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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.
Job Responsibility:
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
Nice to have:
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
What we offer:
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