Operations Manager, Global Risk & Legal

International Justice Mission

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

International Justice Mission (IJM) is the global leader in protecting vulnerable people from violence around the world. Our team of over 1,200 professionals works across more than 30 offices worldwide. 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 take pride in delivering professional excellence with integrity, joy, and celebration to those we serve. The Need For over 25 years, IJM has pioneered the work of protecting people in poverty from violence. As we grow to expand our impact to protect 500 million people living in poverty from violence, we are seeking an Operations Manager who will deliver operational excellence that enables the Global Risk & Legal (GRL) division to deliver on its value proposition and better equip the organization to scale protection faster and smarter. The Operations Manager drives GRL strategic planning, work planning, portfolio performance management, reporting, and operational excellence. The role is responsible for divisional budget oversight, portfolio and project management methodologies and standards, change-management practices, and internal communications to ensure divisional impact, transparency, and accountability. Critically, the role ensures that behavior-centered approaches are intentionally integrated into divisional strategy, OKRs, portfolio management, project design, change leadership, and operational execution. Currently, the role has direct supervisory responsibility for a Project Management Specialist and a Learning & Development Specialist. In addition, it provides leadership for the Project Management Community of Practice across the division, serving as a trusted advisor, coach, and connector to enhance consistency, capability, and collaboration—without formal supervisory authority. The Operations Manager directly supports the CRO-GC and the GRL Core Leadership Team, of which it is a member This position is open to both internal and external candidates. It is hybrid (onsite Tuesdays & Thursdays) if located in the Washington, DC area or remote for non-local candidates. It is only available to US-based candidates with authorization to work in the United States.

Requirements

Graduate degree in pertinent area of study, or equivalent combination of bachelor’s degree and relevant work experience.
7-10+ years of professional experience in project or portfolio management, strategic planning, and change management.
Project management or operations management certification preferred.
Agile certification preferred.
People management experience strongly preferred.
Demonstrated experience leading or sponsoring initiatives requiring significant behavior change across teams or systems.
Experience partnering with specialists (e.g., behavioral science, design, learning, or change experts) and integrating their work into enterprise execution.
Strategic and critical thinker.
Highly organized and detail oriented.
Exceptionally collaborative across diverse teams.
Clear, concise, and persuasive communicator, verbally and in writing.
Budget management experience strongly preferred.
Ability to translate strategy into behaviorally grounded execution plans.
Ability to assess whether solutions are likely to be adopted and sustained in real operating contexts.
Eager commitment to IJM’s Core Values: Christian, Professional and Bridge Building.
Holds a valid passport and is able to travel both domestically and internationally on short notice.
Relational servant leadership orientation.
Strong cross-functional strategist and influencer.
Self-starter with strong initiative and disciplined with priorities.
High emotional intelligence and cultural intelligence.
Flexible, solutions-oriented, and adept creative problem-solver.
Customer-experience oriented.
Demonstrated empathy for end users and stakeholders.
Curiosity about how and why people behave at work and openness to evidence‑based approaches for enabling behavior change in service of mission impact.

Responsibilities

Strategy Development & Execution Lead GRL divisional strategic planning in alignment with global organizational priorities.
Translate strategic objectives into actionable roadmaps, frameworks, OKRs, and execution plans that advance the divisional, pathway, and enterprise strategy.
Serve as strategy advisor to the GRL Core Leadership Team, providing insight into priorities, tradeoffs, performance, impact, and problem solving.
Ensure that behavior-centered insights are integrated into strategy formulation, framing, and execution.
Ensure OKRs and success metrics are behavior centric where human decisions and actions are critical to success.
Portfolio Management & Performance Oversight Develop and manage a portfolio of cross-functional projects to ensure alignment, prioritization, integrated sequencing, and effective execution.
Establish and oversee portfolio governance, tracking, and reporting to monitor progress, risks, and impact.
Partner with project owners and managers to manage interdependencies, mitigate risk, and drive decision making.
Ensure portfolio initiatives addressing human‑driven risk factors incorporate behavior‑centered design principles.
Oversee the appropriate use of behavior‑centric OKRs and performance measures across GRL.
Budget Management Develop and oversee the GRL divisional budget, day-to-day budget operations, and resourcing of divisional initiatives.
Partner with budget managers and Global Finance to optimize budget execution.
Identify opportunities to maximize return on investment across competing opportunities and priorities.
Change Leadership & Innovation Serve as a divisional change leader, designing and driving initiatives that embed new capabilities, systems, and behaviors.
Build change-management capacity across GRL.
Champion evidence-based behavioral science and human-centered design approaches in divisional projects and change efforts.
Foster a culture that recognizes the central role of human behavior in operational, legal, compliance, safety and security, and risk outcomes.
Drive continuous improvement through intentional and systematic experimentation, measurement and analysis, adaptation and iteration, and learning.
Program & Project Management Oversee high-priority, cross-functional strategic initiatives within GRL and the Operations Pathway.
Lead the development, integration, and coordination of GRL’s project management methodology, standards, and tools.
Develop a GRL project management community of practice that shares best practices, ensures consistency, and fosters excellence.
Provide coaching and support to project owners in partnership with dedicated project managers.
Ensure project methodologies enable effective behavioral framing, discovery, solution design, and evaluation when relevant.
People Management Supervise and coach direct reports to build capacity, foster professional development, and sustain a healthy, high-performance, and collaborative team culture.
Directly supervise a Project Management Specialist and a Learning & Development Specialist, including performance reviews, compensation input, and career development.
Non-Supervisory Leadership Provide thought leadership and coaching to project managers across the division.
Establish and promote project management standards and best practices.
Serve as a resource and escalation partner for complex or high‑risk projects.
Build strong relationships to influence outcomes without positional authority.
Participate on the Operations, Global Programs, and Resources Councils as a representative of the GRL Leadership Team.
Division Operations & Internal Communications Lead the division’s annual planning cycle, including project identification, workplan development, and resource allocation.
Develop and execute internal communication plans for divisional strategy and performance.
Lead divisional reporting aligned with Board, Operations Pathway, and enterprise reporting.
Create stakeholder management and communication plans for critical strategic projects to ensure key stakeholders are appropriately informed of the overall process, timeline, milestones, outputs, results, and other pertinent information.
GRL Process Optimization & Alignment Partner with divisional project managers to identify opportunities to improve GRL processes and tools to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of divisional operations.
Lead the continuous improvement of GRL processes.
Ensure optimized processes are designed with end users in mind and reduce friction to engaging in vital behaviors.
Networking & Partnership Build strong, transparent relationships with divisional project managers and cross-functional partners.
Engage internal and external stakeholders to inform project design and execution.
Foster trusted peer relationships across functions, divisions, and regions.
Model a collaborative, empathetic, and human‑centered approach to partnership and execution.