Senior Director- Policy and Climate

IRAP is seeking a Senior Director for Policy and Climate to lead our Policy team, manage our Climate department, and coordinate IRAP’s global policy initiatives. A leader with a law or master’s degree in a relevant field and eight or more years of immigration-related work experience, with significant subject matter expertise in refugee law and policy as well as extensive leadership and supervision experience will be an excellent candidate for this role. The senior director will be supervised by the Executive Vice President for Programs and Strategy. 

• Develop and implement a strategic vision for IRAP’s Policy Department, including by ensuring progress toward stated goals, developing new initiatives and partnerships, monitoring developments in our spheres of advocacy, and implementing strategic cross-departmental initiatives.
• Manage and facilitate strategy development by leading and facilitating necessary cross-departmental discussions and serving as the Department’s liaison to the Executive Leadership team, Senior Management Team and the Board of Directors.
• Represent IRAP in external policy and advocacy spaces as appropriate. Manage external relationships and promote IRAP’s policy work, including by liaising with outside partners, promoting visibility of IRAP’s policy work, including with media, engaging with our donor/prospect community, identifying opportunities for and encouraging appropriate external engagement by staff.
• Advance inclusion and representation, including by ensuring that the Policy Department seeks input from and supports the participation of affected refugee communities including through partnerships with refugee-led organizations.
• Manage the Policy team providing responsive management and ongoing support and ensuring that the team is abreast of policy initiatives that are relevant to IRAP’s work.
• Make decisions regarding IRAP’s major advocacy positions, including by consulting appropriate staff and leadership members across IRAP.
• Monitor effectiveness of the team’s work through collaborative efforts with IRAP’s Evaluation and Monitoring team.
• Manage the departmental budget.
• Supervise and support the Climate Director and the Climate Department providing responsive management and ongoing support and ensuring that the team receives critical communication from upper management. Provide strategy support as needed. 
• Coordinate information-sharing on global policy initiatives: while IRAP's Berlin, Beirut, and Amman offices lead IRAP's policy advocacy strategy in Europe, Lebanon, and Jordan, respectively, the Senior Director for Policy and Climate is responsible for coordinating information sharing and working with the Senior Country Directors of those offices to maintain awareness of cross-cutting issues and identify areas for collaboration on global initiatives. 

• Education

• Law degree or master’s degree in a relevant field. 

• Experience

• Eight or more years of immigration-related work experience, with significant subject matter expertise in refugee law and policy; extensive experience managing and supervising staff.
• Experience supervising staff working remotely is a plus.
• Experience advocating for policy change and designing, executing, or challenging legislative or administrative policies related to IRAP’s programmatic areas.
• Demonstrated experience working with refugees and displaced people, immigrants, or other vulnerable populations required.
• Demonstrated experience with external and internal stakeholder engagement required.
• Relevant experience working on climate justice and/or climate displacement strongly preferred. 

• Values, Competencies and Skills

• Successful record advocating for systemic change and advancing effective strategic communications and messaging campaigns.
• Sophisticated leadership skills and presence developed through management and leadership experience in policy work, with a demonstrable record of successful program management and direct supervision of staff.
• Demonstrated capacity to identify opportunities and build relationships that result in meaningful change, garnering broad support while staying true to IRAP’s core mission and values.
• Outstanding writing, research, and analytical skills.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Capacity to multitask and manage high-volume workload while remaining highly flexible and organized.
• The ability to listen, motivate, and to make the team’s work as efficient and effective as possible. 
• The ability to identify new opportunities and successfully integrate new initiative partnerships into Policy’s existing work. 
• Deeply committed to IRAP’s mission and to understanding the critical role that legal aid, litigation, and policy advocacy play in advancing the rights of refugees and displaced people worldwide. 
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills, and the ability to understand and handle sensitive and confidential information.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with a leadership team to set organizational and departmental priorities and pursue opportunities that further come across departments.
• An optimistic outlook and the humor, integrity, patience, and perseverance necessary to advance efforts to ensure dignity and safety for displaced persons.
• Fluency in oral and written English is required; additional languages are a plus.

• The position requires being within commuting distance to an IRAP office in either New York or DC.
• This position requires occasional travel to other IRAP offices and domestic and international convenings and trainings. 

• IRAP’s benefits vary across office locations, and IRAP seeks to offer equitable and generous benefits to all employees. IRAP’s U.S. benefits include:
• Fully paid family health insurance.
• Retirement options.
• Extensive PTO (20 or more vacation days & 19 org-wide holidays). 
• Comprehensive leave time for sickness.
• Disability and parenting (5 months of parental leave).
• Reimbursement for work from home equipment.
• Generous opportunities for professional development

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis beginning January 2, 2025. Apply early for full consideration. 

Interested candidates who wish to have their application considered on an earlier timeline should apply sooner and indicate their time constraints in the application questionnaire and cover letter. 

Reasonable Accommodation:

IRAP is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, IRAP will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please refer to your request in the cover letter.

IRAP is an equal-opportunity employer; people of color and individuals from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. IRAP does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, citizenship status, ethnic background, religion, political orientation, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or any other protected class. We consider all qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of all local, state, and federal laws related to the Fair Chance Act.