Director of Digital Resources, Products & Engagement

The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) seeks a digital experience design expert to launch a new department to work in collaboration with program, external partners, and technology staff to help chart the way in creating a comprehensive, trustworthy, and accessible global digital platform that will equip displaced people and their advocates, in more countries than ever before, with the legal resources necessary to secure a pathway to safety for themselves and their loved ones. In this new position, the Director of Digital Resources, Products & Engagement must be a complex systems thinker, consultative thought partner, and a digital product and technology professional.

With offices in New York, Washington, DC, Berlin, Amman, and Beirut, IRAP has an innovative model of developing and disseminating critical legal resources to provide displaced persons with information they need to make informed decisions about their lives.

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 of people 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.

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.

IRAP’s Audacious Idea

More than 84 million people globally have been forced to leave their homes, fleeing war, persecution, and – increasingly – the effects of climate change. For displaced people seeking lasting refuge, legal representation dramatically increases the chances of safe resettlement, yet the legal resources available to refugees are often fragmented, outdated, and, in many locations, nonexistent.

The responsibility to improve access to cross-border refugee rights sits outside the scope of any one government. This is the void that IRAP is proposing to fill. Over the next six years The Audacious Project, a collaborative funding initiative, will push forward IRAP’s efforts to equip 2.5M displaced people around the world with legal resources and pathways to safe resettlement by 2027 will be significantly amplified whether those pathways are through legal services or through knowledge and self-advocacy.

At this exciting moment of growth within IRAP, the Director of Digital Resources, Products & Engagement will be a catalyzing advisor and implementor of systems allowing IRAP to fulfill their goal of providing access to critical legal resources to refugees and displaced persons. The successful candidate understands that central to a successful outcome is holding accessibility at the core of their work. The Director of Digital Resources, Products & Engagement will bring an awareness of the barriers and factors that impact how resources are accessed by displaced people and their advocates including internet reliability and availability, cultural norms and language, reading levels and technology skills, and security and/or fraud exposure. The key to success is creating an end-to end, high impact, digital campaign experience and trainings that reach IRAP’s target audiences to achieve the desired outcomes.

The Digital Resources, Products & Engagement Director

Reporting to the Deputy Executive Director overseeing IRAP’s Legal Services, Learning & Evaluation and Pro Bono departments, the Director of Digital Resources, Products & Engagement will lead the way in defining and building a new department for IRAP. The Director will be tasked to bring unexpected thinking to the design experience to conceptualize and design digital content and collateral supporting core IRAP programs across the IRAP network, working closely with colleagues and partners, providing vital up-to-date knowledge resources and other legal empowerment tools for the benefit of IRAP’s client base, legal partners, and other members of the refugee legal aid and humanitarian ecosystem.

The successful candidate will work closely and in tandem with IRAP’s IT department, which will be charged with building the technological solutions used on the platform. In coordination with the program departments, the Director will develop and ensure accurate, useful, and accessible content. The Director of Digital Resources, Products & Engagement’s work and the global digital platform will function as a hub for information coming into and being shared out of IRAP. Incorporating the perspectives of country specific legal experts, legal services teams, legal and humanitarian advocacy partners, and clients themselves, the Director of Digital Resources, Products & Engagement will apply innovative tech solutions in making information and resources accessible to those who need it the most. The Digital Resource Director will oversee all programmatic components of the new platform, including content and accessibility of these tools and resources. This position will support the growth of IRAP’s existing legal resources and tap innovative technological solutions for IRAP clients and community partners in an expanding global network.

Ideal candidates will have a strong understanding of product planning and interaction design and bring a sensitivity for user experience and technical skilling. They will also bring at least five (5) years of success managing complex projects with multiphase interaction on ambitious timelines and experience developing and managing online resources for a public-facing audience ideally in a multinational and multicultural frame. Compelling candidates for this position must be highly motivated, capable of self-directed work, be both holistic in their thinking as well as detail-oriented and able to work collaboratively across teams and departments. The Director must exhibit a keen sense of responsibility and enjoy working with multiple demands, shifting priorities and constant change.

