Program Partnership Specialist, Regional

Who We Are International Justice Mission (IJM) is the global leader in protecting vulnerable people from violence around the world. Our team of over 1,200 professionals are at work worldwide in over 30 offices. Together we are on a mission to rescue millions, protect half a billion, and make justice unstoppable.

We are a global community that cares for one another. We believe that the way we work is as important as the results we achieve. We provide professional excellence with joy and celebration to all those we serve.

The Need For over 25 years, IJM has pioneered the work to protect vulnerable people from violence. 9 out of 9 times in the last decade, IJM’s Justice System Strengthening Projects have reduced slavery and violence between 50 and 85% for very large populations of people in poverty. As we grow to expand our impact to protect 500 million people from violence, we are seeking a Program Partnership Specialist to guide and coordinate the operational and financial processes that support management of a large portfolio of program partners across the assigned region. The Program Partnership Specialist will lead payment processes, coordinate a portfolio of funding strategies, and develop new methods and resources for tracking and reporting partner program implementation, results monitoring, and financial documentation. This role requires extensive coordination with stakeholders in IJM’s global teams, across teams including finance, risk and legal, programs, and philanthropy. In addition, this role also requires strong partnership and communication with partnership, program, and finance teams.

This position is based in the Washington, DC area and is available to be hybrid (onsite Tuesdays & Thursdays). It reports to Director, Regional Portfolio and requires current authorization to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position, now or in the future.

Responsibilities:

Strategy & Knowledge Development & Implementation:

• Work with in-country staff to conduct consistent and comprehensive onboarding of new partners, including development of new onboarding materials and requirements as possible;
• Revise and expand resources and processes to support partner due diligence and capacity assessments;
• Develop partnership operational crisis response action plans. Lead day-to-day implementation of a portfolio of multiple funding strategies; and
• Research and identify potential new funding strategies, developing new partnership models to propose to regional leadership, and coordinating operational processes for deployment of new partnership models.

Networking & Partnership:

• Manage relationships and communications with external payment vendors and funding management stakeholders;
• Coordinate contracting with new partners and contract updates with existing partners, including close coordination with program teams to draft partner scopes of work (SOWs) aligned with program objectives; and
• Actively engage global and regional risk and legal teams to assess and mitigate potential partnership risks through consistent risk management approaches.

Policies and Procedures:

• Evaluate partnerships for potential safeguarding risks, align IJM’s regional partnership processes with global safeguarding policies, and escalate safeguarding risks as appropriate; and
• Develop compliance guidance for funded partners, including those managing sub-partners.

Documentation, Reporting & Data Management:

• Diligently collect, organize, and track financial documentation from partners; and
• Design, set-up, and maintain a new regional partnership SharePoint for centralized partnership data tracking.

General

• Participation in IJM’s community of spiritual formation.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in International Development, Public Administration, Social Sciences, Business Administration, or a related field required;
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in program management, partnership management, grants management, compliance, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), or a related field;
• Experience working with NGOs of varying operational, financial, and programmatic capacities, including demonstrated ability to assess operational and financial risks and propose solutions for mitigation;
• Demonstrated experience managing organizational data systems, reporting processes, and knowledge management initiatives across multiple teams, stakeholders, or regions.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement policies, procedures, standards, or operational frameworks that support organizational accountability and effectiveness;
• Expertise in partnership data management, including data collection, administration, quality assurance, governance, and reporting; and
• Basic knowledge of donor compliance requirements, safeguarding principles, data privacy regulations, and audit-ready documentation practices.

Critical Qualities:

• Eager commitment to IJM's Core Values: Christian, Professional and Bridge-Building;
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to independently professionally communicate with external vendors and NGO partners across multiple countries;
• Self-starter with ability to independently build trust and relationships across multiple internal and external stakeholders;
• Disciplined with priorities;
• Strong interpersonal skills and self-awareness;
• Exceptional verbal and written communication;
• Flexible, collaborative and eager to support others;
• Effective team player who fosters collaborative environment; and
• Adept at creative problem solving.

Application Process:

Upload Resume, Cover Letter & Statement of Faith* in one PDF document.

*What is a statement of faith? A statement of faith should describe your Christian faith and how you see it as relevant to your involvement with IJM. The statement can either be incorporated into the cover letter or submitted as a separate document and should include, at a minimum, a description of your spiritual disciplines (prayer, study, etc.) and your current fellowship or place of worship.

What does IJM have to offer?

• Comprehensive Medical/Dental/Vision benefits
• Monthly commuter and parking benefits in the DC metro area
• Retirement benefit options
• Paid leave starting at 23 days
• 12 holidays (plus early release the day prior)
• Daily, quarterly, and annual community spiritual formation
• Robust staff care resources

IJM holds strict safeguarding principles and a zero tolerance to violations of the Safeguarding Policy, Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Policy, and Code of Ethics. Candidate selection is based on technical competence, recruitment, selection and hiring criteria subject to assessing the candidate’s value congruence and thorough background, police clearance, and reference check processes.

At IJM, we’re committed to building a diverse workforce through fair and equitable employment practices. IJM encourages people of any race, color, age, sex, marital status or political ideology to apply for employment. While we welcome everyone into this work, we truly believe that the work we are doing is God’s work, not our own, and practice spiritual disciplines together daily. That’s why we legally require under SEC. 2000e-1 [Section702] of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that all employees practice a mature orthodox Christian faith, as defined by the Apostles’ Creed.

IJM requires a background check, police clearance and thorough review of references with an employment offer and/or employment contract.