Program Officer, US Exchange Alumni Program

IREX is a global solutions provider that partners with communities and institutions in the United States and around the world to cultivate leaders, expand access to education, and create economic opportunity. With deep expertise, a forward-looking vision, and world-class practices in AI for Education, Future-Ready Workforce, Higher Education Solutions, Leadership Development, and Online Safety, IREX delivers innovative and proven solutions that help people, institutions, and communities thrive in a rapidly changing world.

IREX seeks a Program Officer to support the U.S. Exchange Alumni Network and Capacity Building Program. Program Officers play a central role in ensuring IREX programs are well planned, responsive, compliant, and delivered to a high standard. In this role, you will lead assigned workstreams across a robust catalog of professional development opportunities for U.S. citizen exchange alumni, including Career Connections seminars (virtual and in-person professional development events), the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund Program (funding competition), and the U.S. Exchange Alumni Fellowship (professional networking program). You will also contribute to program-wide monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), reporting, finance and procurement processes, and award compliance. You will manage key work products and timelines, coordinate participants and partners, resolve routine implementation challenges, and guide junior team members. This is an opportunity for an organized and solutions-oriented professional who combines strong judgment and attention to detail with a commitment to responsive participant and partner support. 

• Program Operations & Administration: Lead assigned program workstreams from planning through closeout, ensuring timely, accurate, and thoughtful delivery. Develop and maintain work plans, timelines, risk and issue logs, standard operating procedures, systems, records, and donor deliverables. Monitor dependencies and quality across components, resolve routine implementation issues, recommend practical adjustments, and escalate unusual, sensitive, or high-risk matters to program leadership. 

• Participant, Partner & Stakeholder Engagement: Serve as a primary point of contact for assigned applicants, participants, program partners, vendors, consultants, speakers, and other stakeholders. Responsible for drafting and sending correspondence and managing program email inboxes. 

• Finance, Procurement & Grant Support: Develop and monitor budgets for assigned workstreams, events, participant support, travel, and procurements. Prepare and review payments, travel documents, vendor and consultant records, reconciliations, forecasts, and other financial transactions for accuracy, allowability, completeness, and approval. Lead assigned procurement and contracting processes, maintain audit-ready documentation, monitor vendor deliverables and payments, and address documentation gaps or discrepancies.  

• Team Collaboration & Continuous Improvement: Coordinate and communicate effectively within the program team and across functional teams at IREX to ensure completion of deliverables. Guide and coach junior staff, including delegating work and ensuring the quality of their deliverables. Support cross-team efforts related to event implementation.  

• Growth & New Business Support: Contribute to proposal development and partner engagement as needed, including maintaining relationships with external stakeholders and partner institutions, gathering data/supporting materials, and drafting and/or reviewing text. 

At IREX, our culture is built on our people—and on how we work together to create meaningful impact every day. We look for colleagues who bring purpose, intellectual curiosity, collaborative problem solving, and a results driven, bias for action to help strengthen communities and advance our mission. 

Successful candidates build trust across differences, move ideas into action, seek new perspectives, embrace change, and represent IREX with authenticity and professionalism. We value people who bring strong expertise and a generous team spirit to work that advances our mission. 

Skills & Experience  

• Demonstrated ability to independently manage multiple program workstreams, prioritize competing deadlines, solve routine problems, and deliver high-quality results with limited supervision. 

• Excellent written, oral, and relationship-management skills, including the ability to draft and edit professional materials, facilitate meetings and trainings, and build productive relationships with participants, partners, host organizations, vendors, consultants, alumni, and other stakeholders across cultural, professional, and geographic contexts. 

• Demonstrated judgment, discretion, and responsiveness when supporting participants and stakeholders and handling confidential, sensitive, or time-critical information. 

• Experience implementing international exchange, leadership development, workforce or economic development, education, fellowship, or other donor-funded or participant-centered programs. 

• Experience planning and implementing virtual and in-person events, trainings, workshops, orientations, and professional learning activities. 

• Experience providing guidance, coaching, or work direction to junior staff, interns, consultants, volunteers, or external partners. 

• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications, including Copilot, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint, and the ability to learn and manage program, survey, learning, and financial systems.  

• Experience with U.S. Government-funded exchange programs and familiarity with applicable compliance, procurement, financial management, documentation, and reporting requirements preferred. 

Requirements:  

• Bachelor's degree.

• 3+ years of relevant professional experience supporting international exchange, leadership development, workforce or economic development, education, fellowship, or other donor-funded or participant-centered programs. 

• Ability to support occasional evening or weekend program activities and travel domestically as required. 

You must have unrestricted authorization to work in the United States. 

This position is based at IREX headquarters in Washington, DC and requires in-person work consistent with IREX’s Flexible Work Policy, currently at least two days (16 hours) per week in-office with one of those days being Wednesday. 

Salary range: $57,200 - $72,000

Please note: While we aim to offer competitive compensation, not all candidates will be eligible for the upper end of the salary range. 

At IREX, you’ll work alongside committed, passionate, and collaborative colleagues who are united by a shared mission—making it a truly rewarding place to work. We offer learning, development, and growth opportunities, along with a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your overall well-being.  

If you are excited by IREX’s mission and see yourself contributing to this work, we encourage you to apply—even if your experience does not align with every preferred qualification. We value a range of backgrounds and experiences and are especially interested in candidates who bring curiosity, initiative, strong collaboration skills, and a commitment to meaningful global impact. 

Disability Specifications 

IREX will make reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008. 

Equal Opportunity Employer 

IREX seeks to attract the best-qualified candidates who support IREX’s mission and who respect and promote excellence through diversity. IREX is committed to equal opportunity and follows recruitment and selection practices that comply with all applicable employment laws. To this end, IREX recruits, hires, trains, and promotes individuals based on merit and experience. 

We conduct background checks on all successful candidates. This position is not eligible for Immigration Sponsorship. 

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE