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 over 25 years, IJM has pioneered the work to protect vulnerable people from violence. 9 out of 9 times in the last decade, IJM’s Justice System Strengthening Projects have reduced slavery and violence between 50 and 85% for very large populations of people in poverty. As we grow to expand our impact to protect 500 million people from violence, we are seeking a Director, Programmatic Marketing Enablement to establish and lead the capability through which IJM’s Global Marketing function advances programmatic outcomes. Working at the intersection of marketing, program delivery, advocacy, and justice-system influence, this leader will help program teams use strategic communication to influence the audiences, decisions, behaviors, and social norms that matter to their objectives. 

This position is hybrid (onsite Tuesdays & Thursdays) if located in the Washington, DC area or remote for non-local candidates and reports to the Vice President, Global Insights and Growth. This role requires current authorization to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position, now or in the future. 

Responsibilities: 

Build the Programmatic Marketing Capability 

• Define the strategy, scope, service model, and standards for how Global Marketing supports program-owned behavior-change and influence objectives;  

• Assess existing work across IJM and build on field and program expertise rather than duplicating or displacing it; 

• Establish a disciplined process for intake, sensitivity assessment, prioritization, staffing, roles/responsibilities framework, and delivery of programmatic marketing work; this should be in conjunction with Global Marketing’s existing operations model;  

Translate Program Objectives into Marketing & Communications Strategy 

• Partner with Global Program, advocacy, and field leaders early to determine where strategic marketing can advance program-defined outcomes; 

• Translate those outcomes into focused communication strategies that define the priority audience, the desired change, the communication approach, and how effectiveness will be measured; 

• Use research and local insight to understand what may motivate or prevent the intended audience from changing its knowledge, attitudes, decisions, or behavior; 

• Develop audience-centered strategies that support behavior change, community influence, or decision-maker engagement, depending on the program objective; 

Lead Integrated Campaign Delivery 

• Lead initial pilot campaigns from strategy through execution in partnership with Global Marketing capability experts; 

• Develop integrated channel plans that reach priority audiences through the most effective mix of mass, digital, community, interpersonal, and partner-led communication; 

• Engage trusted messengers such as journalists, faith leaders, and community leaders to strengthen the reach and credibility of priority efforts; 

• Manage visibility and narrative risk by monitoring public response, addressing harmful or unintended narratives, and ensuring all public-facing communication follows Program direction and approved sensitivity levels; 

Protect Program Integrity and Safeguarding 

• Ensure all work reflects local context, protects survivors and staff, and complies with IJM safeguarding, legal, security, consent, and brand requirements; 

• Apply program-defined sensitivity and visibility classifications so confidential or protected work is never unintentionally amplified; 

• Maintain clear review and approval pathways for factual accuracy, legal considerations, program strategy, calls to action, and safeguarding; 

• Build trusted, service-oriented partnerships across Global Marketing, Global Program, regional teams, and field offices; 

Measure Effectiveness and Build Learning 

• Define a measurement framework for programmatic marketing, including reach, comprehension, message uptake, sentiment, engagement, and appropriate behavioral or influence proxies;  

• Partner with Program teams to connect communication indicators to program-owned outcome measures; 

• Establish baselines and learning plans for priority efforts and use evidence to improve audience strategy, messaging, creative, channels, and partner selection; 

Build and Scale the Function 

• Establish the roadmap, priorities, investment, and team structure needed to prove and scale the capability;  

• Recruit/develop a high-performing team as the function grows, fostering a culture of rigor, humility, and service;  

• Bring current best practices in behavior change, advocacy communication, audience research, and measurement; 

• Contribute as a strategic and collaborative member of the Global Marketing Leadership Team; and 

• Participation in IJM’s community of spiritual formation.  

Qualifications:  

• Bachelor’s degree in research/behavioral sciences/market research, communications, international development, public affairs, marketing, or a related field; master’s degree preferred; 

• At least nine years of relevant experience in social and behavior change communication, advocacy or public-affairs communication, development communication, or a related discipline, including at least four years in a leadership role; 

• Demonstrated success designing and delivering behavior-change or influence communication that contributed to measurable, documented results; 

• Experience working in or alongside international, multicultural, and field-based program contexts, with strong judgment regarding safeguarding all relevant stakeholders; 

• Demonstrated ability to build a new capability, operating model, or cross-functional practice in a complex organization; 

• Deep expertise in social and behavior change communication and strong working knowledge of advocacy or public-affairs communication; 

• Expertise in formative research, audience segmentation, behavioral and social-norms approaches, message development, integrated campaign design, and communication measurement; 

• Ability to translate complex program objectives into focused audience and communication strategies and to guide high-quality creative execution; 

• Experience with media and social-listening approaches, narrative risk assessment, and rapid communication response; and 

• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to work effectively from field-level briefs through executive-level decisions. 

Critical Qualities: 

• Eager commitment to IJM's Core Values: Christian, Professional and Bridge-Building; 

• 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. 

• Mature Christian faith as defined by the Apostles’ Creed; 

• Builder’s mindset, strategic judgment, and the ability to turn ambiguity into a clear and practical path forward; 

• High emotional intelligence and cultural humility, with a demonstrated ability to earn trust across functions, geographies, and levels of seniority; 

• Strong ethic of service and deep commitment to IJM’s mission, safeguarding principles, and organizational values; 

• Results-oriented, self-directed, organized, and able to operate with significant independence while collaborating closely with others; and 

• Servant leadership that consistently places mission, survivors, program partners, and team outcomes above personal agenda. 

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 Ethics. Candidate selection is based on technical competence, recruitment, selection and hiring criteria subject to assessing the candidate’s value congruence and thorough background, police clearance, and reference check processes.

At IJM, we’re committed to building a diverse workforce through fair and equitable employment practices. IJM encourages people of any race, color, age, sex, marital status or political ideology to apply for employment. While we welcome everyone into this work, we truly believe that the work we are doing is God’s work, not our own, and practice spiritual disciplines together daily. That’s why we legally require under SEC. 2000e-1 [Section702] of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that all employees practice a mature orthodox Christian faith, as defined by the Apostles’ Creed.

IJM requires a background check, police clearance and thorough review of references with an employment offer and/or employment contract.