The Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice is seeking a Citywide Coordinating Producer for its Video Mitigation Unit (VMU). This unit specializes in creating short-form advocacy videos tailored for both pre- and post-conviction advocacy efforts. The Coordinating Producer will be working with the VMU team which consists of an attorney, filmmaker and production supervisor, and a mitigation specialist supported by student interns, legal clinic students, and pro bono volunteers.

The Video Mitigation Unit offers citywide support for cases that can benefit from video mitigation strategies to achieve favorable outcomes. The Coordinating Producer will be an expert in planning and executing mitigation videos from concept to distribution, as well as a specialist in video technologies. The role requires close collaboration with VMU staff members, while also necessitating the ability to independently organize, plan, and execute various video and non-video projects for development and marketing initiatives, such as emails, landing pages, and social media content.

This role also includes resource management and overseeing all activities related to the production of mitigation videos, which involves filming, sound mixing, and editing, in addition to collaborating with other members of the Video Mitigation Unit. This position may also supervise external contractors, such as editors, graphic designers, and animators, as necessary.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

Video Production and Coordination

• Collaborate with legal aid attorneys and social workers to create mitigation videos for cases.
• Interview, coordinate and assist in the preparation of clients, family members, experts and witnesses for their participation in the mitigation videos.
• Filming, sound mixing, storyboarding, and editing of mitigation videos.
• Manage post-production schedules.
• Develop training materials and resources to facilitate the national expansion of the video mitigation practice.
• Maintain the unit’s video project archive, ensuring proper management of data backups and the asset library.
• Oversee the creation of marketing and communication assets to support fundraising initiatives and external communications.
• Manage IT-related requirements for the team, including equipment sourcing and the administration of the intranet and cloud access controls.
• Research tools, techniques, and processes to enhance the group’s production workflows.
• Provide training for attorneys and staff on the creation of video mitigation materials.
• Participate in the training of criminal defense clinic law students both in the classroom and in practical field settings.
• Maintain VMU calendar and schedule all shoots and interviews, navigating often complicated and conflicting schedules of VMU core team, law school students, professors, volunteers, interns and video participants
• Occasional evenings and weekends

Professional Development and other duties as assigned

• Participate in continuous professional development both internally and externally
• Continuously learn about forms of bias in the workplace and demonstrate affirmative behaviors that support an inclusive work environment
• Other duties as assigned

TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field required; degree in Media or Communications preferred
• 3+ years of experience managing cross functional creative teams
• Experience in production of mitigation videos for criminal cases
• Expertise with post-production software [Adobe Creative Suite, Descript, Frame IO], virtual communication platforms, and other remote video capture workflows [OBS]
• Expertise at filmmaking: setting up shoots, filming, video, lighting, audio, and working with interviewees and interviewers to ensure quality
• Expertise with sound mixing and story development
• Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends, and off-site throughout
• Experience onboarding, training and supervising new members
• Strong people and interviewing skills
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with a team
• Experience presenting and leading training sessions on video mitigation
• Excellent communication, organizational, interpersonal and written advocacy skills
• Ability to multi-task and work on different projects within the unit

Preferred Qualifications:  

• Experience in and commitment to criminal defense
• Experience with networking within the video advocacy community
• Education in film/documentary production
• Fluency in a language other than English

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Please submit these documents as a single combined PDF when you apply via the LAS (Legal Aid Society) Recruitment Portal.

• Cover Letter
• Resume

SALARY TRANSPARENCY

The posting reflects the range of potential salaries for the role. The specific salary offers will be dependent on candidate qualifications, including collectively bargained salary steps for unionized roles.

Salary Range/ Salary: $82,000 – $88,000

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The leadership of The Legal Aid Society believes in attracting and retaining exceptional talent committed to serving our clients. We offer a generous benefits package including health insurance, paid vacation, disability, and life insurance, and more. Salaries for our unionized jobs are governed by our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Please visit our Careers page for additional information. Salary and benefits information will be available to applicants, when and if an offer is made.

Click here to read more about the benefits of working at The Legal Aid Society 

HIGHER EDUCATION AND LOAN FORGIVENESS

The Legal Aid Society is a qualified employer for the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This position allows an employee to take advantage of PSLF and other State and Federal loan forgiveness programs.

Additionally, employees who are New York residents may be eligible for assistance from New York state to assist with loan repayments, depending on years of practice. To learn more, click the links below.

studentaid.gov 

hesc.ny.gov/loan-forgiveness-programs 

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

The leadership of The Legal Aid Society is committed to a work culture of zealous advocacy, respect, diversity and inclusion, client-oriented defense, access to justice and excellent representation. We are dedicated to building a strong professional relationship with each of our clients, to understanding their diverse circumstances, and to meeting their needs. Our ability to achieve these goals depends on the efforts of all of us.

WORK AUTHORIZATION

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship for a work visa or permit. We are currently unable to sponsor employment visas or permits. (However, for citizens of Canada and Mexico, LAS will provide a letter documenting employment status that is needed to obtain a TN visa.)

HOW TO APPLY

All applications must be completed online. We do not accept paper submissions. Please visit our Careers Page to review all current job postings, and instructions on the application process. For technical difficulties or questions regarding this posting, please email jo**************@le*******.org.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer, The Legal Aid Society prohibits discriminatory employment actions against and treatment of its employees and applicants for employment based on actual or perceived race or color, size (including bone structure, body size, height, shape, and weight), religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity (one’s internal deeply-held sense of one’s gender which may be the same or different from one’s sex assigned at birth); gender expression (the representation of gender as expressed through, for example, one’s name, choice of pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice, or body characteristics; gender expression may not conform to traditional gender-based stereotypes assigned to specific gender identities), disability, marital status, relationship and family structure (including domestic partnerships, polyamorous families and individuals, chosen family, platonic co-parents, and multigenerational families), genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record, credit history, unemployment status, caregiver status, salary history, or any other characteristic protected by law.