Fast Facts
Save the Children International is seeking a Head of Social Transformation Hub to lead locally-led programming initiatives aimed at achieving measurable results for children and fostering community ownership. This position involves collaboration across global teams to address inequalities and deliver high-quality programs.
Responsibilities: The role entails operationalizing strategic priorities for Sponsorship, managing change processes, implementing program strategies, overseeing evaluation and learning systems, and nurturing a global team for effective programming.
Skills: Significant experience in international development, project management, social change, child rights advocacy, and strong communication skills in English are essential for this management position.
Qualifications: A Master's degree in relevant fields and professional experience managing people and programs, with familiarity in Save the Children's Sponsorship program preferred.
Location: This role can be performed from any approved Save the Children International office location or remotely with flexible working options.
Compensation: Not provided by employer. Typical compensation ranges for this position are between 90,000 - 130,000.
Save the Children International has an exciting opportunity for a Head of Social Transformation Hubto join our global team.
Team and Role Purpose
The Locally led Delivery and Partnerships team leads the development and embedding of locally-led programming principles and practices within country programmes, promoting community ownership and sustainability, whilst ensuring alignment with Save the Children International's values of accountability and integrity. This team empowers communities, fostering their autonomy and participation in initiatives tailored to their unique needs. By doing so, we play a critical role in achieving the organisation's goal of creating lasting change for children through inclusive, community-focused initiatives.
Role purpose
The Head of Social Transformation Hub plays an essential leadership role in ensuring our programming funded by Sponsorship delivers and communicates measurable results for children. Working closely with the Country Office PDQ/PQI Directors and their Sponsorship teams, and drawing on a pool of global technical experts, the Head will ensure that Sponsorship is used to support evidence-based programs that align with Save the Children’s global strategy and are optimized by Sponsorship Offices to realize their Country Strategic Plan and localization ambition. The Head of Social Transformation Hub combines strong program technical knowledge with exceptional project management skills and the ability to lead by influence. S/he ensures optimal use of resources for technical expertise and technical assistance on the program, including for research, evaluation and learning. This role is engaged in change management and ensuring alignment with other program priorities within Save the Children, while also coordinating with Operations, Impact & Influencing and Fundraising colleagues on Sponsorship and the social transformation strategy during Sponsorship’s wind down and visioning for future programming. The Head of Social Transformation is part of the annual planning process for all Sponsorship activities, ensuring accurate reporting of program outcomes, innovations and learning. S/he promotes a locally-led agenda, working closely with children, communities and local actors to advance localization and inclusion of all children. Success in the role includes elaborating the evidence base for social transformation and creating a learning path for Save the Children programming to focus on ending inequality and discrimination.
Job Title: Head of Social Transformation Hub
Reports To: Director of Locally-led Delivery and Partnerships
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: Any
Contract Length: Fixed Term Contract (9 months)
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
International Travel: up to 20%
People Management: Number of people managed in total: 5
Manager of a team: Yes
Team Manager (manager of multiple teams): No
Remit: Global
Principal Accountabilities
Operationalize Sponsorship’s strategic priorities (45%)
Lead a collaborative and country office-led process to shift programming within Sponsorship to address inequality and discrimination, working with agents of change to catalyse social transformation.
- Develop and implement a program strategy that will maximize country ownership and focus our work on protecting the rights of children most impacted by inequality and discrimination.
- Provide leadership to global experts and co-creation teams to design tools and guidance that operationalize Social Transformation approaches and the updated Theory of Change.
- Foster collaborative working relationships, a holistic vision and an orientation towards results for children amongst stakeholders and Sponsorship Offices, including SCI’s Impact and Influencing team.
- Manage change processes within Sponsorship (GSO, Marketing and Finance) to rollout the social transformation model and support Sponsorship Offices in transitioning, testing tools and demonstrating results in social change using a locally-led and partnership approach.
- Build the knowledge base within Save the Children on how social change and transformation happens, including shifting power to agents of change.
- Stimulate innovation and scale-up promising practices within our programs
- Support Marketing colleagues to develop a new approach to attract supporters for the strategic priorities.
