Senior Program Manager

  • Full-time

Company Description

Founded in 2000, Free the Slaves (FTS) is a pioneer and leader in the global effort to eradicate slavery. Our mission is to liberate those in slavery and to change the conditions that allow slavery to persist. Free the Slaves works at the grassroots to empower vulnerable individuals and communities to achieve freedom from slavery and develop resistance to slavery. We work with and through local partners to build national capacity to combat slavery and trafficking. 

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with programs in Ghana, India, Nepal, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Free the Slaves has an annual operating budget of approximately $3 million, a talented and dedicated staff of 27, including 11 in its country offices and field programs, and a highly engaged and supportive board of directors. 

For more information, see: www.freetheslaves.net.

Job Description

The principal role of the senior program manager is to plan and implement Free the Slaves’ strategy to eradicate slavery in three country programs (including DRC, Haiti, and either Nepal or Ghana) and to backstop all operations of those programs. This includes strengthening the work of Free the Slaves’ local NGO partners, who are bringing people out of slavery and improving national and local policy frameworks related to slavery and human trafficking. The senior program manager supports and supervises three overseas-based country directors and is supervised by the director of programs (based in Washington, D.C). The senior program manager will be supported by the programs operations officer (based in Washington, D.C.). The senior program manager coordinates closely with the FTS monitoring, learning and evaluation team; and also works closely with the FTS development team on grant proposal writing and reporting. This is an exciting position as the team evolves and grows to implement Free the Slaves’ new 10-year vision.

Responsibilities:

  • Plan long-term strategy for the FTS country programs, together with other team members.
  • Participate in designing new FTS programs and structures to implement FTS’ new Vision 2025. This may include supporting the documentation of technical approaches used by Free the Slaves and its grassroots partners for dissemination to key institutions.
  • Play a pivotal role in expanding and diversifying the FTS portfolio, including building excellent relations with donors, participating in proposal writing and supporting preparation of required programmatic and financial reports to donors.
  • Oversee operations of the country programs (many operational tasks are carried out by the program operations officer).
  • Supervise three country directors and collaborate with all country staff on the programs’ implementation.
  • Oversee the capacity building and grant relationships with grassroots partners, who are engaged in community education and organizing aimed at bringing people out of slavery and changing the norms and systems that allow slavery to persist, monitoring and documenting slavery violations, national and local advocacy and rights-based livelihood interventions.
  • Communicate the work, progress, challenges and outcomes of the three country programs to FTS staff, board and the general public.
  • Coordinate closely with FTS monitoring and evaluation staff, overseeing the implementation of monitoring and evaluation of our three country programs.
  • Oversee the development of annual plans and budgets for the three programs and for funded grassroots partners and the monitoring of adherence to the plans and budgets, taking corrective action as needed.

Qualifications

  • An existing right to work in the U.S. (green card or U.S. citizenship)
  • Fluency in English
  • Fluency in French
  • Strong organizational and time management skills
  • At least five years of professional experience managing international development programs with human rights-related components (e.g., anti-trafficking, gender, child protection)
  • Relevant postgraduate qualification (e.g., international development, human rights, law, community work/social work) or breadth of work and educational experiences to substitute effectively
  • Enthusiasm for traveling 20 to 25 percent 
  • Passion and commitment to ending modern slavery
  • Innovative spirit and willingness to use creative thinking
  • Determination and ability to sustain positive, respectful and dynamic relationships with overseas partners, alongside expectations of mutual accountability
  • Ability to develop budgets, understand income and expenditure reports and give meticulous attention to financial management
  • Strong English writing skills, including ability to write for different audiences

Preferred: 

  • Experience working in Free the Slaves target countries
  • Knowledge of local languages in Free the Slaves target countries (desirable but not required)
  • Anti-slavery expertise and professional experience

Salary  

Salary will be commensurate with experience. 

Additional Information

To Apply

Applications should include: (1) a tailored cover letter that outlines how your interest, skills and experience meet the qualifications for the position, (2) a resume and (3) a list of at least three references. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR RESUME, COVER LETTER and REFERENCES AS ONE (1) WORD OR PDF DOCUMENT to 

Please include your last name in the title of the submitted document. Please indicate any annual full-time salary rate required.

Deadline for Applications

Applications received by May 27, 2016, will receive full consideration. Applications received thereafter may be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Free the Slaves is an equal-opportunity employer. Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status.