Global Lead for Social Trust, Center for Applied Learning and Impact Unit (NEW)

Who We Are

IREX is a global development and education organization. We strive for a more just, prosperous, and inclusive world—where individuals reach their full potential, governments serve their people, and communities thrive. With a projected annual portfolio of more than $100 million and more than 600 staff worldwide, we work with partners in more than 100 countries in four areas essential to progress: cultivating leaders, empowering youth, strengthening institutions, and increasing access to quality education and information.

IREX seeks a strategic, highly entrepreneurial, and results-driven Global Lead for Social Trust. This is an exciting opportunity to develop, identify, consolidate and promote IREX’s approaches to building social Trust. This role will be responsible for coordinating IREX’s organizational approaches to building social trust, identify and develop practical tools and approaches to building trust, and engage externally to promote and deepen the sectors commitment to effective strategies to building social trust.

The Global Lead will help IREX forge new partnerships to generate funds that support the advancement of IREX’s social trust work and represent IREX externally. The Global Lead will continually assess the competitive landscape for new opportunities to raise revenue in expanding IREX’s initiatives build social trust and respond to those opportunities with proposals for funds, partnerships, and thought leadership that strengthens the IREX brand. An agile and action-oriented leader, they will use a broad array of revenue generation methods including engagement with the philanthropic and corporate social responsibility (CSR) sectors.

The Global Lead for Social Trust conceptualizes the design of cutting-edge programs, interventions and technical products, bringing a strong technical base of knowledge grounded in research and practice; oversees, develops and/or sources trust and social cohesion methods resources and tools; and researches and evaluates the application of theories, methods and techniques to develop thought leadership products and support new business and strategic partnership development.

As part of IREX’s Strategy and Development Group (SDG), this position is located in the Center for Applied Learning and Research. The successful candidate will collaborate with IREX programs to accelerate learning from all activities that build social trust. They will work across IREX Groups and Units to integrate promising new approaches into other relevant programs and activities or IREX. The successful candidate will have a deep understanding of efforts to build social trust and a proven track record with developing effective partnerships. This role will combine strategy, external engagement, program design, and development, coalition and relationship building, fundraising, learning and measurement, and proposal development.

Are you the next member of our team?

Your Background & Skills

• Bachelor’s Degree in international development, community development, or related field, Master’s Degree preferred.
• 10 + years of progressive experience.
• Extensive and demonstrated experience working on issues of social trust and cohesion.
• Demonstrated experience documenting, analyzing and comparing different social trust and cohesion approaches and their applications in various contexts.
• A record of success as a forward-leaning, entrepreneurial, and adaptive leader within organizations
• Demonstrated experience carrying out research, evaluation and learning activities related to social trust and cohesion.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing programs.
• Demonstrated, established network of client, partner and practitioners in the field. Partnership experience between various sectors, including civil society organizations, private business, and/or government.
• Demonstrated research and thought leadership experience in the areas of social trust and cohesion.
• Excellent oral communication skills with the ability to present the results of efforts through visibility public speaking engagements, with broad and diverse audiences.
• Ability to provide high-level strategic guidance on building social trust and cohesion.
• Excellent research and technical writing skills and a track record of producing strong technical products.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills, high level of reliability, and track record of follow-through.
• Excellent oral communication skills with the ability to present the results of efforts through high visibility public speaking engagements, with broad and diverse audiences.
• Ability to interact effectively and inclusively with all levels of staff and management. Ability to work effectively across teams and drive collaboratively towards solutions.
• Demonstrated understanding of innovation methods to support learning and adaptation and learning.
• Demonstrated ability to plan strategically and creatively to meet specified objectives.
• Strong facilitation and capacity building skills.
• Ability to learn through feedback and collaboration with others across the organization.
• Ability to carry out evaluation and learning activities.
• Fluency in English required; proficiency in additional language(s) preferred.
• You must have unrestricted authorization to work in the United States.

