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%)

• Lead assigned new business development efforts for the food security and livelihoods team, including but not limited to capture planning, positioning, information gathering, partnership brokering, program design facilitation and decision-making; and, technical writing.
• For interdisciplinary programs, coordinate with other SCUS departments – as well as external partners – to develop a coherent, high-impact integrated approach.
• Support CO team members in analyzing information and formulating effective technical strategies, integrating best practices and, where appropriate, innovations.
• Conduct training and orientation for program design team members to ensure that all relevant information is on hand to inform a sound design process.
• Travel to the field to participate in design workshops, assessments, team writing assignments, and other proposal processes.
• Participate in proposal after action reviews, ensuring that lessons learned are incorporated into subsequent efforts.
• Develop and sustain relationships with donors (with a particular emphasis on USG, UN and private donors/foundations), partners and academic institutions.

Team Management (10%)

• Train, develop, coach, lead, and supervise staff, clearly communicating organization, division and department priorities, and how their work contributes to our mission and supports Save the Children values
• Ensure that the team has, understands, and operates according to clear protocols and best practices, but remains flexible, collaborative, and communicates openly within the department and agency divisions.

Required qualifications for the role

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 7 years of relevant experience
• Demonstrated experience in workforce development and entrepreneurship programming, including private sector engagement, across diverse contexts.
• Track record in the design and delivery of innovative strategies to reach low-income and vulnerable youth.
• Demonstrated experience in supervisory management, planning, and budgeting.
• Proven successful proposal development experience, including experience leading the technical aspects of complex, large proposal efforts
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate successfully with individuals and teams at all levels
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally up to 30% time
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English

Preferred qualifications for the role

• Experience in workforce development and entrepreneurship programming, including private sector engagement, across diverse contexts.
• Track record in the design and delivery of innovative strategies to reach low-income and vulnerable youth.
• Overseas experience in LAC, Africa or Asia.
• Fluency in French or Spanish

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 $119,425 - $133,475 base salary
• Geo 2 - Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $107,525 - $120,175 base salary
• Geo 3 - Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $96,050 - $107,350 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 (https://nam12\.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url\=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.savethechildren.org%2Fscus-salary-scales-nov-2025pdf-ch11481782\.pdf%2Fccv6h13w88vj5a1803mkq46546t04g14\.pdf\&data\=05%7C02%7Caroberts%40savechildren.org%7Cfb0f291d9fc54f6e071008de70a5b840%7Cd1934b2d792c47cca2f5fc634183cd2d%7C0%7C0%7C639072054241619220%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C\&sdata\=9JmVXHhEV3jX3DrsP6Tz7ZiZN2oGCYgnDoKoudmwwHM%3D\&reserved\=0)).

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 (https://www.savethechildren.org/us/about-us/careers) 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 [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]).

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster) notice from the Department of Labor.