ROLE: Director of Language & Literacy
STATUS: Full-time, Exempt
WORK CONDITION: 50% sitting and 50% standing; 75% onsite and 25% virtual
LOCATION: Clarkston, Georgia and surrounding areas
DIRECT SUPERVISOR: Executive Director
LAST UPDATED: March 2025
Please Note: If you are interested in applying for this position, please provide a cover letter along with your resume submission after completing the screening questions.
Position Purpose
The Director of Language and Literacy is responsible for leading and inspiring the staff overseeing all the family literacy programs so that they consistently deliver culturally humble and quality literacy programming in a manner aligned with Friends of Refugees’ mission, vision, values, and philosophy of ministry. By inspiring and guiding the staff, setting strategic goals, and being responsive to the community needs, the Director ensures that each program addresses critical literacy challenges for the targeted student population. Additionally, this position fosters growth and professional development opportunities for a multi-cultural staff representing a wide range of nationalities, languages, and religions.
What You’ll Do in This Role
Lead and Inspire a Talented Team–65%
- Inspire and guide the team responsible for all language and literacy programs, fostering a shared vision and purpose undergirded by the organization’s philosophy of ministry, values, mission and vision
- Supervise and coach a team of 5-7 direct reports, providing regular coaching and support for their professional development
- Foster a culture that empowers a multi-cultural team to thrive and grow in their professional skills
- Collaborate with literacy and ESOL experts to set achievable program goals that align with the current needs of the New American community
- Steward financial and people resources wisely, working with executive leadership to manage and adjust the literacy program budget throughout the year
- Continuously evaluate Friends of Refugees (FOR) literacy programs to ensure they stay within program scope and address the most critical literacy needs within the refugee community, making adjustments as needed
- Celebrate and promote diverse cultures and languages within the program
Engage & Build Partnerships with External Partners—20%
- As a program leader, act as an ambassador for Friends of Refugees, able to model and clearly explain our program methodologies, mission, vision, values, and philosophy of ministry to external donors, volunteers and partners
- Warmly welcome and engage with visiting volunteers, houses of faith, donors, and foundations
- Able to lead public prayer times with faith communities and staff concerning the needs of family literacy
- Represents language and literacy programs on behalf of Friends of Refugees to external donors, as requested
- Understand and align with Friends of Refugees’ approach to fundraising, as outlined in A Spirituality of Fundraising
- Provide content, stories, for the Partner Engagement team for fundraising events
- Present to the Board of Directors about language and literacy, on occasion
Ensure Smooth Program Operations –15%
- Ensure literacy staff resources and systems are in place to routinely collect evaluation data and narrative content to support grant proposals, reports, and marketing efforts
- Strategically allocate staff time to maximize program effectiveness
- Prioritize safety, by upholding child safety and compliance standards at all times
Competencies
The Director of Language & Literacy should demonstrate competence in the following:
- Excellent interpersonal skills: able to quickly establish and maintain positive relationships with people from a range of diverse backgrounds, religions, cultures, and languages
- Able to inspire and motivate a diverse staff to accomplish goals
- Exhibits cross-cultural humility and the curiosity of a lifelong learner
- Superior organization skills and attention to detail
- Able to thrive in a collaborative environment, including working effectively with others to set goals, resolve problems, and make decisions
- Knowledgeable about human resources and general management principles
- Strong written and verbal communicator
- Excellent problem-solving skills and able to work in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment
- Able to confidently lead and explain the work using the foundation of FOR’s mission, vision, values and philosophy of ministry
Experience and Qualifications
- Personally committed to and in agreement with FOR’s philosophy of ministry, vision, mission, and values, required
- 2-4 years of experience managing direct reports, leading teams, and change management, required
- Bachelor’s degree, required; graduate degree, preferred
- 1-2 years’ experience volunteering or working in a multicultural setting, required
- Strong working knowledge in Google Suite or Microsoft Office, required
- Active involvement in a local Christian church, highly preferred
- At least 1 year of experience working with displaced people (or personal lived experience), highly preferred
- 1 year of experience working in a multi-faith setting, preferred
- Training or coursework in any of the following is highly desired: education, nonprofit administration, human development, human resources, project management, ESOL, healthcare, or public health
- Nonprofit work experience, preferred
- Teaching experience (volunteer or paid), preferred