President At International Refugee Assistance Project

The Organization:

IRAP’s Model:

Driven by the experiences and needs of displaced people, IRAP’s work integrates legal aid, strategic litigation, policy advocacy, media advocacy, and legal information to uphold and advance the rights ofpeople seeking safety around the world. With offices in the United States, Jordan, Lebanon, and Germany, and an extensive network of pro bono attorneys, student advocates, and partners, IRAP works to maximize the reach of its global legal assistance and advocacy.

IRAP is an adaptive organization built to respond to rapidly evolving human displacement events. The organization collaborates with clients and partners to identify gaps in support for displaced people that IRAP is positioned to fill through its direct legal services, legal knowledge sharing, and systemic advocacy.

IRAP’s Impact:

Since the organization’s founding in 2008, IRAP has:

● Provided free legal aid to more than 40,000 clients from over 100 countries.

● Achieved litigation victories benefiting, and standing to benefit, more than 493,000 displaced

people and their families.

● Engaged in policy advocacy that has protected and expanded pathways to safety in the United

States for approximately 370,000 people.

● Reached nearly 204,000 people through its legal information website offering digital self-help

legal resources in multiple languages.

● Connected with more than 29,400 people seeking information about pathways to safety through

its automated chatbot.

● Built a network of more than 6,300 pro bono attorneys and student volunteers advocating for

displaced people’s rights.

Mission:

IRAP is a global legal aid and advocacy organization working to create a world where refugees and all people seeking safety are empowered to claim their right to freedom of movement and a path to lasting refuge. Everyone should have a safe place to live and a safe way to get there.

Looking Ahead:

Over the next five years, IRAP will scale its coordinated legal aid and advocacy model to help an estimated 2.5 million displaced people worldwide access pathways to safe resettlement. Building on the organization’s commitment to client-centered legal assistance and responsive, accessible legal information, IRAP is working to fill gaps in services for displaced people through a robust digital legal resources platform and an expanded global network of partners in new geographies.

Learn more about The Audacious Project and our efforts to multiply our impact:

https://refugeerights.org/audacious

The Role:

Location: New York City, NY; Washington, D.C.; Berlin, Germany; Amman, Jordan; and/or Beirut, Lebanon

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (Becca Heller)

Direct Reports: Chief Development Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Director of Organizational Culture

Serving as an integral member of the Executive Leadership Team, the President will partner with the CEO in leading and advancing IRAP’s mission in alignment with the organizational values and priorities set forth in IRAP’s current strategic plan, as well as steering future strategic planning processes.

They will be responsible for providing executive oversight, guidance, and leadership to the teams that manage all internal operations, organizational culture, and development, as well as supporting the CEO and Board of Directors on external matters, including fundraising, public engagements, and media.

The President will lead the direction and coordination of IRAP’s strategic plan and future planning process, as well as day-to-day organizational and financial management strategy, in pursuit of achieving the organization’s strategic goals.

In addition to the strategic components of the position, the President will play crucial roles in internal communications, bridging between teams/departments and coordination throughout the organization. They will be charged with establishing, improving, and implementing more sophisticated, efficient, and transparent decision-making, communications, and information sharing systems throughout the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategy and Leadership

• Partner with and support the CEO in the overall oversight and management of the organization.

• Lead the implementation of IRAP’s current strategic plan; hold direct responsibility for

developing and managing an accountability framework to evaluate progress, including building

cross-departmental synergies and improved coordination.

• Develop future strategic planning processes for the organization, defining strategic goals and

objectives that will inform current and future decision-making.

• Cultivate the values and support the culture work of IRAP, centering anti-oppression and DEIA.

• Drive and support change management across the organization.

• Manage organizational structure and serve as thought partner for organizational strategy and

growth, including timing/planning of significant initiatives.

• Facilitate effective and transparent decision-making, coordination, and communication on the

Executive Leadership Team, and serve as a bridge between the Executive Leadership Team and

the rest of the organization.

• Improve and maintain a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, learning, and

commitment to quality, that is centered on transparency, collaboration, trust, and

interconnectedness.

• Provide leadership and guidance to the Executive Leadership Team.

• Cultivate a strong and transparent working relationship with the CEO and Board of Directors, and ensure open communication about operational, development, and culture performance.

Team Development/Leadership

• Promote and model a culture of communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing across

departments, teams, geographies, and at all levels of the organization.

• Promote a culture of continuous improvement, decision-making and accountability, knowledge,

and learning that values a commitment to quality.

• Support the development and mentoring of staff using a supportive, inspirational, and collaborative approach.

• Ensure staff members receive timely and appropriate training and development.

• Support the Executive Leadership Team in establishing and maintaining high performance standards on their teams, as well as achieving their own professional development goals.

• Lead an overall effort to ensure that operating practices support an inclusive and equitable work environment, including by supporting IRAP’s dynamic remote work structure, and ensuring

policies are employee-focused, support staff ability to thrive, reduce the effects of burnout on

staff, and ensure values are expressed in everyday practices.

