Background: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration, working closely with governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental partners. Established in 1951, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. The Islamic Philanthropy Fund (IPF), launched by IOM in February 2025 in Riyadh under the supervision of Private Sector Partnerships Division at the HQ, IPF aims to harness the power of Islamic charitable giving to support some of the world's most vulnerable migrant and displaced populations. This initiative aligns with Shariah principles and seeks to provide a sustainable source of income to ensure the safety and dignity of those affected by crises.
The Private Sector Partnerships Division (PSP) sits within the Office of Partnerships, Advocacy and Communications under the overall oversight of the Director General. PSP builds partnerships with the private sector that enable IOM's strategic priorities and engage the private sector as a key stakeholder in migration through impactful and innovative partnerships. PSP leads strategic outreach and engagement with the private sector and Islamic Philanthropy Fund and provides Headquarters, Regional and Country Offices with assistance and expertise relating to initiating, establishing, and maintaining partnerships with the private sector and IPF. PSP is responsible for the development and implementation of IOM’s Private Sector and IPF Strategy which provides a framework for how IOM engages with the private sector and IPF partners to support safe, orderly, and regular migration. PSP oversees engagement with the private sector and IPF, establishes and coordinates IOM’s private sector and IPF partnerships due diligence process, builds staff capacity in private sector and IPF partnership-building and oversees the Goodwill Ambassador programme and celebrity partnerships.
IOM has had a presence in the United Kingdom since 1995. The UK office supports migrants through a variety of resettlement, support, and protection activities. The relationship between IOM and the UK has grown significantly, with the UK being one of IOM's largest donors and an influential Member State. IOM UK collaborates with the government and other partners to provide emergency response, resettlement assistance, and durable solutions for displaced populations.
Objective: Under the overall guidance of the Chief of Mission in the UK and with technical coordination from the Private Sector Partnerships Division to ensure alignment with IOM's overall strategic goals and objectives for the IPF, the incumbent will lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive Islamic Philanthropy strategy in the UK. This role will focus on mobilizing resources through Zakat, Sadaqah, and other Islamic charitable giving mechanisms by engaging international charities, financial institutions, foundations, corporations, high-net-worth individuals, and relevant stakeholders within the UK.
Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
Scope of Work:
- Strategic Planning and Landscape Mapping
- Develop a comprehensive strategy for the growth and sustainability of the Islamic Philanthropy Fund (IPF) in the UK.
- Map out the IPF landscape in the UK, including how UK-based Islamic charities and grantees operate, and identify the specific regulatory frameworks applicable to them.
- Assess the size and volume of funds mobilized by Islamic charities, with a particular focus on Zakat and Sadaqah donations.
- Utilize existing research to map Muslim communities involved in alms-giving, detailing their size, geographic distribution (including parliamentary constituencies), socio-economic profiles, and key entry points such as diaspora organizations.
- Establish a detailed IPF profile for the UK, based on these assessments, and provide recommendations on potential partnerships for initiatives of mutual interest.
- Stakeholder Engagement and Partnership Development
- Identify and engage with key stakeholders, including Islamic organizations, community leaders, private sector entities, high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), Islamic finance and banking stakeholders, Muslim social media influencers and key Islamic institutions responsible for issuing Fatwas.
- Develop products, tools, engagement plan to successfully establish partnerships with these Islamic institutions and other key actors.
- Organize and facilitate meetings, workshops, and events to promote the IPF and foster collaboration.
- Map Islamic charities that deliver international assistance and identify areas of joint interest with IOM.
- Fundraising and Resource Mobilization
- Design and implement targeted fundraising campaigns based on the mapped landscape and stakeholder insights.
- Develop proposals and grant applications to secure both financial and in-kind support.
- Secure 2-5 strategic partnerships to mobilize resources with support from the mission and Private Sector Division.
- Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting
- Establish a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to assess the IPF’s impact.
- Prepare regular progress reports, including comprehensive monitoring and evaluation outputs, with actionable recommendations for continuous improvement.
- Ensure compliance with IOM policies and maintain transparent documentation of all activities and transactions.
- Ensure strong coordination with IOM’s PSP Division and internal IPF stakeholders, to exchange good practice and support global efforts.
Expected Outcomes and Deliverables:
- Strategic Growth Framework: A detailed strategic plan for the IPF in the UK, incorporating insights from the landscape mapping and community profiles.
- Comprehensive IPF and Community Mapping
- A thorough map of UK-based Islamic charities, grantees, and their operational and regulatory contexts.
- Assessment of funds mobilized, especially through Zakat and Sadaqah.
- Mapping of Muslim communities engaged in alms-giving, including size, location, socio-economic status, and access points.
- Identification of types of projects, beneficiaries, and key countries receiving funds from UK Muslim donors.
- Mapping of Islamic charities involved in international assistance and potential collaboration areas with IOM.
- Identification of key Islamic institutions for Fatwas and partnership opportunities.
- Stakeholder Engagement Reports: Documentation of engagement activities, stakeholder insights, and partnership development progress.
- Fundraising Campaign Materials and Proposals: Campaign assets and funding proposals tailored to the UK Islamic philanthropic landscape.
- Resource Mobilization: Achievement of 2-5 partnerships and successful mobilization of cash and in-kind donations.
- Impact and Compliance Reporting: Regular reports demonstrating the Fund’s impact, compliance with IOM policies, and recommendations for improvement.
For more details about the role and how to apply, please visit our website: https://unitedkingdom.iom.int/careers
JRF works to speed up and support the transition to a more equitable and just future, free from poverty, in which people and planet can flourish. We are a UK-wide social change organisation, with a focus on all four nations. Our work is anchored around the reduction of poverty and household economic insecurity. We recognise that both poverty and insecurity are multi-dimensional, with material, social and emotional aspects, and we also consider economic, social and environmental justice to be inextricably linked.
About the role
We organise our Policy & Ideas work around the following issue areas: families, work and care; housing, land and climate; community, place and social security; and macroeconomics and fiscal policy. This role will have a focus on either macroeconomics or fiscal policy, or both, whole also working to support out other policy themes. We want our work to confront the immediate manifestations of poverty and insecurity but also the deeper social and economic conditions on which these rest.
That’s where you come in.
We are seeking two Senior Economists, one full-time permanent role and one 12-month fixed term role, which could be either full-time or part-time. In both roles, we are looking for someone to develop and lead research projects that generate arguments, policies and ideas to address the social and economic challenges that underpin poverty and household economic insecurity in the UK today and chart a course to a different and better future.
You will devise, lead and deliver high quality economic analysis and thinking to JRF’s policy & ideas work and offer a professional economics perspective across the wider organisation – and as a trusted, expert voice externally. You will seek out and connect with people or organisations developing new ideas and strategies that can contribute to our mission; and to develop proposals for how JRF should use its platform and resources to support their development and diffusion.
About you
As a Senior Economist, we would like you to either have a professional economics training or equivalent professional work experience, advanced data analysis skills and the ability to use a wide range of tools and software to undertake large scale and groundbreaking economic analysis (including using micro-data from major national surveys).
With experience of working on policy issues relating to poverty, you will have significant experience of having initiated, designed, led and delivered projects that included original economic analysis that generated a different or better understanding of policy challenges and helped to guide new arguments and ideas. You will be able to think critically and creatively, analyse and problem solve, and contribute to the generation of new ideas and alternative ways of approaching an issue, able to communicate arguments and ideas persuasively, via writing and speaking.
You will have advanced knowledge and critical awareness of economic theory, principles, datasets and analytical techniques and how to deploy these effectively in support of understanding and addressing the drivers of household economic insecurity. With significant knowledge of one or both of macroeconomics or UK fiscal policy and a strong understanding of how policy making works across the UK, devolved and sub-national governments, you will have an awareness and engagement with relevant political, policy and intellectual debates, plus models and approaches to social change.
How to apply
If you share our passion and this role sounds like you, then we’re looking forward to hearing from you.
Please submit your CV and supporting information via our website.
The closing date for applications is 27th June 2025.
Interviews will take place at the end of July (Date TBC)
We will be holding an online webinar to provide prospective applicants the chance to meet JRF staff and learn more about the role. If you might be interested in attending this session, please fill out the short form on our website, and we will contact you by email with the time and date.
Additional Information
Applications are welcome from all, regardless of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, race, sex, sexual orientation, trans status or socioeconomic background.
We positively encourage applications from people from marginalised backgrounds, including but not limited to those with experience of living in poverty.
We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and operate an anonymised recruitment process so that bias is eliminated from the shortlisting process.
In support of our approach to flexible working, we are happy to receive applications from those seeking full-time employment, as well as those who may want to share the role on a part-time basis. When making your application, please state whether you want to be considered for either full or part-time work and, if part-time, the number of hours per week you would be looking for.
At JRF we’re at our best when we’re continually building on trust, showing we care and making a difference – and hope others will do the same. So, for those roles which allow it, we’re developing a more blended approach to how and where you work. This means you can expect to work flexibly between the office and home (with an expectation of two days a week in your home office).
We are a Disability Confident Employer. This means that we are committed to the recruitment, progression and retention of disabled individuals. We shall also offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the job. If you have a disability, please tell us if you would like to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme.
If you have any additional needs and need reasonable adjustments to be made to the interview process, please let us know.
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