Chief Engagement Officer

The Chief Engagement Officer at the World Justice Project (“WJP”) is responsible for building, strengthening, and supporting the WJP’s global network of rule of law stakeholders; leading global policy engagement, advocacy initiatives, and campaigns on rule of law topics; and leading WJP’s efforts to advance the rule of law through strategic convenings, including the World Justice Forum. The Chief Engagement Officer also serves as a member of the organization’s senior management team, responsible for implementing programming strategies that carry out the mission and policies set by the Board of Directors.

This position requires an entrepreneurial spirit, a strong international orientation and diplomatic skills, fluency across sectors, and practical experience leading policy-oriented initiatives. The position will manage a small departmental team and will work closely with senior leaders across WJP departments as well as the Board of Directors, Officers, and Leadership Council. Preference is for the position to be based in WJP’s Washington, DC, office.

WJP’s mission is to create knowledge about the rule of law, build broad-based awareness of its role and importance, and generate action to advance it. The successful candidate will have an exciting opportunity to lead a critical component of this work, turning WJP data, research, and insights into rule of law progress at the local, national, regional, and global level. The WJP workplace is an entrepreneurial, results-oriented, and closely integrated culture with staff and officers from diverse cultural backgrounds and time-zones. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities                                                                                                                

The Chief Engagement Officer will oversee the strategic design and implementation of WJP’s engagement and advocacy efforts globally. Working through existing WJP network relationships and cultivating new partnerships, the Chief Engagement Officer will play a central role in engaging and supporting an expanding global constituency for WJP rule of law data, research, and insights.

Strategic Leadership Responsibilities

·      Lead development and pursuit of WJP’s strategic engagement and advocacy objectives in coordination with WJP’s staff, board, and officers.

·      Represent the WJP at events and in global, national, and local networks and organizations;

·      Cultivate, develop, and steward strategic relationships, collaborations, and alliances that advance the WJP’s mission and align with our strategic objectives;

Management Responsibilities

·      Recruit, coach, mentor, and manage a global team based in multiple jurisdictions.

·      Manage Engagement initiatives to include development and maintenance of a work plan, as well as collaborative planning and programmatic integration with other departments;

·      Develop and manage the Engagement budget;

·      Prepare and present regular Engagement reports to the WJP Board of Directors;

·      Serve as member of the WJP senior management team;

Program Responsibilities

·      Oversee the coordination, expansion, and stewardship of WJP’s global network of rule of law stakeholders, including representatives of international organizations, governments, private sector actors, rule of law development assistance implementers, and civil society organizations;

·      In coordination with WJP’s Research Team, identify and pursue opportunities for engagement with WJP’s stakeholders to promote and support the use of WJP data and research insights and implementation of proven and promising rule of law reforms and initiatives at the international, national and local level;

·      Oversee the design, planning, and logistics for organization-wide events, including the World Justice Forum, regional meetings, country dialogues, workshops, and other strategic convenings that support the dissemination of WJP data and research insights and otherwise advance the rule of law;

·      Oversee the development and implementation of methodologies for monitoring and evaluating all Engagement activities to maximize sustained impact;

·      In coordination with WJP’s leadership, develop and pursue a strategy for WJP to build out its regional representative presence to support the foregoing network engagement activities.

Communications Responsibilities

·      In coordination with WJP’s Research Team and Communications Team, expand activities to disseminate WJP knowledge to policy-makers, development agencies, rule of law development assistance implementers, the broader rule of law movement, and the public;

·      Develop and implement strategies to expand outreach to other sectors (e.g. public health, the environment, business) and identify and pursue engagement opportunities with these new stakeholders;

·      In collaboration with WJP’s Research Team and Communications Team, coordinate and lead advocacy campaigns on key thematic priorities

Fundraising Responsibilities

·      In close coordination with Development Team, cultivate donors for Engagement initiatives and oversee preparation of applications for new grants;

·      Oversee preparation of reporting on outcomes of Engagement activities for program-specific or institutional grants.

Skills and Experience

•              10+ years of relevant experience working directly with diverse stakeholders, cultivating and nurturing organizational relationships, and catalyzing policy action on issues related to WJP’s mission;

•              Demonstrated substantive expertise on issues related to WJP’s mission, e.g., international development, anti-corruption, justice-sector reform, human rights, etc.

•              Demonstrated expertise managing complex relationships with public, private, and civil society actors and spread between multiple jurisdictions, cultures, and time-zones;

•              Five to eight years of experience with international program management at organizational or project level, demonstrating the highest professionalism;

•              Experience leading the conceptualization and implementation of strategic collaborations, campaigns, and events of a global nature;

•              Advanced leadership skills for managing a team, as well as the ability to work within a team environment;

•              Experience with preparation of applications for new grants, and reporting on outcomes;

•              Experience with data-driven and evidenced-based development approaches, including a working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods;

•              Excellent problem solving skills; excellent written and oral communication skills; and a keen attention to detail;

Essential Personal Qualities

•              Encourages and practices critical and creative thinking.

•              Demonstrates strong decision-making, good judgment, and discretion.

•              Intellectually curious, creative, and open to innovative approaches.

•              Maintains a respectful and accepting approach to others, and is appropriately attentive to protocol and confidentiality.

•              Is a self-starter with a positive, can-do attitude, and takes initiative balanced with following institutional priorities.

•              Has a genuine interest in the mission and programs of the WJP.

•              Has the capacity to work well with people from diverse cultures and for significant work-related travel around the world.

•              Fluency in English language required. Preference given to applicants with additional oral and written language fluency in French, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, or Russian.

Education Requirement

Graduate degree in international affairs, law, social sciences, or public service-related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Physical Requirements

While performing the responsibilities of the job, this person will frequently be required to use finger dexterity as well as sufficient hand dexterity to use a computer keyboard and be capable of reading a computer screen. This person may need to remain seated for long periods of time, have the ability to perform repetitive motions, grasp objects, including a writing instrument, stand, communicate verbally and hear well enough to detect nuances, and receive detailed information. This person may be required to walk, push or pull objects, bend, squat, reach, or kneel. Vision abilities required by this job include close vision for expansive reading and data analysis. This person will be required to meet the physical demands of frequent global travel, including to lesser-developed and remote locations. WJP is committed to making reasonable accommodations to support employment of people with disabilities.

Working Conditions

The work conditions described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing this job. This person will typically work indoors in a heated and air-conditioned office, with a mixture of natural, incandescent and fluorescent light with low to moderate noise levels.

About the WJP

The World Justice Project (WJP) is an independent, multidisciplinary organization working to advance the rule of law worldwide. Effective rule of law reduces corruption, combats poverty and disease, and protects people from injustices large and small. It is the foundation for communities of equity, opportunity, and peace—underpinning development, accountable government, and respect for fundamental rights.

WJP builds and supports a global, multidisciplinary movement for the rule of law through three pillars of work: collecting and analyzing original, independent rule of law data, including the WJP Rule of Law Index; supporting research, scholarship, and teaching about the importance of rule of law, its relationship to development, and effective strategies to strengthen it; and building an engaged global network of policy-makers and activists through strategic convenings, knowledge exchanges, coordinated campaigns, and locally-led initiatives to advance the rule of law.