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 Impact & Evidence division strives to serve people who serve children—providing high-quality, strategically aligned resources, insights, and support to drive measurable, transformative change. We work efficiently and collaboratively, guided by shared purpose, mutual respect, and accountability to the communities we serve. By testing bold ideas, proving what works, and scaling effective solutions, we improve children’s lives—while always ensuring we contribute more value than we consume and make space for others (SCI Center, members, partners, etc.) best positioned to lead.
The Lead Associate, Portfolio Management will provide financial support for Save the Children’s international portfolio. In this role, you will be responsible for ensuring financial and operational processes are running timely and efficiently. You will report to the Senior Director, Portfolio Management and will provide budget holder support, award management, and expense allocation guidance to the cost centers supported.
Location
Hybrid – Washington DC, Fairfield, CT or Lexington, KY office locations
What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)
*not inclusive of all role responsibilities. May be subject to change
Award Management (65%)
- Manage and monitor a portfolio of low‑ to medium‑risk awards across the full award lifecycle, from start‑up through closeout, in alignment with donor requirements and Save the Children policies.
- Serve as a primary point of contact for assigned awards, coordinating with Country Offices, finance, technical teams, procurement, and fundraising staff to ensure consistent and timely information flow.
- Conduct regular portfolio reviews to assess award health, implementation progress, and compliance, identifying risks and variances and escalating issues as appropriate.
- Support award start‑up activities, including coordination of meetings, documentation review, systems set‑up, and onboarding of Country Office teams.
- Lead or support award closeout processes, ensuring financial, contractual, and documentation requirements are met and award files are audit‑
- Maintain organized and up‑to‑date award documentation in Save the Children award management systems.
Budget and Financial Management (25%)
- Track and analyze award budgets versus actual expenditures, identifying trends, variances, underspend or overspend risks, and required follow‑up actions.
- Support annual workplan and budget development in collaboration with Country Offices, international staff, and HQ program staff.
- Review financial transactions, expense reports, invoices, and timesheet coordination for assigned awards to ensure allowability, allocability, and accuracy.
- Contribute to donor financial reporting processes by reviewing financial data and supporting timely and accurate submissions.
- Provide budget holders and program teams with guidance on financial policies, procedures, and donor requirements.
- Support agency new business development efforts by contributing to proposal and concept note processes.
- Assist with cost proposal inputs, budget templates, pipeline tracking, internal approvals, and coordination with Country Offices and fundraising teams.
Knowledge Management & Capacity Building (10%):
- Assist with the development of financial training materials and conduct regular trainings for finance and program staff on financial policies, procedures, and award compliance.
- Work with Managing Director and Senior Director to update financial policies and procedures and implement best practices across the team.
- Support the completion of needs assessments to identify staff training requirements, evaluate the effectiveness of training programs, and make improvements as needed.
- Assist in training both internal and external stakeholders on various financial topics including:
- Budget holder guidance
- Financial policies and procedures
- Donor compliance and reports
- Federal regulations, i.e. 2 CFR 200, EDGAR, and others.
- Work with Sr. Director to ensure training needs are being met for both internal and external stakeholders for awards in your portfolio.
Required qualifications for the role
- Minimum of a High School Diploma or equivalent, plus at least 3 years of relevant experience in award management, financial management, grants administration, or a related field.
- Willing and able to travel domestically and internationally 10% of the time
- Demonstrated experience supporting award management across multiple stakeholders and functional teams.
- Proven analytical skills with the ability to interpret financial data and translate it into actionable guidance.
- Professional proficiency in Microsoft Excel and the MS Office suite.
- Ability to manage competing priorities, deadlines, and complex information with attention to detail.
- Professional proficiency in spoken and written English
Preferred qualifications for the role
- Experience working with USG‑funded awards and familiarity with relevant donor regulations (e.g., 2 CFR 200).
- Experience in an INGO or international development/humanitarian setting.
- Experience using web‑based award and financial management systems.
- Experience coordinating across large, multi‑disciplinary stakeholder groups.
- Intermediate to advanced Excel and financial analysis skills.
- Fluency in Spanish, French, or Arabic.
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 $72,250 - $80,750 base salary
- Geo 2 - Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $65,450 - $73,150 base salary
- Geo 3 - Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $59,500 - $66,500 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