External Relations & Resource Development

• Supervise the Chief Development Officer and support the development and implementation of a

short- and long-term fundraising plan, with a focus on supporting growth and sustainability;

prioritizing new opportunities for expansion/outreach that include campaigns around particular

issues; utilizing the Board of Directors and their networks; and expanding size/diversity of IRAP’s

major donor pool, including by demographics, geography, and areas of interest.

• Work with the Chief Development Officer to evolve the department to match the needs of a

growing organization, including staffing planning, strategic planning and DEIA advancement,

and other structural changes, including implementation of a new CRM.

• Support the development department and CEO in building and, as deployed by the fundraising

team, developing donor relationships by engaging, cultivating, and stewarding as needed.

• Represent IRAP externally in strategically-aligned external forums, including publications,

conferences, speaking engagements, and media.

• Effectively communicate IRAP’s vision, mission, and strategy to internal and external

stakeholders.

Operations

• Supervise the Chief Operating Officer and serve as a thought partner for the Operations Team

Leads to ensure that IRAP’s infrastructure is functioning at the level needed to support IRAP’s

organizational, staff, and programmatic growth.

• Work with the CFO to advise the CEO, Board, and other leaders on key resource allocation,

financial planning, budgeting, cash flow, investment priorities, and policy matters.

• Working closely with the CFO and other appropriate organizational leaders, align annual budget

and long-term financial plans to key strategic organizational priorities.

Organizational Culture and DEIA

• Supervise the Director of Organizational Culture and collaborate on building a robust department that serves IRAP’s resiliency, change management, DEIA, and professional development needs.

• Ensure that DEIA goals in the organization are met and that the needs of staff at all levels are

heard and appropriately responded to.

• Work with the Director of Organizational Culture and other staff on maintaining a high level of

organizational ethical responsibility, including ensuring the widespread adoption of practices

and procedures developed internally such as ethical vendor procurement policies and best

practices for staff input.

The Person:

Skills & Experience

• Minimum 15 years of mission-driven experience, including 5+ years in an international non-

profit leadership role and clear progressive development of the skill-sets outlined below.

• Significant work experience in multiple countries or regions and a proven ability to lead in a

multicultural, multinational, multisite setting.

• Experience engaging in and/or working directly on forced displacement issues and migrant

pathways (through personal lived experience as a refuge or forced migrant, humanitarian relief

efforts, legal advocacy, or other relevant engagements) would be highly beneficial.

• Experience working with governments and multilateral institutions such as the United Nations

would be beneficial.

• Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills and the ability to effectively

interface and communicate with senior leadership, IRAP’s Board of Directors, and staff.

• Prior experience leading teams through a period of fast, successful growth, and creating systems

and building infrastructure to support that growth.

• Passion for excellence; prior success facilitating transformative organizational evolution.

• Experience successfully developing and executing an advanced fundraising strategy that builds

upon the strengths and assets of a global organization while staying mission focused.

• Record of innovative and sustainable fundraising from corporations, high net worth individuals,

and foundations, with proven results.

• Strong interpersonal skills and direct experience building relationships in international,

multicultural environments.

• Solutions-focused with strong, creative problem-solving skills; results-oriented with a proven

ability to work under pressure and solve problems in a fast-paced environment

• Strong negotiation and conflict resolution skills

• Superb attention to detail and organizational skills.

• Strong mentoring, coaching experience to a team with diverse levels of expertise.

• Superior management and leadership skills; ability to uplift, influence, and engage direct/indirect reports, peers, and staff.

• Energetic, flexible, adaptable, collaborative, and proactive; a team leader who will listen and hear, and can positively and productively impact both strategic and tactical organizational initiatives.

Values Alignment

● Commitment to IRAP’s mission to create a world where refugees and all people seeking safety are empowered to claim their right to freedom of movement and a path to lasting refuge.

● Demonstrated passion for, and personal investment in/accountability around, actively living

IRAP’s values centered on anti-oppression and DEIA, safety, humility, and adaptiveness –

throughout internal and external communications and relationships, work, and decision-making.

● Ability to build collegial, productive relationships with team members, donors, and institutional

partners, through the lens of organizational values.

Languages:

● Fluency in English

● Professional proficiency in Arabic, German and/or the languages of our clients would be

beneficial

Compensation:

● Salary range: $247,000 to $300,000 based on experience.

● IRAP offers a generous benefits package including 100% of all premiums for medical insurance,

401k employer match, parental leave, generous paid time off and a wellness reimbursement

(additional detail at https://refugeerights.org/get-involved/careers))

Travel:

• 20% travel, including annual visits to each of IRAP’s offices.

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access

IRAP is actively committed to being an equitable and anti-racist organization. We believe that diversity is

critical to fostering a strong workplace and serving our clients well. We strongly encourage applications from

people with lived experiences in the communities that we serve, members of other marginalized

communities, and individuals whose identities are underrepresented in the legal profession.