Your Daily Tasks

• Lead the global development and integration of trust-building strategies across IREX’s portfolio of programs.
• Provide high-level support, advice, and guidance on building social trust and cohesion to IREX program teams and to other staff as needed.
• Lead the development of new initiatives to build social and public trust, both within existing and new programs.
• Serve as a senior technical advisor in initiatives to building social and public trust and provides highly responsive and forward-looking technical guidance to programs and initiatives across IREX.
• Lead research and applied learning around building social trust and cohesion.
• Design practical products for IREX program teams to integrate into project implementation for trust building.
• Generate thought leadership products (including articles, presentations, etc.) to increase IREX visibility on issues of social trust and cohesion.
• Represent IREX externally on topics of trust and cohesion.
• Support the development of indicators to measure IREX’s contributions to building trust and support monitoring, evaluation, and learning of IREX’s trust-building initiatives.
• Advise IREX programs on how to use program activities to build trust and cohesion.
• Support IREX’s trust-thrust in the Center for Applied Learning and Impact.
• Contribute to fundraising proposals for new initiatives focused on building trust and cohesion.
• Lead and implement new programs related to building trust and cohesion.
• Represent IREX to external stakeholders by speaking about trust building initiatives.
• Collect synthesize, curate emerging evidence, lessons, and insights from IREX activities and peer organizations and public and present through written publications and external engagement.
• Generate thought leadership products (including articles, presentations, etc.) to increase IREX visibility on issues of social cohesion and trust.
• Regularly shares with and learns from colleagues’ insights on best practices, approaches, lessons learned, industry trends and other relevant information to facilitate organization-wide collaboration.
• Oversee the development of written communications with key donors and/or stakeholders to ensure consistent strategic messaging. Helps coordinate messaging regarding various IREX trust and social cohesion focused initiatives.
• Seek opportunities to grow existing projects and captures new opportunities.
• Work closely across the organization to raise awareness of IREX’s trust-building work, identify opportunities for new programs and help generate donor support for those efforts.
• As part of IREX’s SDG, proactively shapes new business opportunities by initiating, creating, or co-creating together with Global Programs, and marketing new services and products in the trust-building portfolio of activities, establishing new strategic relationships, partnerships, and by building on existing relationships, partnerships, and programs.
• Lead and/or author complex proposal efforts which reflect global best practices, cutting edge approaches, research, and relevant insight; mentors other staff in leading and designing high quality proposals and concept notes.
• Work closely across the organization to raise awareness of IREX’s trust-building work, identify opportunities for new programs and help generate donor support for those efforts.
• Collect and coordinate marketing intelligence efforts with IREX leadership.
• Lead or contribute to the proposal strategy and technical design as individual expertise requires.
• Participate in the review process as requested. Contributes to fundraising proposals related to social trust and cohesion.
• Assign financial responsibilities and oversees work performed to ensure compliance and financial integrity.
• Accountable for the successful regulatory compliance of projects managed.
• Accountable for ensuring the team can articulate how trust-building initiatives align with organizational goals and objectives, especially related to the IREX 2025 strategy.
• Delegate relevant work and provides clear and measurable guidance.
• Partner with team members to co-create solutions, solve problems, and devise actions.
• Seek opportunities to encourage team members to create more efficient processes and workflows that improve overall program or project.
• Takes ownership of decisions and actions.
• Provide learning opportunities to team members to broaden and deepen individual skills.
• Create synergies across social trust and cohesion focused initiatives to improve coordination and communication both within CALI and with the rest of the organization.
• Other support duties as needed.

IREX will make reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008.

We conduct background checks on all successful candidates.

This position is eligible for Telework. The eligible employee is a regular, full-time DC-based staff who works from a worksite outside the DC office for one or more days a week.

This position is not eligible for Immigration Sponsorship.

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE

EOE – Equal Opportunity Employer

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/vets.