Save the Children

Child Safeguarding Statement for Adverts 

Save the Children is committed to ensuring that all our personnel and programmes are absolutely safe for children.

We undertake rigorous procedures to ensure that only people suitable to work with children are allowed to join our organisation and all candidates will be therefore be subject to this scrutiny.

CS positioning statement:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

TITLE: Chief Operating Officer

TEAM/PROGRAMME: China Country Office Senior Leadership Team

LOCATION: Beijing China with frequent travels to the programme locations

GRADE: TBC 

CONTRACT LENGTH: Open ended

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3:  the post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE: 

Save the Children has been active in China for over three decades and has gradually evolved as the country was experiencing rapid economic and social transformation.  At this point in its development, the country office’s strategic vision is predominantly focused on transitioning into a local organization and becoming a prospect member of Save the Children where some initial transition steps is being started as early as in 2018. The COO plays an essential role in supporting this transition and setting the future member up for success by ensuring that the programatic and operational platform is effective and fit-for-purpose, and assuming overall operational and financial responsibility for the country office.

SCOPE OF ROLE: 

Reports to: Country Director, China with dotted line to regional Ops director 

Staff reporting to this post: Senior Management Team in country

Budget Responsibilities: The COO has overall responsibility and authority over the USD 9 million / year of the CO budget.

Role Dimensions:

Save The Children China country office currently runs a multi-sectoral programme delivered primarily through governmental and non-governmental partners in 11 provinces. The programme is also designed to influence government policy in child protection, child rights and inclusive education and build local authority and CSO capacity at national and field level. As China is becoming  increasingly prominent on the global stage, this scope is to gradually expand into influencing child-sensitive international development policies .

The Save the Children operation currently consists of 4 field offices, 1 sub-office and 111 staff. The 2018 portfolio is 9.8 million USD (a 1 million USD decrease since 2017 and set to decrease further in 2019).

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Deliver transformational change in-country, including:

·         Developing and delivering improved outcomes for children through delivery of the Save the Children global programme strategy and global initiatives and growth targets as set for China

·         Ensuring China CO consistently delivers quality programmes for children, in a cost-effective manner and in line with SCI and Industry standards.

·         Engaging Save the Children staff, partners and other stakeholders to create shared ownership and collaboration

·         Ensuring strong collaborative relations with the national/local government entities and relevant foreign embassies and donor representatives

·         Creating an environment of continuous learning, where staff are encouraged and supported to grow and develop and are willing to be held accountable for their commitments

·         Ensuring  that the focus of the organisation remains on the rights and needs of children

Be accountable, and develop the capacity of, mentor and hold staff accountable for:

·         Developing strong country strategy and operational plans that identify and address significant issues facing children, supports transition to membership and are in line with Save the Children’s overall strategy and theory of change

·         Delivering programmes and advocacy in line with the countries strategy, operational plans, budgets and quality standards that result in significant impact for children

·         Developing and maintaining efficient and effective operating systems, and ensure compliance with all Save the Children International minimum standards and policies

·         Growing the funding base to ensure Save The Children is adequately resourced to deliver on its ambition for Children in China; Building and maintaining good relations with Members and their donors

·         Preparing for and implementing rapid and effective responses to major emergencies affecting children, including building relationships with key humanitarian and development decision-makers and partners in-country 

Be accountable, and develop the capacity of, mentor and hold Senior Management Team accountable for:

·         Hiring, developing and coaching the senior management team (SMT) to optimise their potential in pursuit of Save the Children’s objectives

·         Serving as a role model and lead the way on the new values and ways of working

·         Ensuring appropriate SMT staffing at all levels; ensure appropriate gender and ethnicity diversity

·         Contributing to global knowledge and learning in Save the Children

As a member of the Regional Senior Leadership Team, contribute to:

·         Strategic development and delivery of international programming, including advocacy, in both humanitarian and development contexts, in line with the Save the Children mandate, strategy and theory of change

·         Consolidating Save The Children’s position as the leading organization for Children in the region, to influence child-sensitive policies and resource allocation decisions of Chinese International Development  agencies; Collaborating with colleagues in the region to support regional advocacy engagement.

·         Supporting the development of an organisational culture that reflects our commitments to child rights and firmly embed Save the Children’s values and programming principles in the identity of the potential future member...

QUALIFICATIONS 

·         At least Master’s Degree in development management, public administration, social sciences or equivalent.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

·         Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in building, leading and developing a team of senior staff with different backgrounds and expertise working within a field relevant to Save the Children’s work

·         Fluency in Mandarin is highly preferred

·         Experience working in a potentially changing security and political environment

·         Experience of changing funding environments in low donor priority or middle-income countries and fundraising implications

·         Experience of building personal networks at a senior level, resulting in securing new opportunities for the organisation

·         Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy-in

·         Good understanding of programme, financial and operational management processes

      ·        Commitment to Save the Children’s values

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

If you are interested in this position, please read the Child Safeguarding first, fill in the Application Form and send it back to beijingoffice.china@savethechildren.org before 27 March, 2018.