Vetting Officer

Save the Children International has an exciting opportunity for a Vetting Officer to join our global team.

Team and Role Purpose

The Supplier and Partner Vetting team at Save the Children International is responsible for conducting vetting checks to ensure compliance with regulatory and donor requirements. 

This team plays a crucial role by conducting vetting checks and providing clearance before SCI engages with any entity or individual in all country contexts and regardless of the country’s sanctions risk level. 

The team's primary purpose is to prevent the use of SCI’s resources for terrorist activities or by prohibited parties, and to prevent SCI becoming involved in handling criminal property (including money) and money laundering.

Role purpose

The role holder will carry out thorough daily vetting checks, ensuring the checks are done in compliance with the approved rules and procedures. The role requires application of rigorous analytical skills and high attention to detail for identifying and assessing potential risks. Daily responsibilities will include close collaboration with vetting stakeholders across the organisation, the use of various internal and external systems, reporting tools, and managing vetting databases. The role holder will work as an active member of the Vetting Team, providing support to the other team members as and when needed, and working together to meet the set service levels, manage expectations, and drive improvements.

Job Title: Vetting Officer

Reports To: Supplier Operations Manager

Work Pattern: Hybrid/Remote with flexible working options available

Location: Any approved Save the Children International office location. For a full list of locations that Save the Children International can hire in, please visit: SCI Careers

Required Time Zone: 3 hour overlap with UK business hours (09:00–17:00, UTC±0/UTC+1)

Contract Length: Fixed Term Contract (1 year)

Grade: P1

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: English

Remit: Global

Principal Accountabilities

• Conducting daily vetting checks on the newly submitted suppliers, partners, donors and buyers, and re-vetting checks on the existing, previously vetted names.
• Ensuring that vetting is done in line with the approved vetting procedures and guidelines and within the agreed humanitarian and development vetting service levels. 
• Executing complex due diligence investigations to confirm or deny true matches in accordance with the agreed vetting guidelines and procedures.
• When unsure on how to proceed with a specific case or a response, making sure to seek advice from the other team members, Line Manager or Legal Compliance, and to never make decisions based on assumptions especially when under a severe time pressure.
• Liaising daily with the vetting requestors in the Country Offices, responding to their vetting requests by providing clearance, blocking the use of an entity or an individual, or flagging up identified risks, and asking for further information. 
• Escalating high-risk cases in line with the approved vetting escalation procedure to Partnerships and Awards Management teams, global Supply Chain, Legal Compliance, Treasury, and Risk, to whichever applies. 
• Actively contributing to continuous vetting process improvements.
• Preparing and running training sessions and capacity strengthening activities with the country offices to improve their understanding of SCI’s vetting requirements and to gather information about their local challenges and different contexts.
• Working as an active member of the vetting team, providing support to the other team members in times of increased workload and staff absence, including being able to adjust quickly to changing work-priorities or to taking on new assignments on a very short notice. 
• Processing supplier, partner, donor and buyer vetting data in SCI-approved internal systems, such as SAP Ariba ProSave and Awards Management System (AMS), and the external sanctions and money laundering screening system.
• Preparing vetting data for reporting, building reports in Excel and in Power BI.
• Working in compliance with SCI’s Data Protection Policy and SCI’s IT Security and Safety procedure to ensure that the vetting data is stored safely and securely in our systems and is shared with and used for SCI’s vetting purposes only. 

Experience and Skills

Essential

1. Strong Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to conduct thorough investigations and analyse complex data sets to correctly identify potential risks.
2. High Attention to Detail: Essential for reviewing the quality of received data and for assessing risk levels of potential and confirmed matches with accuracy.
3. Communication Skills: Proficient in liaising with multiple departments and external partners, ensuring clear and concise information distribution.
4. High Flexibility and Adaptability: Capable of adjusting priorities and work assignments at short notice and delivering results within the agreed deadlines.
5. Strong team player and collaborator: Can evidence ability to liaise and communicate effectively within the team, as well as with a broad range of people at all levels, across different cultures and departments. Acts with respect, credibility, discretion, tact and diplomacy. Provides support and build the team’s capacity by sharing knowledge and driving improvements.
6. Experience in Data Management: Experience in secure data handling and management, ensuring compliance to data protection policy and rules.
7. Experience in Collaborative Working: Demonstrable experience in working effectively as part of a team, across departments and SCI offices, to deliver objectives, drive improvements, and/or resolve issues.
8. Cultural Competence: Strong awareness and respect for diversity and inclusion reflecting SCI's commitment to an equitable work environment.evidenced ability to liaise and communicate effectively with a broad range of people at all levels, across different cultures and to act with credibility, discretion, tact and diplomacy
9. IT Proficiency: High competence in Excel, some experience with ProSave, Awards Management System (AMS), reporting software, such as Power BI, is beneficial.

Desirable

• Background in Capacity Building: Experience in implementing training and capacity-building initiatives that enhance organisational understanding of vetting processes.
• Technical Vetting Experience: Experience of conducting vetting checks by using sanctions and money-laundering screening systems.
• Experience in Due Diligence: Experience in conducting detailed due diligence and risk assessments within SCI’s context.

Education and Qualifications 

Essential

• Degree in Relevant Field: A bachelor's degree in business, international relations, risk management, compliance, or a related field.
• Proficient IT skills, obtained online or vie training platforms or training sessions
• Training in Data Protection: Knowledge of General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) standards is required.

Desirable

• Professional Certification: While not mandatory, certifications in compliance, risk management, or related disciplines are advantageous.
• Experience of working in a large complex operating environment and/or a matrix operating structure across multiple time zones

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 at SCI Careers. 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.