Program Director, Countering Terrorist Recruitment Online, Washington, D.C.

Program Director, Countering Terrorist Recruitment Online, Washington, D.C.

 

Position Description

 

About PADF

The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) believes in creating a hemisphere of opportunity, for all. We work across Latin America and the Caribbean to make our region stronger—more healthy, peaceful, just, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable for current and future generations. For over 60 years, we have served the most vulnerable communities, investing resources throughout the hemisphere. We partner with and enable civil society, governments, and the private sector for the greater good of the region. 

 

Position Overview

PADF, through its Peace, Justice & Security thematic area, is pursuing an opportunity to implement a program funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT Bureau) to counter the online recruitment efforts of U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). This program is expected to strengthen partner-country law enforcement and justice-sector institutions’ ability to detect, investigate, and prosecute online FTO recruitment, while building digital literacy among youth in vulnerable communities and engaging relevant industry and civil-society stakeholders.

The Program Director will provide overall leadership, strategic direction, and management of the program, and will serve as PADF's primary liaison with the U.S. Department of State CT Bureau. This role requires a leader who combines traditional CT program management experience with genuine fluency in the digital and technical dimensions of online recruitment — content and platform dynamics, prevention/counter-messaging campaign design, and digital literacy education — alongside the diplomatic and institutional skills needed to manage a multi-country, multi-partner cooperative agreement. This is a distinct profile from a traditional law-enforcement-liaison or rule-of-law Program Director: PADF is specifically seeking someone who can speak credibly to both the technical/digital side of the problem and the program-management/CT Bureau-liaison side.

This position is ideally based in Washington, D.C., and involves frequent international travel to program countries. PADF will also consider exceptional candidates based outside the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

This position is contingent upon successful award.

 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities 

Strategic Leadership and Program Vision:

• Provide overall leadership and strategic direction for program implementation across participating countries.
• Ensure the program is aligned with U.S. Department of State CT Bureau priorities, including detection of AI-generated and platform-based terrorist content, youth digital literacy, and citizen reporting in coordination with law enforcement.
• Guide program strategy to remain responsive to evolving online recruitment tactics, partner-country needs, and U.S. Government policy priorities.

Program Management and Operations:

• Lead development and execution of workplans, the program's logic model and theory of change, the performance monitoring plan, and implementation strategies across all participating countries.
• Ensure timely, efficient, and compliant delivery of all program activities, deliverables, and reporting requirements, consistent with cooperative agreement substantial-involvement provisions.
• Oversee program budget and operations, ensuring effective use of resources and alignment with program objectives.

Technical Oversight and Quality Assurance:

• Provide high-level technical oversight of activities spanning detection of online recruitment content, youth-facing digital literacy and prevention education, law enforcement investigative training, and citizen reporting mechanisms.
• Guide the design and delivery of prevention and counter-messaging content and campaigns appropriate to youth and vulnerable-community audiences across participating countries.
• Maintain working knowledge of the major digital and social media platforms, gaming-adjacent environments, and encrypted channels relevant to FTO recruitment, and translate that knowledge into program design.
• Ensure program implementation reflects Do No Harm principles, participant safety, and politically sensitive engagement.

Donor, Government, Platform, and Regional Engagement:

• Serve as PADF's primary liaison with the U.S. Department of State CT Bureau throughout the period of performance, including monthly meetings and written progress updates.
• Coordinate with U.S. Government agencies, U.S