State Director, Kentucky (M2) at Save the Children

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

Save the Children’s U.S. Programs (USP) is committed to ensuring that all children in rural America have a healthy, strong foundation to thrive as learners and in life. Our goals are to increase kindergarten readiness and grade-level literacy and math proficiency for children in under-resourced rural communities.

Save the Children is seeking a State Director in Kentucky. As the senior staff member on the state team, you will lead the development and execution of effective programs, advocacy and fundraising strategies. You will oversee business operations and partnership management and serve as the primary external representative of Save the Children’s work in the state.

Location

Hybrid – Lexington, KY and Berea, KY office locations

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

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

Increase kindergarten readiness and grade-level reading and math proficiency in the state’s high-need rural communities (30%)

• Direct the mobilization of communities, through community-based programs and services, to address social and systemic barriers to achieving school readiness or proficiency outcomes.
• Monitor all Tier I mini grants, including needs assessments, selection of viable partners, monitoring of project deliverables, and reporting project outcomes back to Save the Children. 
• Monitor all Tier II programs and services (e.g., early childhood and school-age) to guarantee they are implemented with fidelity to our program models, ensuring partner needs are assessed annually, services are customized for the target population, training and technical assistance is effective and responsive, and improvements to program quality as well as data management are made, as needed.
• Oversee inception and completion of new pilot program models in the state, working in collaboration with Program Design and Monitoring & Evaluation teams to inform model design as needed, set deliverables, monitor completion of outputs, and support child safeguarding practices. 
• Accountable for achieving deliverables across multiple projects concurrently as necessary, annual program goals, and long-term strategic objectives for the state as determined by Save the Children and/or required by grants or donors.

Expand Save the Children’s reach, recognition and impact in the state (45%)

• Responsible for developing annual and long-term state strategies; conducting state-level analysis, defining opportunities and risks, facilitating integration of cross-functional supports, setting specific and measurable goals, and facilitating periodic reviews of achievements and performance.
• Manage the state-wide program partner portfolio; identifying target communities and program populations, ensuring excellent relationship and subaward management, reviewing annually to align presence with need, and making investment/divestment decisions as needed.
• Educate and motivate key stakeholders to actively improve children’s education, health and wellbeing in the state; identifying partners, networks and coalitions to align contributions, scale best practices, and increase awareness and support of shared initiatives.
• Inform and execute fundraising activities in partnership with division and agency fundraising teams; co-developing strategies for acquiring funds or gifts-in-kind, prospecting for opportunities, cultivating donor relationships, and supporting the development of proposals and reports.
• Collaborate with the policy and advocacy team to advance the Save the Children’s work in the state; building relationships with key public stakeholders, influencing state and local resource allocations, mobilizing for statewide advocacy, and advising on strategies to influence legislation.

Lead a high-performing team (25%)

• Plan, monitor and manage overall state operations and projects from initiation through completion; overseeing project planning, state budgeting and spending, subaward management, GIK processing and staff resourcing.
• Responsible for overseeing the execution all business continuity and safety and security protocols for the state staff and programs including, identifying and characterizing potential risks, safeguarding facilities and assets, ensuring 100% completion of staff and partner trainings, supporting response and resolution of reported incidents, and routinely updating plans as required by SCUS.
• Ensure that Save the Children’s work is safe for children and adults by promoting awareness and prevention to mitigate the risk of, or actual, harm that may come by representatives across all programming, operations, campaigns, and activities.
• Serves as team lead for the state, responsible for establishing a healthy workplace culture and setting the team pace and direction; promoting staff development, engagement and well-being while holding supervisors and staff accountable for achieving results, demonstrating the organization’s core values, and operating within our ethical standards.

• 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

Required qualifications for the role

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 7 years of relevant experience 

• Demonstrated ability to work with limited supervision over time and make decisions effectively. 
• Demonstrated ability to organize self and team with key work priorities in mind.
• Demonstrated ability to problem-solve effectively in a team environment and manage multiple projects successfully at the same time.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with individuals and teams at all levels, both internally and externally
• Demonstrated commitment to fostering and maintaining an environment of diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and influence a wide range of external stakeholders including program partners, coalitions, celebrities/influencers, bureaucrats and elected officials.
• Experience developing funding proposals and reports and managing a large and complex grant portfolio.
• Experience managing professional staff.
• Willingness and ability to travel within the state up to 35% of the time.
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite 
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English
• This position may require the incumbent to operate a motor vehicle to fulfill certain essential functions of the job.  The incumbent should maintain a valid driver’s license and remain in compliance with any Save the Children policies pertaining to the safe operation of motor vehicles.

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 $108,800 – $121,600 base salary 

• Geo 2 - Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $98,600 – $110,200 base salary 
• Geo 3 - Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $88,400 – $98,800 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 [email protected].