JOB TITLE: Director of Impact and Influence
TEAM/PROGRAMME:
Senior Leadership Team, South Sudan
LOCATION: Juba, South Sudan with regular travel to field sites
GRADE: 3
CONTRACT LENGTH: Fixed Term
CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3: the role 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 in country programs; or are visiting country programs; ore because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.
ROLE PURPOSE:
As a key member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), the Director of Impact and Influence (I&I) provides strategic leadership in programme design, evidence generation, and policy influence to deliver measurable results for children across South Sudan. This role steers the development and execution of the country office’s programme strategy, annual plans, and impact reporting, aligned with Save the Children’s global breakthroughs: Survive, Learn, and Be Protected. The Director ensures all programming is grounded in evidence, innovation, and child rights, with robust systems for monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL). A core focus is to ensure that quality data informs strategic decisions and that technical excellence is consistently achieved across all sectors.
Equally, the Director leads the integration of advocacy, campaigns, media, and partnerships into a cohesive influence agenda that shifts policies and systems in favour of children. Through mentoring, capacity strengthening, and coaching of technical teams, the role builds a strong national leadership pipeline, while also supporting donor engagement and resource mobilisation to sustain impact at scale.
SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Country Director
Staff directly reporting to this post: Head of MEAL, Heads of Technical Areas (Survival, Protection, Learning), Head of New Business Development, Cluster Co-Coordinators, Partnership & Localisation Manager, Head of Advocacy, Communications, Campaigns & Media.
Role Dimensions: The Director of Impact and Influence (I&I) is a strategic leader driving programme excellence, evidence generation, and systemic change for children in South Sudan. As a key member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), the I&I Director ensures that programme quality, measurement, innovation, and influence are embedded across the country office.
This role is the heartbeat of Save the Children’s ambition to not only deliver high-quality programmes but also to shift public policy, amplify child voices, and inspire broader systems change. It unites technical leadership, research and evidence, advocacy, campaigning, partnerships, and communications into one coherent function focused on achieving sustainable results for children.
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Strategic Vision and Positioning
- Lead the strategic direction and execution of Save the Children’s impact and influence agenda.
- Drive alignment to the Country Strategic Plan and Global Breakthroughs, ensuring child rights, equity, and localisation remain central.
- Champion evidence-led programming, with cross-cutting themes such as gender, localisation, and climate resilience.
Programme Design, Innovation & Resource Mobilisation
- Ensure all new programmes are evidence-based, child-centred, and aligned to Save the Children’s global priorities.
- Lead the country’s resource mobilisation strategy, cultivating institutional donors and SC Members to generate a strong and diverse funding pipeline.
- Promote innovation and adaptive learning in programme design and delivery.
Evidence, MEAL and Learning
- Oversee the MEAL system to ensure timely, accurate, and actionable insights.
- Institutionalise learning loops and knowledge management across the portfolio to drive adaptive programming.
- Promote a strong evaluation culture and lead research that drives strategic decision-making and policy influence.
Advocacy, Campaigns, Communications & Policy Influence
- Use programme evidence to influence national policy, systems, and practices for children.
- Lead national advocacy strategies aligned with global campaigns and local realities, engaging civil society, government, and other influencers.
- Ensure media and communications strategies elevate children’s voices and promote Save the Children’s thought leadership.
- Represent the organisation at national and international levels, forging partnerships that enhance our influence and legitimacy.
Technical Leadership & Programme Quality
- Ensure thematic and technical excellence across all programme sectors, rooted in Save the Children’s Common Approaches.
- Support national ownership of technical roles and advance the localisation agenda.
- Regularly review performance against quality benchmarks and use this to drive improvements and innovations.
Strategic Partnerships & Localisation
- Build and maintain transformative partnerships with local and national organisations that deliver impact and amplify influence.
- Foster a culture of equitable partnerships and invest in strengthening the capacity and leadership of national actors.
Organisational Leadership & Culture
- As a core SMT member, provide strategic input to the Country Office’s direction, performance and culture.
- Model agile, inclusive, and high-impact leadership, championing accountability, wellbeing, innovation, and performance across teams.
- Lead, manage, and coach a diverse team across MEAL, technical sectors, new business, advocacy, media, and partnerships.
- Foster talent development, national leadership, and a culture of curiosity, courage, and continuous improvement.
SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS
Accountability:
- Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
- Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved
Ambition:
- Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
- Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
- Future orientated, thinks strategically
Collaboration:
- Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
- Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
- Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to
Creativity:
- Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
- Willing to take disciplined risks
Integrity:
- Honest, encourages openness and transparency
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- Master’s Degree in relevant social science, human rights, development studies, NGO management or equivalent fields
- A minimum of seven years of progressive senior management and/ or development experience in a corporate or an NGO environment, including experience directing and implementing programs for children
- Experience in more than one of Save the Children's thematic sectors: education, child protection, child rights governance, health and nutrition, child poverty, emergencies
- Basic understanding of advocacy, policy, and government systems in the host country
- Experience managing teams for resource mobilisation and submitting proposals in excess of US$10 million
- Credibility to lobby, influence and represent Save the Children at all levels
- Experience working with high level government agencies and academics on issues related to children
- Strong skills and proven experience in new program development, project design, and donor proposal design with corporate, foundations and institutional donors
- Strong skills and proven experience in leading strategic planning, change management and program management processes; also from the knowledge and learning perspective
- Developing and managing monitoring, evaluation and learning systems
- Excellent listening, inter-personal, communication and networking skills; and an ability to work with diversified populations
- Skills such as training, capacity building, coaching, mentorship, problem solving, and understanding of project cycle management and coordination
- High level of self-awareness and willingness to take criticism as an opportunity for growth and self-development
- Ability to research, write and represent well, manage time, multi-task and delegate tasks
Date of issue: 14 May 2018
Date of revision: 10 July 2022
Date of second revision: 05 June 2025
