Labor Standards Enforcement Manager

The Workplace Justice Lab @ Northwestern University tackles inequality and worker exploitation by supporting, strengthening, and fostering innovation in government and by building the membership and leadership bases of worker centers, unions and other worker justice organizations. The Workplace Justice Lab @ Northwestern University works in collaboration with sister organizations the Workplace Justice Lab @ Rutgers University and the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California.

We are hiring someone who will join Beyond the Bill team to add capacity to the labor standards enforcement work we do at the federal, state, and local levels.
● Beyond the Bill, a core program of the Workplace Justice Lab, works with local, state, and federal labor agencies to develop more strategic and innovative approaches to labor standards enforcement. Our goal is to raise job quality across low-wage,
high-exploitation sectors and promote strategic enforcement and co-enforcement as central strategies to reduce employer noncompliance with the law.
● At Beyond the Bill, we lead cutting-edge research projects on labor violations by geographic area, race, ethnicity, gender and more. We offer customized state and local strategic enforcement research, training, in-depth planning and technical assistance, and we design and facilitate strong collaborations between agencies and worker justice organizations.
● Beyond the Bill convenes powerful communities of practice among government agencies interested in strategic enforcement and also among worker justice organizations, coalitions and advocates interested in thinking together about how to leverage labor policy and enforcement structures at the local and state level to drive structure back into low wage sectors and build worker organizations. All of our work is in deep partnership with worker justice organizations on the ground and in coalition with other national organizations committed to this work.

Key Job Qualifications

This position will be a key member of the Beyond the Bill program. We are looking for someone:

• ● with significant experience working within or partnering extensively with government
  agencies, especially related to labor standards, health and safety, or civil rights
  enforcement.
  ● who has experience and passion for projects promoting economic justice, workers rights,
  and/or policy solutions to improve exploitative, low-wage work.
  ● who has project management experience and is comfortable directing multiple projects
  across different geographies and time zones.
  ● who is comfortable with research and is a strong writer.
  ● who has experience with creating and implementing training curriculum.
  ● who has experience building relationships with diverse sets of stakeholders.
  ● who has a PhD or terminal masters degree

Key Job Responsibilities

The key responsibilities of the Labor Standards Enforcement Manager will include:

• ● Work with the Beyond the Bill program to advance labor standards enforcement
  ● Anticipate emerging needs and identify opportunities to improve labor standards
  enforcement across the U.S.
  ● Lead relationship management for a number of partnerships with diverse constituencies,
  including public agencies, worker centers, unions, and legal nonprofits.
  ● Draw on their in-depth knowledge of government, worker rights enforcement, and/or
  government/community collaborations to provide expert technical assistance, training,
  and capacity-building support to strengthen strategic enforcement efforts and
  co-enforcement partnerships.
  ● Lead and/or contribute to research, reports, and practical briefs that document and share best practices, innovative enforcement strategies, and new workers’ rights policies
  across jurisdictions.
  ● Oversee research to continue to identify and benchmark best practices for effective enforcement strategies.
  ● Support Beyond the Bill’s communities of learning and practice.
  ● Collaborate on identifying new and continuing funding sources.
  ● Potentially supervise student interns, research assistants, and/or fellows.
  ● Resolving complex problems that require creativity, a deep understanding of government, and adept partnership building will be a regular part of this role.

This is a full-time position with an initial one-year appointment, with annual reappointment subject to mutual agreement and funding availability. This position will be performed remotely
and the candidate can live anywhere in the United States. The position will involve travel to conferences and trainings a few times a year, which will be reimbursed.

To Apply
Submit your resume and cover letter with the subject line “WJL position” via email to
workplacejusticelab@northwestern.edu