Job Description
Staff whose work requires or potentially could require any in-person interaction with Save the Children colleagues, partners, or beneficiaries must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless otherwise required by law. Save the Children complies with federal, state, and local laws with regard to accommodations related to this policy.
Summary
The Senior Director for Program Operations will oversee the development and implementation of efficient and effective systems across both the Humanitarian Public Health (HPH) portfolio and the broader humanitarian program portfolio to ensure effective delivery of the team’s mandate. You will work directly with the Head, technical leads, and expanded team in providing oversight of broader operational systems to ensure that program initiatives and staff achieve desired results. Operational oversight includes financial and grants management, coordination of human resources, contractual services, internal and donor reporting, and supervision of administrative support. You will support the implementation of streamlined, consistent, transparent, effective participatory and consultative processes to achieve smooth implementation across the portfolio.
Note: In 2022, Save the Children is facilitating a global structural change to strengthen its humanitarian staffing structures. While this position will be hired by Save the Children US, it will be seconded to SC International’s Humanitarian Public Health team, which is part of the One Humanitarian Team. More information about these changes is available on request.
What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)
Operational Oversight (40%)
- Lead program operations including financial and grants management, coordination of human resources, contractual services, internal and donor reporting, and supervision of administrative support
- Identify operational challenges or inefficiencies and bring stakeholders together to design and implement systemic solutions based on industry best practices
- Work closely with other managers to ensure consistent operational systems are used by the HPH Team and across sectors, including consultant/vendor contracts, procurement, staff onboarding, etc.
- Lead HPH weekly Operations and Management meetings to address and solve arising issues and priorities
- Deliver operations oversight and support on dedicated global and country projects
- Manage various implementation plans within the headquarters components of global projects
- Contribute to strategic and operational planning processes to develop and achieve goals and objectives
- Drive components of annual planning/budgeting processes
Finance & Grants Management (20%)
- Develop and institute financial tracking system across the portfolio in close collaboration with relevant finance and awards management teams
- Liaise with the Awards Management Team on systems improvements including coding, spend management, proposals, awards, levels of effort (LOE) tracker, etc.
- Review expense tracking in collaboration with the Awards Managers and Finance Teams
- Support program leads to ensure that expenses are in line with proposed budget, and donor and agency policies for select global awards
- Provide financial support and coordinate with Technical Advisors, Awards Managers and Field Teams to monitor financial spending and forecast for select global awards
Knowledge Management and Communications (15%)
- Actively liaise with relevant stakeholders (members, regional/country offices, partners, etc.) to capture and share learnings and resources across portfolio
- Oversee internal communications strategy to share program documentation with resource development, media, communications, PQI and other teams, as needed
- Deliver communications activities on select projects
Fund Raising and Resource Mobilization (15%)
- In collaboration with Technical Advisors and Awards Managers, manage the process for design, costing, and packaging of concept notes and proposals to key humanitarian donors
- Actively support resource development teams at SC members in fundraising activities, including alignment of fundraising priorities with programmatic priorities, capturing and sharing success stories and program overviews, etc.
- Support Head of Humanitarian Public Health in setting fundraising strategies across the portfolio
Staff Management (10%)
- Train, develop, coach, lead, and supervise staff, clearly communicating organization, division and department priorities, and how their work contributes to our mission, ensuring that the working environment continually fosters diversity, inclusion, and belonging – supporting Save the Children values
- Work with Talent Attraction and acquisition team to coordinate process for team recruitment of interns and fellows, in partnership with department leadership and relevant team leads
- Oversee departmental onboarding of new program staff
- Liaise with Human Resources to ensure that staff based overseas have their contracts and benefits processed timely and appropriately
- Communicate/flag any concerns related to HR or coverage of time to Awards Managers and Technical Leads
- Ensure that all recruitment, time coverage, invoices, timesheets, etc. are done according to agency operational standards
Required Qualifications
- Minimum of a Bachelor Degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 7 years of relevant experience in developing, maintaining, and overseeing financial and administrative operations of complex programs including grants management and budgeting
- Strategic decision making and problem-solving skills; identifying key issues and setting systemic solutions with long-term goal/vision
- Understanding and experience with donor relations and requirements including development of annual reports, work plans, and financial reports
- Proven organizational and time management skills
- Demonstrated ability to work well under pressure and in team situations
- Professional proficiency in MS Office suite
- Professional proficiency in spoken and written English
- Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with individuals and teams at all levels, both internally and externally
- Demonstrated commitment to fostering and maintaining and environment of diversity, inclusion, and belonging
- Ability to travel up to 20% of the time
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience managing public health programs and/or humanitarian programs
- Experience forming strategic alliances/partnerships
- Experience working in insecure/hardship areas
Compensation
Save the Children is offering the following salary ranges for this position, dependent on candidate location:
- Geo 1- NY Metro, DC, and other locations with labor costs significantly above national average: Up to $128,000/ year
- Geo 2-Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Up to $116,000/ year
- Geo 3-Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Up to $104,000/year
Actual base salary may vary based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, base salary of internal peers, business sector, and geographic location.
About the Organization
Why you should join the Save the Children Team…
Save the Children US offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, pet insurance, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, 403(b), generous vacation, personal sick leave, family leave, parental/adoption leave, commuter benefits, dress for your day, and much more.
Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in YOU!
About Save the Children
Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.
Our work for children and their families requires that we commit—at every opportunity—to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination in this country and beyond. As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form—in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.
We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Save the Children complies with all applicable laws.
Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse. In addition, it is Save the Children’s policy to create and proactively maintain an environment that aims to prevent and deter any actions and omissions, whether deliberate or inadvertent, that place children at the risk of any kind of child abuse. All our representatives are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with this commitment and obligation.
Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.
