Senior Director, Economic Empowerment (M2)

Save the Children

For over 100 years, Save the Children has been fighting for the rights of children. The right to a healthy start in life. To have access to education. To be in a safe environment, protected from harm. We work in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach places – over 100 countries, including the U.S. No matter what your role is, when you join Save the Children, you’re creating positive, irreversible change for children, and the future we all share.

The Role

As the Senior Director, Economic Empowerment, you’ll be integral to our work in helping vulnerable children achieve a brighter future. You will lead the strategic, operational, and financial planning and execution of a portfolio of economic empowerment projects. You will provides management oversight and technical leadership to deliver on all aspects of the projects, including multi-country implementation, signature program package development, learning and evidence, and thought leadership and partnership building. You will work in close collaboration with headquarters’ business line lead and technical advisors, supervises a team of technical and program management staff, oversees country office project staff, and ensures accountability to donors. This role is expected to last approximately 12 months from the date of hire, with the possibility of an extension.

Location

Hybrid – Washington DC, Fairfield, CT or Lexington, KY office locations

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)
*not inclusive of all role responsibilities. May be subject to change.

Technical and Programmatic Leadership and Oversight (55%)

• Formulate strategic and operational plans for each major project component (pilot implementation, signature program package development, learning and evidence, and thought leadership and partnership building).
• Provide technical leadership to country teams to design and deliver economic empowerment interventions to assist large numbers of low-income and vulnerable youth to acquire competitive skills and to get a job or build a business. Assist country teams to build effective linkages between training providers, private sector employers, and the government to create demand-driven and sustainable solutions.
• Lead the development of signature program packages, testing effective combinations of training and placement interventions, diverse delivery mechanisms, and public and private sector engagement tactics that integrate innovative solutions to accelerate outcomes (AI, ICT, social enterprise, etc.) to inform strategic and operational refinements.
• Capture and document well-tested program tools, guidance, and innovations to guide strategic and operational refinements and to support replication and scale.
• Oversee the development of quality systems to collect timely, accurate monitoring and evaluation data.
• Monitor and report on programmatic and financial milestones at the country and global level. Ensure donors, internal and external stakeholders are adequately informed of progress, of deviations from plans, and of risks.
• Collaborate with country office leadership to identify where management and technical reinforcement is needed, to oversee the timely achievement of milestones by project field staff and local partners, and to undertake vigilant tracking of project- and beneficiary-level risks.
• Lead the planning, coordination, and execution of workforce development strategies aligned with organizational goals, program priorities, and long-term impact objectives, translating strategic workforce plans into actionable implementation frameworks, including timelines, performance indicators, and resource requirements.
• Work with fundraising team, across functions and departments to align program design and future program evolution to strategic agency priorities.

Thought Leadership and Partnership Building (15%)

• Serve as the primary representative of the projects and as a economic empowerment and workforce development expert in internal and external forums.
• Work with in-house and external researchers to develop and execute a research agenda that will validate the impact of our work, add to the global knowledge base, and inform the next generation of program designs.
• Provide technical guidance and thought leadership on economic empowerment and workforce development approaches to internal teams and external stakeholders.
• Work with business line lead and technical advisors to build partnerships that bring new capabilities and financial resources.
• Collaborate with account managers of existing grants to support donor relationships and donor stewardship.

Resource Mobilization (20%)