Job Description
Role Summary:
This role provides leadership over and management of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, a Fulbright exchange activity of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). In cooperation with ECA, under a cooperative agreement, the director will articulate the program vision and provide leadership to a team of IIE staff members to ensure the smooth operations of a program that, at its core, supports an academic year of professional development and graduate level training to approximately 150 professionals from the developing world.
The candidate must have a strong background in international education and/or exchange programming, along with a demonstrated ability to successfully manage human, financial, and programmatic resources and deliver results in a quality and timely manner. This individual will be responsible for overall day-to-day and longer-term management of the Humphrey Program, including fellow recruitment, selection and oversight, partnership management (working closely with U.S. higher education partners, professional affiliation partners, and U.S. embassies and Fulbright Commissions abroad, among others), professional development and other special programming opportunities, alumni engagement, and communications and reporting. The Director will have a special focus on extending the Humphrey Program’s reach by fostering increased collaborations with higher education institutions and a wide array of professionals, enhancing the Program’s identity, and leveraging IIE-wide support for the Program.
The incumbent is responsible for managing a team of 7+ in the Washington, D.C. office, ensuring quality and timely submission of all deliverables, managing and monitoring the program budgets and expenses, adhering to requirements of the cooperative agreement, and monitoring other compliance requirements. This individual is responsible for client reports, communications on project strategy and innovation, potential expansion of services and tracking trends and requirements in U.S. higher education. The director will be responsible for representing the Humphrey Program with both internal and external stakeholders, including through public presentations, and overseeing the print and digital program promotion and communications strategy. He/she is constantly troubleshooting as needed to resolve challenges with fellows and universities, and agile at problem solving with stakeholders including the Department of State, U.S. Embassies, and Fulbright Commissions worldwide. This individual will serve as primary point of contact for the program with the Department of State, responsible for managing direct communication on a daily basis. This individual acts as a leader and works to further IIE’s mission.
Essential Functions:
- Develops and implements a program vision and strategic implementation plan for the program as a whole, agreed upon with the U.S. Department of State and implemented in collaboration with U.S. higher education partners and relevant professional stakeholders.
- Monitors the landscape and identifies trends in international higher education and developing country issues. Presents findings and recommendations to Humphrey Program stakeholders including ECA, host campuses, US Embassies and host affiliation organizations.
- Identifies opportunities and challenges related to Humphrey programming and the higher education community and recommends corresponding program improvements.
- Overseas program and project implementation, prioritizing tasks and delegating responsibilities accordingly to deliver quality, timely results against program and grant benchmarks.
- Represents the program externally by conducting presentations, attending conferences, and engaging with stakeholders including government, universities, private sector companies, multilateral organizations, and non-government organizations, U.S. Embassies, Fulbright Commissions, and higher education leadership on the benefit and impact of the Humphrey Program.
- Leads the Humphrey Program by continuously evaluating existing systems and strategies and recommending new approaches and activities to improve Humphrey Program for Fellows and program stakeholders. Oversees Humphrey network of approximately 16 universities across the U.S. Responsible for program development at each university, grant monitoring, program policies and practices, and identifying challenges related to the Humphrey Fellowship Program and recommending corresponding program improvements to solve these challenges.
- Manages professional development trainings and events (including Humphrey Enhancement Workshops), special programming (including one or more short term Distinguished Humphrey programs), professional affiliation placement and host interactions, and alumni engagement programming.
- Has direct oversight and authority over all aspects of the Humphrey Fellowship project including primary point of contact with the sponsor (ECA), as well as responsibility for all client reporting, including programmatic and financial.
- Develops and maintains policies, procedures, and systems to ensure the safety, security, and well-being of fellows. Manages participant emergencies, providing relevant updates through clear communications and reporting with fellows, host campuses, and ECA.
- Supervises, mentors, and trains team members assigned to Humphrey Fellowship project. Continuously leads project team meetings to keeps team members informed. Directly manages the senior management of the Humphrey Fellowship team and provides support to them for the management of entire team.
- Continually enhances stakeholder engagement, troubleshoots, manages internal meetings, actively shares knowledge to strengthen IIE and supports collaboration efforts.
Job Requirements:
Education and Work Experience:
- Requires a Master’s degree in relevant field to apply a working knowledge of the theories and principles in a specialized field or work discipline. Advanced degree preferred.
- Requires 12+ years’ experience in relevant professional field/s.
Other Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- 5+ years successful staff supervision
- Understanding of U.S. higher education landscape
- Outstanding oral and written English communication skills
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Staff management and ability to delegate and hold staff accountable for deliverables
- Knowledge of issues and trends in the developing world (especially as relates to professionals)
- Experience managing large fellowship and/or international programs
- Familiarity with U.S. government programs and/or past engagement with U.S. government agencies, U.S. embassies abroad, etc.
- 5+ years of experience working with/managing program budgets;
- Proficiency in utilizing technology to manage and support fellowship and/or international programming/communications/etc.
- Familiarity with monitoring and evaluation practices and reporting
Work Conditions & Physical Demands:
Essential functions are performed in a general office setting with low noise. Job demands may require long periods of sitting; telephone work and/or computer work, as well as interactions with other team members and external stakeholders. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.
