Global Officer, Grant Acquisition

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 25 years, IJM has pioneered the work to protect vulnerable people from violence. As we grow to expand our impact to protect 500 million people from violence by 2030, we are seeking a Global Officer, Grant Acquisition to provide strategic guidance and technical expertise to IJM’s pursuit of institutional funding worldwide.

The role sets and upholds the global approach to acquiring institutional grants, empowering cross-regional teams with clear policies, standards, and resources for pre-positioning, proposal development, and shared learning. The Global Officer partners with regional portfolio managers and activation leaders to set annual strategic workplans; identify and prepare for high priority opportunities; and build local capacity to develop excellent proposals.

Situated within Global Programs, this senior position plays a critical leadership role in aligning IJM’s grant acquisition approach with programmatic priorities and resourcing needs across the portfolio.

This position is hybrid in the Washington, DC area or remote in the US and reports to the Global Director, Grant Partnerships.

Responsibilities:

Leadership and Management

• Design IJM’s grants business development approach to align with global activation and program strategies, informing resourcing decisions, roles definition, staff recruitment, and strategic planning initiatives;
• Foster greater understanding and enthusiasm among leaders and key staff of the role of institutional partnerships in advancing and expanding program strategies;
• Coach and advise relationship owners and program teams in developing, coordinating, and implementing institutional partnership development strategies, and on pre-proposal readiness, design, stakeholder mapping, and donor profiling;
• Facilitate internal debriefs and after-action reviews for grant funding proposals; present learnings to leadership; and
• Contract and oversee external consultants for grant acquisition related initiatives.

Strategy, Knowledge Development & Implementation

• Serve as strategic advisor during regional planning cycles, partnering with relationship managers and donor engagement teams, ensuring accurate representation of program needs and alignment with funding strategies;
• Advise the Global Director on organizational acquisition targets, working closely with the Global Grants Finance Lead to determine grant revenue targets and provide regular grant forecast updates;
• Define needed grants acquisition capabilities for the organization, delineating needs at global, regional, and local levels;
• Implement a service model for grant acquisition support provided by the Global team for internal customers; and
• Ensure value of services delivered through proactive and systematic stakeholder feedback mechanisms.

Networking & Partnership

• Build strong internal networks with relevant Global Programs leadership, Country Directors, Business Development staff, and regional programs and MERL points of contact to integrate and communicate grant acquisition priorities;
• Facilitate and/or participate in proposal design workshops as requested by regional staff; and;
• Represent IJM externally with consortium partners, donors, and institutional partner forums and networks.

Policies & Procedures

• Develop, disseminate, train on, and oversee global policies and standards for grant acquisition;
• Oversee implementation and maintenance of IJM’s Go/No-Go decision-making process and requirements;
• Reinforce application of internal policies and external best practices during regional proposal development;
• Liaise with the Salesforce team to ensure the system is optimized to track and report on funding opportunities; and
• Oversee opportunity data visibility across all regions, working with regional staff to adopt and update the system.

Training and Development

• Train relevant staff as need on proposal development responsibilities, tools, practices, and enterprise technologies;
• Lead and mentor grant acquisition hires on matrixed teams across the organization; and
• Lead a Community of Practice for IJM business development and other interested staff.

Documentation, Reporting & Data Management

• Collect, analyze, and report to leadership on industry trends, internal proposal learnings, and donor feedback;
• Circulate monthly reports from Salesforce to global stakeholders with updates on current acquisition efforts; and
• Create new internal reporting and communication formats as needed and requested by leadership.

Requirements:

• 10+ years’ experience in leading successful grant acquisition efforts from governments, corporations, foundations and multilateral agencies;
• Experience in program design, grant or project management, and monitoring and evaluation required;
• Experience business development, consortium building, and pre-positioning with other INGOs required;
• Experience living and working in a cross-cultural setting required;
• Experience designing, managing, or leading proposal processes for similar programmatic areas preferred, such as counter-trafficking, gender-based violence, and/or criminal justice system strengthening;
• Master’s degree strongly preferred. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be accepted as a satisfactory substitute for the specific education and experience listed above;
• Demonstrated ability to manage a high-volume, deadline-driven workload, discern among competing priorities, and deliver results under pressure;
• Demonstrated ability to lead and execute systematically at the global level, empowering regional and national staff to problem solve and manage their grants;
• Strong problem solving and project management skills with high attention to detail;
• Outstanding writing, editing, and communication skills;
• Demonstrated ability to set, execute, and advise teams on grants business development strategy;
• Ability to analyze and synthesize large amounts of information and produce relevant, strategic recommendations;
• Ability to conduct training presentations and coach others in a capacity building context;
• Ability to effectively manage multidisciplinary proposal teams within a diverse, matrixed global organization;
• Knowledge of donor funding landscape, priorities, and requirements;
• Adapts quickly and willingly to meet the needs of a dynamic portfolio;
• Excellent interpersonal and customer-service skills, with high self-awareness;
• Determines priorities and allocates time effectively, balancing between strategic projects and ad-hoc support requests;
• Communicates and interacts respectfully and effectively with people from other cultures, religions, and geographies; and
• Willing to travel internationally at least 2-3 times per year.

Critical Qualities:

• Mature Christian faith as defined by the Apostles’ Creed;
• Self-starter with strong initiative;
• 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 Conduct. Parallel to technical competence, recruitment, selection, and hiring decisions will give due emphasis to assessing the candidates value congruence and thorough background, police clearance, and reference check processes.