Managing Director, Domestic Policy (M3)

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 Managing Director of Domestic Policy, you’ll be integral to our work in helping vulnerable children achieve a brighter future. You will oversee Save the Children’s federal policy portfolio focused on early childhood education, education, child nutrition, rural, and other domestic issues impacting children and hardworking families in the United States. The Managing Director will lead domestic policy research and federal relations outreach and strategy, with a strong emphasis on bipartisan engagement to advance child-focused policies. Reporting to the Head of Policy, the Managing Director will lead a team responsible for executing specific advocacy strategies that produce measurable results in the legislative and executive branch arenas. This position will coordinate closely with others, including other teams within Save the Children’s Government Relations, Save the Children’s Portfolio Growth team, the Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) campaigns team that handles state and local issues, and other leaders in the domestic policy and advocacy community, including bipartisan coalitions and networks.  

Location

Hybrid - Washington DC office location

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

*Not Inclusive Of All Role Responsibilities. May Be Subject To Change

Lead domestic legislative strategy implementation (60%) 

• Lead Save the Children’s domestic policy agenda on our full portfolio of issues, including child poverty, early childhood education, education, and family economic security.
• Oversee a bipartisan strategy for federal budget and appropriations related to domestic programs.  
• Manage and prioritize federal domestic legislative portfolio, leading agenda setting,  development, and implementation of issue strategies
• Maintain regular communication and coordination with the Head of Policy on progress toward goals and challenges encountered. 
• Identify and promote opportunities for bipartisan engagement with policymakers and stakeholders. 
• Represent Save the Children in domestic policy coalitions, fostering bipartisan collaboration and lead or manage coalition efforts when appropriate. 
• Work with state, political, and other relevant staff within SCAN and Save the Children to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach to bipartisan Congressional outreach. 
• Handle critical legislative and/or Administrative policy developments as they arise. 
• Apply strategic thinking to complex policy challenges, leveraging innovative approaches and existing solutions.

Manage the Domestic Policy team / Serve on the Government Relations Senior Management Team. (20%) 

• Supervise a team of policy and advocacy professionals focused on domestic issues. 
• Hire, train, and manage domestic policy staff. 
• Train, develop, coach, lead, and supervise domestic policy team staff, clearly communicating organization, division, and department priorities, and how their work contributes to our mission and supports Save the Children values.
• Oversee performance management, goal setting, and professional development, including mid-year and annual performance reviews. 
• Participate in the Government Relations Senior Management Team and align strategies across policy areas and teams to achieve strategic and campaign goals. 

Monitoring, accountability and administration (20%) 

• Track progress toward objectives and grant deliverables, including contributing to reporting and administration. 
• Assist with the completion of Save the Children and, where applicable, SCAN quarterly and yearly reporting. 
• Contribute to department strategy, annual work planning, budgeting, and fundraising. 

Required qualifications for the role

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 10 years of relevant experience.
• Proven experience in legislative/lobbying, government relations, or domestic policy advocacy, including on Capitol Hill or relevant federal agency.
• Demonstrated familiarity with the legislative process, including authorization and appropriations.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain bipartisan relationships and navigate politically diverse environments.
• Strong people and program management experience, including planning, prioritization and execution skills, along with demonstrated experience in managing multiple priorities and competing demands.
• Strategic thinker with strong analytic skills.
• Experience working in coalitions or cross-sector policy alliances.
• Proven ability to communicate and work with individuals and across teams at all levels in a collaborative, contributory manner while leveraging the strengths and buy-in of others.
• Ability to adapt to changing environments and develop creative solutions to strategic challenges.
• This position is based in Washington, DC and will require attendance of in-person meetings on Capitol Hill, with the Executive Branch, and with coalition partners.
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite.
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English.

Preferred qualifications for the role

• Experience in one or more of our domestic policy priorities including early childhood education, child care, education, or child nutrition.
• Experience working in and managing people in large, complex, global organizations. 

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 $131,750 – $147,250 base salary 
• Geo 2 - Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $119,850 – $133,950 base salary 
• Geo 3 - Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $107,950 – $120,650 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