Overview of AJWS

American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is the leading Jewish organization working to fight poverty and pursue justice in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. By supporting hundreds of social change organizations in 14 countries, we respond to the most pressing issues of our time—from disasters, genocide and hunger to the persecution of women and minorities worldwide. With Jewish values and a global reach, AJWS is making a difference in millions of lives and bringing a more just and equitable world closer for all.

Overview of Team

Through grassrooted grantmaking and advocacy, the AJWS Programs Division provides financial support and builds strong partnerships with activists, organizations and social movements facing complex global challenges – from authoritarianism, to attacks on women, sex worker and LGBTQI+ rights, to the climate and humanitarian crises. The Programs Division works at the intersection of Jewish values and global issues. In a deep collaboration between our Advocacy and Jewish Engagement teams, we advocate for U.S. laws and policies that help overcome injustice and elevate support for grassrooted change in the Global South; and we also use strategic communications to amplify our grantees’ voices and those of our supporters to influence policymakers in the U.S. and around the globe. The Programs Division also houses our International Operations (IOPS) and Grants Management team, which oversees the execution of AJWS’s grantmaking policies, procedures and systems in alignment with the organization’s values of and commitment to flexible, responsive and trust-based practices. The work of the Programs Division is rooted in detailed strategies that each team designs and implements, and can be summarized as follows:

• Civil and Political Rights: Supporting Democracy and Justice and Defending Against Authoritarianism: AJWS supports pro-democracy social movements seeking to push back against authoritarianism, promote democratic ideals and advance justice. We work to center the voices of those often marginalized in governance, including youth, women and ethnic, religious or other minority groups.
• Humanitarian Response: Supporting Humanitarian Response led by Local Communities: AJWS prioritizes support for local, grassroots groups that work to meet the unique needs of historically marginalized communities in the wake of disasters so that they can recover fully and become more resilient to future crises.
• Land, Water and Climate Justice: Defending the Rights to Land, Water, Forests, and Livelihoods and Advancing Climate Justice: AJWS supports social movements of rural, indigenous, and marginalized communities, especially women and youth, who are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and advocate for their land, water, forest, and livelihood rights to address climate change. Through funding and accompaniment, we bolster their struggles for natural resource rights and amplify their solutions for climate justice.
• Sexual Health and Rights: Advancing the Rights of Women, Girls, Sex Workers, and LGBTQI+: AJWS funding and accompaniment enables movements led by adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), sex workers, and LGBTQI+ to strengthen coalitions with allied communities to jointly advocate for rights-affirming laws, services and other empowering resources so that these focus communities have improved access to rights free from discrimination, violence and abuse and can enjoy the full spectrum of opportunities in society and live in health, safety, and dignity.
• Advocacy Department: Advocating for U.S. laws and policies that help overcome injustice and elevate support for grassrooted change in the Global South: AJWS advocates domestically to ensure U.S. officials and policy stakeholders hear the human rights issues and priorities of our partners in all our grantmaking portfolios. Working with the U.S. Congress, Executive branch agencies, peer advocacy NGOs and the American Jewish community and clergy, the Advocacy and Jewish Engagement teams work to create an enabling U.S. foreign policy environment globally and in the communities of our grantees and partners around the world.
• International Operations Department (IOPS) and Grants Management: Operationalizing AJWS’s values of and commitment to flexible, responsive and trust-based grantmaking practices: AJWS oversees all grants management functions for AJWS’s $19 million core grantmaking portfolio, as well as $3 million donor-advised funds (DAFs). Executes strategic and values based grantmaking policies, procedures and systems that operationalize AJWS’s commitment to flexible, responsive, and trust-based practices. Ensures the integrity and efficiency of AJWS’s grantmaking systems, including its foundationConnect/Salesforce grants management database.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Director of U.S. Advocacy with a dotted line reporting to the Director of Sexual Health and Rights, the Program Associate (PA) provides administrative and some programmatic support for the Advocacy and Jewish Engagement department (AJE) and the Sexual Health and Rights grantmaking department (SHR).

Advocacy and Jewish Engagement: The Program Associate is a critical member of the AJE department. They keep the department running smoothly and effectively by holding responsibility for all administrative systems. This includes logistical, small and major event planning, budget, financial, calendaring, strategic, implementation of projects, monitoring support for AJE’s work, and occasional special projects. They will also work closely with the Associate Director of Jewish Engagement to support clergy outreach and engagement and our biannual clergy Global Justice Fellowship. Candidates may also represent AJWS in coalition meetings and draft research memos and one-pagers on substantial issues. This portfolio makes up 50% of the role.

Sexual Health and Rights: The Program Associate works with the Director and Program Officers of the SHR team, and coordinates with other AJWS Program Associates, to manage key organizational processes and databases so that the overall Programs team can effectively and efficiently get grants to our partners. The Program Associate will help maintain systems to ensure that restricted grants received by the SHR department are spent down in a timely manner and provide information needed to Program Officers and the Director to enable timely and strategic decision making. The Program Associate also supports the collection of budget and program data and communicates key information about AJWS’s programs for internal and external use. This portfolio makes up 50% of the role.

The Program Associate also provides broader administrative and logistical support to both departments and to the Programs Division, and works collaboratively with other divisions to support AJWS’s advocacy, communications, and fundraising efforts.