Manage Sponsorship’s annual technical planning to ensure quality programs for children (10%)
- Source consultants and technical experts to provide new thinking and tools in terms of program design, quality and measurement.
- Develop systems to hold sponsorship country offices accountable for the implementation of high quality, integrated sponsorship programs and program innovations through regular meetings and reporting, including annual updates of plans.
- Develop new ways of sourcing technical assistance for Sponsorship programming that ensures high quality inputs and deliverables while aligning with global TE.
Build a social transformation thought leadership hub and long-term vision for funding and implementation in country programs (10%)
- Lead the evidence building and refinement of social transformation approaches to be accessible to different stakeholders (country teams, senior leadership, Members, etc.)
- Evolve tools and guidance for social transformation
- Create a movement of practitioners using locally-led social transformation strategies and contributing to the cross-learning agenda internally and externally to Save the Children
- Co-create future long-term funding platforms for equality and social change work with country offices and technical experts (including Impact and Influencing colleagues)
- Support fundraising colleagues to develop a new approach to attract supporters and donors that resource social transformation in our programs.
Oversee Sponsorship’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) and evidence and learning systems, to ensure program and child impact are effectively documented and communicated (15%)
- Supervise the Director of Evidence and Learning and MEAL team to deliver on an Evidence and Learning plan based on:
- Design a Sponsorship Evidence and Learning + MEAL structure, to manage all monitoring and evaluation requirements, along with the evidence and learning agenda that the social transformation program model seeks to drive.
- Test rubrics and other tools to measure effectiveness of social transformation and programs for equality across the portfolio.
- Engage global and local research and evaluation partners with a particular focus on empowering agents of change and children in our programs to guide monitoring and evaluation.
- Report on Sponsorship outcomes to senior leadership and Members, through key performance indicators and regular program reports.
- Implement an evidence and research plan for Sponsorship to produce new thinking and share learning across the country offices.
Oversee a Sponsorship Knowledge Management and Learning plan to ensure knowledge management is Best in Class and an example for all of SCI (10%)
- Guide a system for knowledge management within Sponsorship, ensuring ease in accessing updated information and tools.
- Review OneNet and specialized Teams sites for ease of use and simplicity.
- Inspire the dissemination of learning and use of learning, particularly in the area of social transformation for children impacted by inequality and discrimination and working with a wide variety of partners to ensure sustainable change.
- Ensure alignment with SCI knowledge management and learning systems and use of Resource Centre, creating effective synergies and innovating on new ways of working.
- Foster learning across country teams, within SCI and externally on locally-led programming as part of social transformation.
Manage a global team of expertise to ensure high quality delivery of programming in Sponsorship (10%)
- Design a structure and hire a team to deliver on program quality and impact in addressing inequality and discrimination.
- Steward resources and support career development and growth of each team member through performance reviews, and professional/leadership opportunities.
- Inspire the PQIS team to reach the highest standards of performance and to feel a sense of pride in belonging to the Save the Children.
Experience and Skills
Essential
- Significant experience in area of expertise (international development, project management, social change, public policy and advocacy, and/or child rights)
- Masters degree or equivalent relevant experience required
- Professional level of technical or managerial knowledge, skills, and experience to manage the operational activities of a unit or team, or provide the technical and management support related to various size programs, grants or projects.
- Strong experience as a manager of people and projects, especially change management to improve program impact
- Experience measuring impact and results across a portfolio of projects
- Ability to motivate a learning agenda and development of tools, guidance and other capacity strengthening products
- Strong communication skills in written and verbal English
- Experience with data management and web-based platforms (i.e., SharePoint, Microsoft-suite: Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word)
Desirable
- Experience with Save the Children’s Sponsorship program
- Familiarity with SCA structures and working across multiple country office is a plus
Education and Qualifications
Essential
- Masters degree in international relations, research methods, evaluation or other relevant area.
Desirable
- Specialized training in social change and locally-led programming or partnerships
- Written language skills in French, Spanish or Arabic
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
- Application review by our recruiting team based on your CV and cover letter
- Two-stage competency-based interviews with the hiring team
- Some recruitment may include an additional assessment or case study stage, or a third stage interview
- 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.
