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 Chief of Staff, Finance, you’ll be integral to our work in helping vulnerable children achieve a brighter future. You will be enabling a high-performing, strategically aligned Finance Division that serves as a trusted advisor and partner, stewards organizational resources, and uses risk-informed approaches to deliver value, compliance, and impact.

You will serve as the right hand to the CFO, helping to develop and ensure execution of the CFO and Finance Division agenda. You will drive improvements in operational cadence, prioritization, decision quality, and cross-functional execution ensuring initiatives move from strategy to implementation with clarity, speed, and accountability. You will act as an advisor and “extra eyes and ears,” strengthening relationships critical to Finance priorities, anticipating roadblocks, surfacing key risks and opportunities, and ensuring leadership focus remains on the highest-value outcomes.

Location

Hybrid – Washington DC

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

• not inclusive of all role responsibilities. May be subject to change

Strategic Development, Advising, & Monitoring (35%)

• In close collaboration with the CFO, spearhead development, execution, and monitoring of the Finance Division strategy and annual operating roadmap, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities and mission outcomes.
• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the CFO and Finance leadership, synthesizing complex inputs into clear recommendations on operating risks, tradeoffs, and opportunities.
• Represent Finance leadership in key internal and external engagements, ensuring consistent messaging, strategic positioning, and stakeholder confidence.
• Represent the Finance division in cross-agency projects, enabling the CFO to delegate leadership and decision-making responsibilities where appropriate. Collaborate with divisional leaders to gather and socialize feedback across teams.
• Establish and maintain performance management routines (e.g., monthly operating reviews, KPI dashboards, issue/risk logs) that translate strategy into measurable outcomes and actionable insights.
• Drive prioritization and delegation across the CFO portfolio—balancing urgent operational needs with strategic initiatives (e.g., financial transformation, planning modernization, controls uplift, reporting enhancements).
• Deliver timely and proactive status updates to the CFO; escalate risks and remove blockers to maintain momentum and decision velocity.

Division-Wide Operations & Project Governance (30%)

• Lead and oversee integrated executive operations across the Finance Division, including strategic planning, project governance, internal communications, and leadership cadence.
• Design and implement scalable systems and tools that drive operational efficiency, knowledge sharing, and change adoption—leveraging technology and disciplined program management.
• Identify and recommend innovative business practices and performance monitoring approaches; champion the use of emerging technologies to enhance efficiency and knowledge management across all fundraising streams.
• Create and manage governance structures for cross-cutting initiatives (e.g., transformation programs, policy rollouts, planning cycles), ensuring clear decision rights, timelines, and accountability.
• Partner with Finance leaders to strengthen end-to-end operating rhythms (e.g., financial close calendar, planning calendar, committee calendars) and ensure transparent stakeholder communications.
• Identify and recommend innovative business practices and performance monitoring approaches to enhance service quality, compliance, and staff experience.
• Partner with the CFO in preparing materials for the Board of Trustees.

Cross-Divisional Integration & Organizational Engagement (20%)

• Identify and operationalize cross-functional opportunities that align Finance priorities with enterprise needs, reducing siloing and improving shared accountability.
• Facilitate partnerships across divisions and “extended finance” stakeholders to improve financial decision support, clarity of roles, and consistent practices.
• Represent the CFO/Finance Division in cross-agency initiatives and governance forums, enabling effective delegation of leadership and decision-making where appropriate.
• Participate in cross‑functional Chiefs of Staff team to raise enterprise risks and issues early, support strategic alignment, and enable effective coordination across senior leadership
• Support change management efforts that improve adoption of Finance policies, processes, and systems—ensuring communications are clear, timely, and actionable.

Executive Office & Governance Support (15%)

• Oversee executive operations for the CFO, including strategic scheduling, meeting preparation, briefing materials, prioritization, and follow-through—ensuring leadership focus is on the highest-impact outcomes.
• Partner with the CFO and Finance leadership to develop high-quality executive communications and materials (agendas, briefings, governance proposals, presentations) for senior leadership and Board committees.
• Support Finance’s role as staff liaison to Board committees (e.g., Finance, Audit, Risk Management, Investment) by coordinating agendas/materials, tracking actions, and supporting execution of decisions and resolutions.
• Lead planning and coordination of leadership retreats, strategic exercises, and key all-staff engagements to drive alignment and a culture of continuous improvement.
• As necessary, supervise, coach, and develop staff; foster a high-performing culture grounded in accountability, ethical standards, and staff well-being.
• Partner closely with the CFO’s Executive Assistant to strategically manage the leader’s time, calendar, and commitments.

Required Qualifications For The Role

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 7 years of relevant experience
• Ability to understand and engage effectively in complex financial discussions, including budgets, resource allocation, forecasting, and organizational financial priorities
• Ability to translate complex finance information into accessible formats and communicate to audiences with varying levels of financial literacy
• Proven success in strategic planning, project management, change management and operational leadership across complex organizations – with analytical, conceptual thinking, and strategic planning skills
• Experience leading/ participating in enterprise-wide systems transitions and implementation
• Demonstrated ability to advise and influence senior leadership, and use discretion with sensitive information
• Experience working in complex, collaborative, matrixed non-profit or mission-driven environments with shifting priorities
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience drafting executive briefings, board materials, and strategic messaging
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite, experience with Microsoft Power BI preferred
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English

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 

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.