Minimal travel required, up to 1-3 times per year.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Team Administration

• Maintain smooth and effective overall administrative flow of the Advocacy and Jewish Engagement (AJE) and Sexual Health and Rights (SHR) teams, including scheduling and maintaining team calendars, events and important dates, ensuring team members meet internal deadlines, supporting ongoing learning and team cohesion and onboarding of new staff;
• Work in close collaboration with both Directors and Associate Director of Jewish Engagement to coordinate travel for staff and partners as needed, develop agendas, coordinate facilitation, note-taking and meeting follow-up, and arrange for interpretation;
• Serve as liaison to other divisions at AJWS and ensure that cross-division systems are working together effectively and efficiently;
• Support good coordination and communication between the SHR and AJE teams that are based in New York and D.C. and the program staff and in-country colleagues who are based in other regions;
• Coordinate logistics, scheduling, event planning, and other support as needed for AJE programs, including the Global Justice Fellowship (GJF), Jewish Rohingya Justice Network (JRJN), clergy outreach and engagement, D.C. advocacy convenings and lobby visits;
• Serve as point person on relevant databases, spreadsheets and tracking items for the SHR and AJE teams;
• Provide administrative support to the teams for the implementation of AJWS’s core grantmaking portfolio, including compliance requirements and payments and grant processing, monitoring institutional grants, and processing invoices and contracts;
• Working with other PAs and AJWS Thematic Directors, and support the coordination, agenda setting and other administrative tasks for regular cross-thematic learning meetings.

Budget Stewarding 

The Program Associate will steward both departments’ budgets, in consultation with the SHR Director, Director of U.S. Advocacy and the Associate Director for Jewish Engagement.

Specifically, the PA will:

• Monitor and track all aspects of budget process for both departments, collaborating with other divisions and departments as needed. This includes maintaining current budget-tracking tools, regularly updating on team spending and creating new systems when needed;
• Assist the SHR Director and AJE Director and Assistant Director with the yearly grants, travel, OTPS, and Global Justice Fellowship budget planning process, while working with relevant colleagues across divisions.

Programmatic

• Help draft, edit and review written communication materials related to the AJE and SHR portfolios for both internal and external audiences (e.g., blogs, PowerPoint presentations, action alerts for supporters and clergy; brief background documents about the SHR and AJE work), liaising with our Marketing and Communications Department for both teams;
• Coordinate reflection sessions for AJWS’s annual monitoring and evaluation process for both departments;
• Collaborate with the SHR Director on AJWS’s grant making process for the SHR global thematic strategy grantees;
• Collaborate with AJE team to support and attend U.S. Advocacy external meetings, as needed and report back to team.

External & Cross Divisional

• Support the SHR and AJE teams as needed to maintain AJWS’s presence in advocacy, coalition, and peer funding spaces;
• Identify and map peer funder networks, learning spaces and working groups;
• Participate in internal working groups to further AJWS initiatives in service of strengthening its organizational capacities and programmatic work, such as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group and the Feminist Working Group.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Arts/Science degree;
• At least 1-2 years of relevant work experience;
• Experience working at a social justice organization, a government body or an organization that advocates to a government body;
• Familiarity with global human rights issues, with demonstrated interest in sexual health and rights and/or advocacy work.
• Familiarity or experience with the way the U.S. government works and how external advocacy to the government functions;
• Highly organized, with excellent follow-through, keen attention to detail, ability to manage multiple complex tasks, and proven ability to work independently as well as with a team, and effectively support the coordination of teams working across different geographies and timezones;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Powerpoint, and Excel; some experience and interest in working with budgets and databases, and aptitude to learn grants management databases and budgeting software such as Abila MIP;
• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills;
• Excellent writing, editing and proofreading skills;
• Flexible work style with the ability to work under tight deadlines and shifting priorities;
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally and/or domestically at least once per year as requested;
• Commitment to AJWS’s mission and values of advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion across the organization.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Oral and/or written fluency in Spanish and/or French;
• Experience working effectively and collegially with people across multiple cultures and/or countries;
• Some familiarity with the American Jewish community.

Additional Information:

• Salary Range: $60,000-$63,500
• This role is full time (40 HRS), Non-Exempt
• This is a union position

Location:

Remote – Contiguous US-Based*
*This role is flexible in nature and can be performed from a home office in the contiguous United States.

Compensation and Benefits Information

• AJWS is committed to a salary framework that aligns with our culture and values. The compensation range reflected is in alignment with our framework and individual pay decisions will vary based on skills and experience while still allowing for growth.
• Paid Time Off: 15-22 Federal and religious holidays off each year in addition to generous vacation and sick days;
• Full health benefits coverage with minimal contribution by employees;
• 403(b): 4.25% company match (safe harbor);
• Flexible Spending Account and Commuter Benefits;
• Workplace flexibility and generous leave policy.

Additional Considerations

Black, Indigenous and People of Color; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Intersex, Trans and Gender non-conforming people; women; and differently abled people are encouraged to apply. We also encourage applications from people of diverse religious, spiritual and cultural backgrounds.

As an organization committed to promoting social justice around the world, it is essential that we incorporate a diverse, equitable and inclusive lens into all aspects of our work at AJWS. We encourage applicants with a global perspective and a commitment to values around diversity, equity, and inclusion to apply.

Authorization to work in the U.S. is required.

How to Apply

For immediate consideration, apply below. Applications submitted without a resume and personalized cover letter will not be considered. We thank you for your interest in career opportunities with AJWS. Due to high volume, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.