Chief of Staff, Finance (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 Chief of Staff, Finance, you’ll be integral to our work in helping vulnerable children achieve a brighter future. You will be enabling a high-performing, strategically aligned Finance Division that serves as a trusted advisor and partner, stewards organizational resources, and uses risk-informed approaches to deliver value, compliance, and impact.

You will serve as the right hand to the CFO, helping to develop and ensure execution of the CFO and Finance Division agenda. You will drive improvements in operational cadence, prioritization, decision quality, and cross-functional execution ensuring initiatives move from strategy to implementation with clarity, speed, and accountability. You will act as an advisor and “extra eyes and ears,” strengthening relationships critical to Finance priorities, anticipating roadblocks, surfacing key risks and opportunities, and ensuring leadership focus remains on the highest-value outcomes.

Location

Hybrid – Washington DC

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

Strategic Development, Advising, & Monitoring (35%)

• In close collaboration with the CFO, spearhead development, execution, and monitoring of the Finance Division strategy and annual operating roadmap, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities and mission outcomes.
• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the CFO and Finance leadership, synthesizing complex inputs into clear recommendations on operating risks, tradeoffs, and opportunities.
• Represent Finance leadership in key internal and external engagements, ensuring consistent messaging, strategic positioning, and stakeholder confidence.
• Represent the Finance division in cross-agency projects, enabling the CFO to delegate leadership and decision-making responsibilities where appropriate. Collaborate with divisional leaders to gather and socialize feedback across teams.
• Establish and maintain performance management routines (e.g., monthly operating reviews, KPI dashboards, issue/risk logs) that translate strategy into measurable outcomes and actionable insights.
• Drive prioritization and delegation across the CFO portfolio—balancing urgent operational needs with strategic initiatives (e.g., financial transformation, planning modernization, controls uplift, reporting enhancements).
• Deliver timely and proactive status updates to the CFO; escalate risks and remove blockers to maintain momentum and decision velocity.

Division-Wide Operations & Project Governance (30%)

• Lead and oversee integrated executive operations across the Finance Division, including strategic planning, project governance, internal communications, and leadership cadence.
• Design and implement scalable systems and tools that drive operational efficiency, knowledge sharing, and change adoption—leveraging technology and disciplined program management.
• Identify and recommend innovative business practices and performance monitoring approaches; champion the use of emerging technologies to enhance efficiency and knowledge management across all fundraising streams.
• Create and manage governance structures for cross-cutting initiatives (e.g., transformation programs, policy rollouts, planning cycles), ensuring clear decision rights, timelines, and accountability.
• Partner with Finance leaders to strengthen end-to-end operating rhythms (e.g., financial close calendar, planning calendar, committee calendars) and ensure transparent stakeholder communications.
• Identify and recommend innovative business practices and performance monitoring approaches to enhance service quality, compliance, and staff experience.
• Partner with the CFO in preparing materials for the Board of Trustees.

Cross-Divisional Integration & Organizational Engagement (20%)

• Identify and operationalize cross-functional opportunities that align Finance priorities with enterprise needs, reducing siloing and improving shared accountability.
• Facilitate partnerships across divisions and “extended finance” stakeholders to improve financial decision support, clarity of roles, and consistent practices.
• Represent