Head, SCUS Portfolio Management Office (PMO)

Save the Children International has an exciting opportunity for a Head SCUS Portfolio Management Office (PMO)to join our global team.

Team and Job Purpose

Save the Children is a global organisation with ambitious goals in a constantly evolving environment. To achieve our strategic objectives and deliver high-impact outcomes for and with children we must continuously improve and innovate across all areas of our work.

The Transformation Portfolio Management and Reporting (PMO) team plays a critical role in overseeing and supporting the successful delivery of the entire portfolio of Transformation initiatives. This includes ensuring a clear understanding of how projects interconnect including managing resourcing managing governance frameworks and implementing controls that facilitate effective decision-making. The team manages key portfolio-level governance forums as well as owns and maintains project management standards guidance and tooling ensuring consistency and quality across all initiatives. At the project level the team monitors the progress of ongoing transformation projects and provides assurance that they adhere to established project management methodologies. At the portfolio level the PMO conducts portfolio-level analysis to identify dependencies assess risks and evaluate and support the overall health and trajectory of the Transformation roadmap and detailed plans.

SCUS is part of the Global Save the Children movement and implements transformation projects within their organisation that are part of the Global Transformation scope as well as change related to the specific needs of the US Member. To drive consistency and efficiency SCUS have decided to outsource their portfolio oversight and management and the delivery of global transformation initiatives that need to be implemented in SCUS to SCI. This will ensure aligned approaches and economies of scale through bringing this work together. SCUS will remain accountable for governance and decision making and will provide critical SME and delivery input.

Job Title: Head SCUS Portfolio Management Office (PMO)

Reports To: Director Transformation Project Portfolio Management & Reporting

Work Pattern: Hybrid/Remote with flexible working options available

Contract Length: Permanent

Grade:M4

Location: Any approved Save the Children International office location. For a full list of locations that Save the Children International can hire in please visit: SCI Careers

Time Zone(that the role holder mustbe available to work in):Any

Right to Work: The successful candidate must possess the unrestricted right to work in their current or preferred location for the duration of employment.

Language Requirements:English

International Travel Requirements:Yesup to 10%

Budget Responsibility: Indirectly supports budget of $10-15m

People Management Responsibility: Number of people managed in total: 4 (TBC)

Manager of a team: Yes

Team Manager (manager of multiple teams): No

Principal Accountabilities

• SCUS Transformation Formal Governance: Planning and preparation for all Transformation level governance. Defining and managing portfolio-level governance for SCUS Transformation in alignment with the TDIT PMO. This includes holding projects to account for providing the required input
• Portfolio Planning and Reporting: Lead the SCUS Transformation PMO team to effectively engage with SCUS Transformation projects and ensure plans and associated reporting are delivered on time and to a high standard in line with agreed standard templates and processes. Where issues are identified ensure these are made visible to leaders within SCUS and there is a clear plan of action to move forwards
• Benefits and Associated Reporting including Board Level Reporting: This role will drive benefits reporting. As part of this they will take the lead in defining the benefits and associated metrics essential to manage the portfolio of SCUS transformation initiatives. This includes ongoing refresh to ensure they continue to be fit for purpose and ensuring the timely and quality delivery of required benefits reporting
• Portfolio Level Interdependencies Management: This role will oversee the cross-department interdependencies ensuring initiatives are aligned with the overall portfolio strategy in terms of planning and ensure active management of responses required including being accountable for supporting responses to transformation related audits. This includes overseeing alignment on global interdependencies that could impact beyond SCUS
• Management of Change Requests: Establishing / refining / maintaining the process for receiving and managing change requests that come from across the organisation ensuring these are effectively triaged to enable prioritisation and impacting as required
• Partner with wider Transformation Leaders: To ensure effective delivery of the SCUS Transformation agenda. Examples could include supporting the Transformation Development team (via the Head SCUS Global Projects) to manage key interventions in projects required because of issues identified through Portfolio reporting or working with IT to impact change requests received relating to existing IT systems

Experience and Skills

Essential

1. Responsibility for managing a complex portfolio of transformation initiatives at a national level including holding projects to account for delivering and ensuring escalations relating to projects are effectively managed through to resolution
2. Demonstrated experience working with and leading engagements with global stakeholders across different levels of the organisation from a broad range of contexts. Demonstrable experience of acting as a business partner to functional areas e.g. Supply Chain Finance etc. Experience engaging with complex stakeholder groups and leading engagements with key governance bodies
3. Experience effectively overseeing the management of budgets and being able to adapt to changes where required
4. Experience of industry project management standards and holding project management teams accountable to those standards
5. Ability to oversee and provide hands on support where needed to resolve complex project issues with a balance of pragmatism and rigour
6. Experience setting up governance bodies to oversee projects including those with representation from senior stakeholders at SLT or equivalent level
7. Experience delivering interventions to support the resolution of issues
8. Demonstrable coaching skills to help build the capabilities of others in Portfolio Management
9. Experience of working in a fast-paced environment with high levels of change and quick turnaround times whilst delivering to the highest standards. Commitment to Save the Children values

Desirable

• Responsibility for managing a complex portfolio of transformation initiatives at a global level
• Prior experience in challenging geographies that include less developed areas in the Middle East Africa and Asia
• Non-profit sector knowledge/experience
• Proficiency in a second core language of Save the Children (French Spanish Portuguese or Arabic)

Education and Qualifications

Essential

• Bachelors degree or equivalent work experience

Desirable

• Understanding of a structured Project methodology (e.g. PRINCE2) or accredited Project Management training (APM or PMI) including experience leading a project using such a methodology

Working at Save the ChildrenInternational

Save the Childrenis the worlds leading organisation for children employing save childrens lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their our work in 116 countries we put the most deprived and marginalised children first.

We know that great people make a great organisation and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition creativity and integrity are highly valued.

The work here is challenging but is also immensely rewarding. At Save the Children you will be in good company working with talented like-minded individuals who are determined to ensure that all children survive learn and are protected. Your contribution will help ensure childrens voices are heard at the highest levels and that we achieve our global strategy Ambition for Children 2030 and reach every last child.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion and Equal Opportunities

DEI is core to our vision values and global strategy. Save the Children is committed to creating a truly diverse equitable and inclusive organisation and one which will support us in our vision to ensure every child attains the right to survival protection development and participation.

We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of gender sexual orientation race colour ethnic origin nationality disability marital or civil partnership status gender reassignment pregnancy and maternity caring or parental responsibilities age or beliefs and religion. We are committed to diversifying our staff to better represent the communities we serve and actively welcome underrepresented groups to apply.

Reasonable adjustments will be made should any candidate invited to interview require this.

Application Information

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application. A full copy of the role profile can be found herevia the job listing. It is recommended that you save a copy of the role profile as it will no longer be available after the advert closes.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the job advert may be closed earlier than advertised subject to the volume of suitable applicants. Please submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Candidates who are successfully shortlisted should expect to hear from us within 2 weeks of the advert deadline.

Our recruitment process:

1. Application review by our recruiting team based on your CV and cover letter
2. Two-stage competency-based interviews with the hiring team
3. Some recruitmentmay include an additional assessment or case study stage or a third stage interview
4. If successful you will receive a conditional offer of employment followed by your contract subject to passing background checks

We need to keep children and adults safe so our selection process includes rigorous background checks and reflects our commitment to the protection of children and adults from employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our Code of Conduct and all policies and procedures relating to Anti-harassment Health and Safety Safeguarding and DEI and Equal Opportunities.

Save the Children does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.