Job Description

Position Overview:

The Senior Director, Ministry Effectiveness, is instrumental in Prison Fellowship International’s global market penetration goal achievement. This person will lead PFI’s program development and drive the adoption of evidence-based, best practices worldwide. This includes all program research, development, and evaluation activities, and identifying, benchmarking, promoting, and adopting innovative, best practice programs unearthed within our global family of 123 national ministries. The oversight and growth of PFI’s Centers of Excellence are essential to this strategy and also a key responsibility. This position requires close collaboration with the field, programs, marketing & communications, and development teams.

Core Responsibilities:

Lead PFI’s program design, development, monitoring, and evaluation systems (25%)

• Ensures that all PFI programs are designed to be scalable, cost-efficient, and based on evidence-based best practices.
• Ensures that all PFI programs complete R&D protocols for each stage of development, including the development of concepts, written models, working prototypes, and pilot programs.
• Establishes program standards that represent the irreducible core of essential program activity that drives outcomes, and ensures these standards are maintained.
• Lead process evaluations are completed for all prototype and pilot programs to ensure programs are implemented as designed.
• Establishes and oversees PFI’s program monitoring and evaluation systems.
• Works closely with program and regional managers who manage PFI program partnerships (assessments, planning, budgeting, training, technical assistance) while ensuring that every program is implemented as it was designed.

Lead PFI’s strategy to drive best practice adoption throughout the PF global family (50%)

• This represents a key element of our organizational strategy and constitutes the next phase of PFI’s evolution. Success in this position will be determined by measuring significant improvement in the total # of prisoners and families served through evidence-based programs each year.
• Key responsibilities include devising and executing a comprehensive plan to drive the adoption of evidence-based best practices throughout our global network.
• Lead the identification, research, and network-wide promotion of discrete best practices that increase program scale, quality, and return on investment. Build training and communications strategies that advance best practice adoption.
• This role includes conducting empirical research (both qualitative and quantitative methods) of promising programs, benchmarking best practices within these programs, isolating key activities and outcome drivers, locating or creating operational and training materials, and driving best practice adoption throughout the network.
• Requires working with MARCOM and Regional staff to optimize existing communications and training infrastructure and tools while creating additional ways to drive change.

Lead the global development of regional Centers of Excellence (25%)

• Provide tactical leadership and support for the Colombia COE prototype, including the hiring and supervision of onsite staff, managing key stakeholders (PF Colombia, INPEC, Pepperdine, Biblical Seminary of Colombia), developing COE annual plans and budgets, and close monitoring of day-to-day operations.
• Lead the evaluation of the Colombia COE prototype, including both a process and outcome evaluation. This includes reviewing and refining program outcomes, performance indicators, benchmarking COE best practices, and evaluating the Colombian COE against these benchmarks.
• Lead the expansion of COEs into other regions, including developing a global COE business plan, qualifying prospective pilot sites, and preliminary meetings with key stakeholders to assess and verify feasibility and costs.
• Support the Development Team in their efforts to fund a global network of COEs, including technical support in proposal development, donor reports, vision trip participation, and one-on-one donor meetings.

Requirements

• Deep experience in social program design, development, monitoring, and evaluation is required. A “soup-to-nuts” understanding of the key R&D protocols for developing and maturing effective, evidence-based social programs is also required. Previous experience working within a prison or criminal justice context is highly desired.
• It is essential to work with social program evaluation techniques and methods, including process, outcome, empirical, and quasi-experimental design evaluations.
• Experience in working cross-functionally with program, field, and marketing nonprofit teams. Must be proficient in working in a matrix-managed organization. Must be able to lead program, field, and affiliate ministry staff right out of the box.
• Evidence of strong analytical, problem-solving, design, and evaluation instincts. Strong process improvement competencies. Must be able to “engineer” social programs based on empirical data.
• I wanted to let you know that international experience within a federated nonprofit organization, preferably in program design/evaluation capability, is highly desired.
• A program design and/or evaluation leadership role within a Christian international ministry is highly desired.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills across a range of stakeholders.
• Digitally proficient (Technically adept; comfortable learning new software).
• Able and willing to travel to domestic or international destinations to observe program execution, participate in evaluations, provide onsite technical assistance and training, or provide supervision to COE staff. Forecasting 12 to 16 trips per year (≤ 30%).

Education & Experience

• Advanced degree in social sciences, criminology, nonprofit management, or business administration.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in the non-profit sector with a strong preference for previous experience working internationally, within a federated Christian nonprofit organization, and/or with prison systems.

Work status

• Full-time position located at PFI’s headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia. Structured hybrid arrangement may be available with supervisors’ approval upon completing the first three months on the job.

Travel

• ≤ 30% domestic and international travel

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