Managing Director, Safeguarding (M3)

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 Managing Director, Safeguarding, you'll be integral to our work in helping vulnerable children achieve a brighter future. You will have overall responsibility for ensuring that Save the Children US (SCUS) and its affiliates (Save the Children Action Network and SCUS Head Start) have appropriate standards in place to meet their safeguarding obligations to children and adults served by agency programs. You will lead the SCUS Safeguarding Team and coordinate with agency leadership and staff across all divisions to foster a culture of safeguarding children and adults and to ensure that essential standards for awareness & training, prevention, reporting, and responding are effectively implemented and continuously improved. You will also serve as the primary point of contact for the Senior Leadership Team and Board on matters relating to child and adult safeguarding.

Location

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

What You'll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

Leadership and Development

• Lead the SCUS Safeguarding Team, which supports all of the activities outlined here, ensuring their work aligns the agency's mission and priorities.
• Oversee the agency-wide Safeguarding Community of Practice group, which brings together the SCUS Safeguarding Team with Safeguarding Advisors and Safeguarding Focal Points from across SCUS divisions.
• Train, develop, and coach the SCUS Safeguarding Team, Safeguarding Advisors, and Safeguarding Focal Points to deepen their expertise in the pillars of Safeguarding.
• Represent SCUS and actively participate in global Save the Children forums regarding safeguarding.

Oversight & Governance

• Keep updated on industry best practices to ensure Agency systems are current and responsive to relevant risks.
• Ensure SCUS' policies and procedures align with the Save the Children Global Child Safeguarding Protocol and contribute to the further development of Save the Children movement standards and practices related to safeguarding.
• Oversee the SCUS framework for addressing risks to the safeguarding of children and adults served by SCUS programs, in coordination with agency leadership and other divisions.
• Report child and adult safeguarding-related incidents, trends, and action plans to the Senior Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees, as appropriate.
• Provide subject-matter expertise and leadership for organization-wide action plans to enhance child and adult safeguarding practice based upon internal and external audit findings or other assessments.

Awareness & Training

• Lead the Safeguarding Team in developing, evaluating, and updating online training materials on safeguarding for SCUS staff, representatives, and partners.
• Oversee the development and delivery of in-person safeguarding training for Head Start staff and other audiences, as requested.
• Identify and address other safeguarding training needs, as appropriate.
• Monitor training completion metrics and evaluate effectiveness of learning programs.

Prevention

• In collaboration with teams across the Agency, oversee the design and maintenance of tools for safeguarding risk assessments and support teams in their use.
• Establish and support the dissemination of agency-wide standards for safe program design and delivery. .
• Oversee the design and implementation of safe partnership requirements and procedures for all of SCUS' different categories of partners.
• Support and strengthen procedures in place for vetting consultants, trustees, and program visitors.
• Establish and oversee the implementation of standards for engaging with children and families on safeguarding.

Reporting

• Oversee safe, confidential, and accessible reporting channels for staff, volunteers, and program participants to raise safeguarding concerns.
• Coordinate with all divisions to ensure awareness campaigns and guidance on reporting processes.
• Protect whistleblowers and enable anonymous reporting options.
• Monitor reporting rates and trends; escalate systemic issues to senior leadership and the Audit & Risk Management Committee.
• In coordination with other Divisions, oversee the reporting of child and adult safeguarding matters to external agencies and donors, consistent with applicable legal obligations.

Responding

• Manage and support the Safeguarding team to conduct safeguarding investigations in an appropriate, timely, and survivor-centered way.
• Investigate (or coordinate with an external investigator to investigate) serious incidents.
• Maintain standardized triage and investigation procedures.
• Ensure the case management system for incident reporting and investigations is updated and maintained.
• Communicate investigation outcomes and lessons learned to relevant teams while maintaining confidentiality.
• Monitor implementation and monitoring of corrective actions following investigations.
• Develop and maintain procedures to incorporate lessons learned from investigations into trainings, policies, and procedures.

Required qualifications for the role

• Minimum of a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 10 years of relevant experience

• Demonstrated experience managing a team, preferably engaging in safeguarding related casework
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of safeguarding in varied settings, preferably with experience of working in differing legal jurisdictions
• Proven professional experience with a focus on child safety, conducting investigations into child abuse and/or neglect, and case management
• Deep understanding of child safeguarding principles and approaches
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English

Preferred qualifications for the role

• Safeguarding investigator certification
• Professional experience with incident management software and/or databases
• Experience working in an organization with international operations
• A current driver's license

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: Target Salary for this position is $143,650 - $160,550 base salary
• Geo 2 - Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $130,900 - $146,300 base salary
• Geo 3 - Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $116,875 - $130,625 base salary

The salary ranges listed above are for US based candidates. For candidates located outside of the US, salary ranges will be based on the salary scales of the local employer of record. Actual base salary may vary based on, but not limited to, relevant experience, base salary of internal peers, business sector, and geographic location (more information on job structure is available here).

About Us

We are looking to build an inclusive team at Save the Children. We offer a range of outstanding benefits to support this goal:

• Flexible schedules and time off: Flexible schedules, generous PTO, 11 paid holidays plus 2 floating holidays and hybrid working opportunities
• Health: Competitive health care, dental and vision coverage for you and your family
• Family: A variety of paid leaves: caregiver, parental/adoption, critical child illness and fertility benefits
• Employee Rewards Program: Annual merit increases and/or additional incentives for eligible employees
• Retirement: A retirement savings plan with employer contributions (after one year)
• Wellness: 15 safety and wellness days annually (if hired on or after July 1, safety and wellness days prorated to 8 days), mental health benefits and support through Calm and company-hosted events
• Employee Assistance Program: free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals, and follow-up services
• Learning & Growth: Access to internal and external learning & development opportunities and mentorships

Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in you.

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.

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.

If you require disability assistance with the application or recruitment process, please submit a request to applicantsupport@savechildren.org.