The successful candidate will be a consultative thought partner and strong relationship builder. Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are necessary. Strong communications skills are absolute musts. Experienced communicator within a community-based education model is ideal. Most importantly, a personal and professional commitment of sensitivity to client empowerment and to working with clients of all backgrounds, including LGBTI clients, survivors of trauma, and other vulnerable populations.

Role & Responsibilities

Developing and Managing Digital Tools and Systems

– Design creative campaigns using technology to achieve outcomes that deliver an effective user experience that meets both client expectations and organization objectives.

– Oversee the maintenance and expansion of IRAP’s online resource library including self-help guides, Know Your Rights materials, and other empowerment tools.

– Support the program-side expansion of IRAP’s chatbot, an online tool where refugees can access automated information and screening for legal pathways to safety.

– Support the development of virtual and offline resources for partners, including a library of training curricula and tools to share expertise and communicate about issues and trends.

Data Democracy and Strengthening Community Access to Data

– Create and monitor adherence to systems and style guidelines that ensure that all resources are accurate, up-to-date, and consistently and coherently presented.

– Deliberate and persistent advancement of accessibility and usability of all resources, considering users with disabilities, low-internet access, limited formal education or literacy and varied language skills.

Leading and Partnering

– Work collaboratively across Legal Services sub-departments, Policy, Litigation, Climate, IT, Communications and Monitor and Evaluation to gather input and feedback related to client and community needs and identify associated technology solutions.

– Work with the Monitoring and Evaluation team to incorporate user feedback into platform improvements.

– Coordinate with refugee-serving organizations and other NGO partners to identify legal resource needs for development on the platform.

– Work with the Communications team to develop best practices and systems for disseminating the resources to those who need them.

– Work closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation team to gather and aggregate data available through the platform to identify patterns and trends relevant to IRAP’s resource-provision, legal aid and advocacy work.

– Liaise with third-party vendors.

Qualifications

In addition to the abilities to achieve the above core responsibilities, ideal candidates will possess many of the following qualifications and attributes:

– Experience developing and managing online resources for a public-facing audience.

– Familiarity with implementing digital tools used to simplify, visualize, and share complex information, including overseeing a website and social media. Experience with Google Analytics and SEO is a plus. Proven experience and success managing complex projects on ambitious timelines.

– In-depth knowledge of Salesforce products and their functionalities.

– Exceptional communication and collaboration skills with a proven ability to lead cross-functional teams of program content experts, other creatives, and technologists to take ideas from concept to execution.

– Strong organizational and time management skills, including the ability to work individually in a self-directed manner and as part of a team with varying roles and priorities.

– Clear understanding of how technology can be used to organize and disseminate information and reach broad audiences.

– Sensitivity to client empowerment and to working with clients of all backgrounds, including LGBTI clients, survivors of trauma, and other vulnerable populations.

– Experience and knowledge of engaging displaced people and migrants online is a plus, including making resources accessible, available in multiple languages, and using relevant and appropriate technical solutions and communication channels.

– Experience working in a legal setting or with understanding of legal client issues, including ethical and privacy issues, is a plus.

– Excellent English communication skills are required, and additional languages related to IRAP’s client populations are highly desired.

Location

The Director of Digital Resources, Products & Engagement would ideally be located within commutable distance to any of the IRAP offices, however for the exceptionally qualified individual, remote work is a possibility.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for the Director of Digital Resources, Products & Engagement is $120,000 – $140,000. IRAP offers a generous benefits package including 100% of all premiums for medical insurance, retirement options, parental leave, generous paid time off, sabbaticals, exciting professional development opportunities and a generous wellness reimbursement (additional detail at https://refugeerights.org/get-involved/careers).