Job Description
Are you a person of compassion? An advocate for justice? Someone who stands up for the rights of the vulnerable and speaks out for the marginalized, the exploited and the forgotten? Do you believe in our calling as Christians to welcome the least of these and love our neighbor?
If you answered ‘yes’, to any of the above, World Relief, and millions of people around the world need you.
At this pivotal moment in time, we are rapidly expanding and growing our team to meet the increasing needs of our world. We are looking for people who want to use their gifts and talents to make a real and tangible difference in our world and the lives of the suffering.
If you’re looking for a purpose-driven career in which you can grow your talents, while also standing up for the rights of the vulnerable, we want you to join us today.
ORGANIZATION SUMMARY
World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization whose mission is to boldly engage the world’s greatest crises in partnership with the church. The organization was founded in the aftermath of World War II to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of war-torn Europe. Since then, for 80 years, across 100 countries, World Relief has partnered with local churches and communities to build a world where families thrive and communities flourish.
Today, organizational programming focuses on humanitarian and disaster response, community strengthening and resilience, and refugee & immigrant services and advocacy.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Senior Director of Programs provides overall leadership, alignment, and support for World Relief Chicagoland’s immigrant and refugee programs. This role exists to bring clarity and cohesion across programs during a season of change—ensuring Program Directors are well supported, programs are meaningfully connected to one another, and decisions are grounded in mission, data, community voice, and operational reality. The Senior Director of Programs leads the Program Leadership Team comprised of seven directors, and serves as the overarching decision maker for program directions. This role also serves on the Administrative Leadership Team, bringing programmatic perspectives to shape overall organizational direction and priorities. This role partners closely with other directors to ensure integrated, scalable, and sustainable programming across geographic locations.
Hybrid schedule: 4 days in office, 1 work from home day
ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES:
Program Strategy & Integration
Provide a clear, integrated vision for community impact and program service delivery, while honoring the distinct identity and expertise of each program area
Support directors in designing programs that make positive impact for participants, through outcomes-focused service delivery that is adaptive and scalable
Ensure church and community engagement is thoughtfully integrated into program design and delivery
Lead annual program planning with Program Directors, aligned with mission, funding realities and operational capacity. As needed, lead scenario planning exercises
Leadership, Coaching & Accountability
Provide direct supervision, coaching, and support to Program Directors
Serve as a trusted thought partner while also holding clear accountability for performance, outcomes, and follow-through
Set goals and expectations; monitor progress toward program plans, grant deliverables, and outcomes
Provide accountability to staying within budget & maintaining strong financial stewardship
Address conflict directly and constructively; mediate across programs and departments as needed
Make and communicate tough prioritization and resource decisions when necessary
Collaboration & Coordination
Facilitate regular Program Director meetings that support shared learning, problem-solving, and alignment
Build collaboration rhythms and systems for cross-program coordination, and regularly review/ adapt these to meet evolving needs in a season of change
Balance local needs of each geography with regional alignment and consistency
Cross-Functional Partnership
Provide organizational leadership with the Administrative Leadership Team, bringing perspectives from the Program Leadership Team into discussions and decisions & working to close inter-department gaps
Work closely with Grants Management & Development teams to align funding pursuits with program strategy
Ensure data, learning, and community feedback inform program decisions and improvements
Partner with Finance & Grants Management teams to support budget planning, monitoring, and strong financial stewardship by Program Directors
Coordinate with Operations team to ensure the materials and tools are available to implement programming
Utilize good change management practices when rolling out new or improved initiatives
People Development & Organizational Health
Actively support leadership development, succession planning, and career pathways within program teams
Ensure regular staff development opportunities are provided with equity across program areas; oversee the delivery of learning opportunities that align with program & regional goals
Promote healthy team culture, clarity of roles, and sustainable workloads during periods of change
Other duties as assigned
Supervisory Responsibilities
This role is responsible for supervising others and includes responsibilities consistent with supervising employees including but not limited to monitoring daily work activities, tracking and approving timesheets including approving time off, monitoring performance including entering goals, progress check-ins, and weekly or bi-weekly check-ins, documenting performance concerns, entering staff promotions, transitions, and separations in HRIS within required time frame. Managers at World Relief are also considered spiritual leaders and are expected to lead staff in a manner consistent with our Christian values including but not limited to praying with staff, leading devotionals, and fostering a Christian environment in interactions with staff throughout World Relief.
JOB REQUIREMENTS:
- Mature and personal Christian faith
- Committed to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief
- Desire to serve and empower the Church to impact vulnerable communities
- Able to affirm and/or acknowledge World Reliefs Core Beliefs, Statement of Faith, Christian Identity and National Association of Evangelicals’ For the Health of The Nation document
- At least 7 years of program management or related experience required
- Previous supervisory and team leadership required
- Background in refugee resettlement or immigrant service provision
- In-depth knowledge of the immigrant experience
- Willingness and ability to work from all three Chicagoland locations: Chicago (Albany Park), DuPage County (Carol Stream), and Aurora
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Strong team leadership, coaching, and delegation skills; ability to mobilize a team toward common goals
- Demonstrated ability to lead through uncertainty or contraction
- Ability to think creatively and strategically, and lead others through strategic planning & implementation processes
- Excellent collaboration, team building, and relationship management skills
- Ability to use data to drive decision-making: setting metrics, interpreting analysis, driving continuous improvement
- Willingness and ability to provide accountability toward goals
- Advanced communication and conflict mediation skills
- Experience leading innovation and organizational change; creative problem-solving skills and ability to adapt & prioritize with changing circumstances
- Background in social work preferred
$95,000 - $105,000 a year
World Relief offers a competitive benefits package and employee discount program for full-time, Regular, employees.
World Relief is honored to be recognized with the Gold-level Cigna Healthy Workforce Designation for exceeding the core components of our well-being program including leadership and culture, program foundations and execution, and whole person health.
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Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
We are proud to be an EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V. We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing.
For World Relief staff, strong commitment to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief is essential, and Christian faith is a prerequisite for employment, based upon United States federal guidelines provided in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
