funding streams for LSEM; applying technology to advance the cause of access-to-justice; and expanding and leveraging the engagement with community allies to alleviate poverty, combat social injustice, and resist the reversal of diversity, equity and inclusion policies and practices.

The anticipated salary range for this position is $175,000 - $225,000 annually and will be determined commensurate with relevant experience and strength of qualifications. The position comes with excellent benefits. The main offices of LSEM are located in downtown St. Louis with satellite offices in Union and Hannibal, MO.

Application deadline: November 20, 2026.

Timothy McFeeley, Partner

Alycia Johnson, Managing Associate

Lisa Landis, Senior Search Coordinator

Isaacson, Miller

https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/legal-services-eastern-missouri/executive-director

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri is an Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes applicants from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences.