Senior Lead, Quality & Impact

Save the Children International has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Lead, Quality & Impact to join our global team.

Team and Job Purpose

To enhance the culture of quality and impact across Country Offices by ensuring that the right technical expertise is available at the right place and time. Our purpose is to drive an evidence and accountability agenda and embedding learning throughout our programming and operations. We aim to support the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) function through capacity strengthening, PRIME, and global indicator roll-out, while leading programme incident management, risk escalation, and reporting to uphold our commitment to excellence and accountability.

Role purpose

To lead and enhance the Quality and Impact agenda within Save the Children International by strategically guiding and coordinating high-quality programming and strategic technical support across Country Offices, ensuring excellence and accountability in our operations while fostering a culture of evidence-based decision-making and embedding learning throughout the organisation.

Job Title: Senior Lead, Quality & Impact

Reports To: Director, Quality & Impact

Work Pattern: Hybrid/Remote with flexible working options available 

Contract Length: Permanent

Grade: P6

Location: Any existing SCI office location (multiple time zones and locations required across team). For a full list of locations that Save the Children International can hire in, please visit: SCI Careers

Time Zone (that the role holder must be available to work in): LAC time zone, WCA/ESA time zone, or Asia/MENAEE time zone

Right to Work: The successful candidate must possess the unrestricted right to work in their current or preferred location for the duration of employment. 

Language Requirements: (specify if essential, otherwise list under Skills section as a desirable)

International Travel Requirements: Yes, up to 40% 

Principal Accountabilities

• Lead the delivery of Save the Children Program Quality and Impact Agenda, collaborating closely with relevant departments and the Regional Director.
• Provide strategic support and oversight for country portfolios by engaging with country teams to understand their needs and identify opportunities. 
• Lead programme incident management, risk escalation, and reporting to uphold excellence and accountability.
• Deliver demand-driven and strategic technical support to Country Offices (COs) to design and implement high-quality programming and influencing.
• Support, shape, and deliver strategic workforce planning and professional development for CO Program Development and Quality (PDQ) Directors and Technical Experts (TEs) in regions.
• Promote, role model, and support the integration of programs with policy, advocacy, and campaigns, as well as cross-thematic and Nexus programming to amplify impact for and with children.
• Serve as a technical focal point for CO PDQ Directors, providing technical guidance and backstopping as needed.
• During categorized responses, coordinate technical support to country offices and deploy DTL Programmes personnel when necessary.

Experience and Skills

Essential

1. Significant experience in coordinating technical support to Regional or multi-country programmes in the humanitarian and development sectors. 
2. Extensive experience in representing organisations at high-profile internal and external forums. 
3. Proven track record in managing diverse and multidisciplinary teams, fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment. 
4. Demonstrated ability in building and nurturing strategic partnerships with donors, government stakeholders, and other key partners at regional and national levels, aligned with our commitment to localisation.
5. Proficient experience in identifying and managing risks in complex operational contexts and coordinating across multiple entities to ensure alignment.
6. Experience in leading responses to humanitarian crises, including planning, implementation, and coordination with various humanitarian actors. 
7. Ability to work closely with Communication & Engagement, Media and Humanitarian teams to ensure a robust coordination mechanism is in place. 
8. Commitment to and substantial experience in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within teams and programmes. This includes proactive approaches in recruitment, development, and retention of diverse talent to reflect the communities served by Save the Children. 
9. Technical leadership: demonstrated expertise in leading the development and implementation of high-quality programming standards, tools and policies with a locally led approach grounded in evidence and research from Save the Children and partners interventions. 
10. Visionary Leadership: Demonstrates the ability to articulate a compelling vision for the future, inspiring and motivating teams to achieve ambitious goals. 
11. Exceptional communication skills with the ability to inspire and engage employees at all levels, fostering a sense of purpose and commitment. 
12. Leads by example, embodying the organization’s values and fostering a culture of inclusion, integrity, respect, empathy and excellence.

Education and Qualifications 

Essential

• A post-graduate degree in degree or equivalent in Development Studies, Social Sciences, Public Healthor a related field is essential. 
• Consideration for a combination of relevant academic qualifications and substantial work experience is also possible.

Desirable

• Professional training or certification of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Results-Based Management, or Project Management or related areas would be beneficial. 

Working at Save the Children International

Save the Children is the world's leading organisation for children, employing ~25,000 staff. We save children's lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Through our work in 116 countries, we put the most deprived and marginalised children first.

We know that great people make a great organisation, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

The work here is challenging but is also immensely rewarding. At Save the Children, you will be in good company, working with talented, like-minded individuals who are determined to ensure that all children survive, learn, and are protected. Your contribution will help ensure children's voices are heard at the highest levels, and that we achieve our global strategy, Ambition for Children 2030, and reach every last child.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Equal Opportunities

DEI is core to our vision, values and global strategy. Save the Children is committed to creating a truly diverse, equitable and inclusive organisation, and one which will support us in our vision to ensure every child attains the right to survival, protection, development, and participation.

We are committed to equal employment opportunities, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, disability, marital or civil partnership status, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, caring or parental responsibilities, age, or beliefs and religion. We are committed to diversifying our staff to better represent the communities we serve and actively welcome underrepresented groups to apply.

Reasonable adjustments will be made should any candidate invited to interview require this.

Application Information

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application. A full copy of the role profile can be found here via the job listing. It is recommended that you save a copy of the role profile as it will no longer be available after the advert closes.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the job advert may be closed earlier than advertised subject to the volume of suitable applicants. Please submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Candidates who are successfully shortlisted should expect to hear from us within 2 weeks of the advert deadline.

Our recruitment process:

1. Application review by our recruiting team based on your CV and cover letter
2. Two-stage competency-based interviews with the hiring team
3. Some recruitment may include an additional assessment or case study stage, or a third stage interview
4. If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment, followed by your contract subject to passing background checks

We need to keep children and adults safe so our selection process includes rigorous background checks and reflects our commitment to the protection of children and adults from abuse. All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our Code of Conduct and all policies and procedures relating to Anti-harassment, Health and Safety, Safeguarding, and DEI and Equal Opportunities.

Save the Children does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.