The Manager for Technical Content & Standards contributes significantly to broader programme quality and impact initiatives within Save the Children. This role involves coordinating across various internal stakeholders (PIIHA, global ACCM, MEAL, Ops, Breakthrough teams) to enhance program quality standards, managing the Common Approaches strategy, and ensuring the development, continuous improvement, uptake, and localisation of these approaches.
Principal Accountabilities
Technical Excellence & Capability:
- Contribute to broader programme quality and impact initiatives as appropriate (e.g., working with global ACCM, MEAL, Ops and Breakthrough teams to understand barriers to program quality across functions with country colleagues, and proposing and communicating clear actions to be taken at Country Office level).
- Coordinate across PIIHA stakeholders to uplift programme quality & impact standards through annual QSSA and regular review of technical standards (e.g., Competency Framework, policies, procedures).
- Support Technical Excellence & Capability (TE&C) work to upskill TE, PDQs, and ACCM Directors to lead on programme quality & impact standards during programme design and delivery.
- Lead the overall Common Approaches strategy and planning oversight, including integration into Global Strategy, Country Strategic Plan, and Global Results Framework processes.
- Agree priorities and implement continuous improvement, including in the Common Approaches Procedure as part of the SCI Quality Framework review.
- Ensure Common Approaches are integrated into all relevant systems and act as the point of contact for all systems and systems enhancements.
Common Approaches Development & Continuous Improvement:
- Facilitate decisions on the Common Approaches pipeline and lead the Common Approaches endorsement process with global thematic (Breakthrough and Advocacy) teams.
- Guide thematic teams through the 4-year Common Approaches review/update process (review of evidence) based on the Common Approaches Evidence Framework, or more frequent smaller reviews (e.g., periodic evidence digests) if more feasible.
- Work with Breakthrough teams and MEAL teams to ensure key evidence gaps are visible and promote evidence generation to address these gaps (e.g., cost-effectiveness), and ensure new evidence is synthesised and shared.
Common Approaches Uptake:
- Monitor and contribute to KPI quarterly reporting (via dashboard) for Common Approaches and ensure PRIME data is used by relevant stakeholders to take corrective action to support quality implementation (e.g., global thematic teams, country offices TE etc.), providing support on solutions and data-related requests.
- Accountable for building awareness of Common Approaches and ensuring they are easily accessible to all users; including oversight of material production/updates, the staff induction process for Common Approaches, spotlighting country work and learnings (e.g., case studies and webinars), supporting NBD teams to include Common Approaches in programme design, supporting the CA Learning Programme, and other various knowledge management initiatives.
- Work with country offices and thematic teams to facilitate discussion groups among different offices to address challenges associated with the quality uptake of Common Approaches and promote learning from each other.
Common Approaches as a localisation initiative:
- Lead a feasibility study to better determine how to localize Common Approaches, developing an organisational stance on how to do this in line with the localisation agenda, and the extent to which Common Approaches should be a public good. Work with country colleagues and global teams on how to pilot and roll out this initiative.
Experience and Skills
Essential Requirements:
- Exceptional project management skills with the ability to manage multiple work streams and stakeholders simultaneously.
- Exceptional relationship building and stakeholder management skills, particularly across a network of international stakeholders to advance evidence-based programming across the Save the Children movement, as well as externally.
- Demonstrated experience and capability leading the delivery of business processes within a large and complex international organisation.
- Experience with principles of evidence-based global programming mechanisms, frameworks, and standards in large, complex organisations.
- Experience working in at least one of the five global thematic areas: health & nutrition, education, child protection, child poverty, and child rights governance.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills - experience of solving issues through qualitative and quantitative analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy in.
- A strong work ethic and ability to take the initiative and ownership to deliver value to the business.
Additional Skills:
- Leadership and Management: Demonstrated capability in leading diverse and geographically dispersed initiatives with a variety of stakeholders, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
- Communication: Excellent communication skills (written and oral English), including the ability to communicate with technical, non-technical, internal and external stakeholders across different seniority levels, facilitating the resolution of conflicting business requirements, building and maintaining effective relationships, demonstrating approachability, active listening, and valuing diverse perspectives.
- Cultural Competency: Awareness and respect for different cultures, fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is recognised and valued.
Education and Qualifications
Essential Qualifications:
- Educational Background: A bachelor's degree in International Development, Social Sciences, Public Administration, or a related field.
- Professional Qualifications: Any relevant professional qualifications that showcase sound understanding of child rights programming, development studies, or humanitarian aid.
- Willingness to pursue further qualifications and training as needed, recognizing the importance of diversity and equal opportunity.
Desirable Qualifications:
- Proficiency in a second core language of Save the Children (French, Spanish, or Arabic).
