Human Resources, Administration & Safeguarding Director

Company: Save the Children

Location: Lilongwe

Job Type: Full Time

Deadline: 2026-02-26

Save the Children International has an exciting opportunity for a Human Resources, Administration & Safeguarding Director to join our Malawi-Zimbabwe Cluster team.

Team and Job Purpose
As a member of the Malawi–Zimbabwe Cluster Senior Leadership Team (SLT), the Cluster Director: Human Resources, Administration & Safeguarding provides strategic leadership and oversight for people, culture, administration, IT, and safeguarding across the cluster. The role is central to enabling effective cluster integration, supporting organisational change and embedding shared ways of working, values and culture across both country offices. The post holder is accountable for delivering high-quality, consistent, and future focused HR, Administration, and Safeguarding services that support programme delivery in both development and humanitarian contexts. A core element of the role is leading cluster change management, strengthening cross-country collaboration, and ensuring staff feel connected, informed, and supported as one integrated cluster team. Save the Children operates across Malawi and Zimbabwe with a combined staff complement of approximately 200 and an annual expenditure of around USD 25 million. The cluster delivers both development and humanitarian programmes and is implementing a shared services and integrated management model.

Job Title: Human Resources, Administration & Safeguarding Director
Reports To: Director – Cluster Country Director
Contract Length: 12 months Fixed Term Contract
Contract Type: National only
Location: Lilongwe, Malawi, with travel to Zimbabwe
Right to Work: The successful candidate must possess the unrestricted right to work in Malawi for the duration of employment
International Travel Requirements: up to 30%
People Management Responsibility: manager of team; 3 direct reports

Principal Accountabilities

Cluster Leadership, Integration and Change Management

  • Act as a core member of the Cluster Senior Leadership Team, contributing to strategic direction, decision‑making and stewardship of the Malawi–Zimbabwe Cluster.
  • Provide clear leadership on cluster integration, ensuring alignment of structures, roles, systems and behaviours across both country offices.
  • Lead and oversee cluster change management processes, supporting staff through organisational transitions and embedding agreed cluster ways of working.
  • Champion a strong, inclusive cluster culture grounded in Save the Children’s values, promoting trust, accountability, collaboration and high performance.
  • Lead and facilitate cluster‑wide all‑staff meetings, ensuring consistent communication, two‑way dialogue and follow‑up on agreed actions.
  • Support SLT colleagues to role‑model cluster behaviours and reinforce “one cluster, multiple locations” ways of working.

Strategic Human Capital Management

  • Lead the development and implementation of a cluster‑wide people and culture strategy aligned to Save the Children’s global priorities and the cluster operating model.
  • Advise and partner with SLT and managers on workforce planning, organisational design and talent strategies required to deliver current and future programmes.
  • Identify opportunities to generate additional organisational value through effective human capital solutions, including localisation, leadership development and succession planning.
  • Provide regular strategic advice and updates to the Cluster Director on people, culture, safeguarding and administrative risks and opportunities.

Policies, Compliance and Ethical Leadership

  • Ensure consistent interpretation and application of Save the Children policies, Management Operating Standards and Standard Operating Procedures across the cluster.
  • Oversee alignment of HR and administrative practices with national labour laws in Malawi and Zimbabwe, and with regional and global standards.
  • Provide ethical leadership and oversight across the cluster, promoting fairness, transparency and accountability.
  • Ensure cluster preparedness for humanitarian scale‑up, including appropriate HR and administrative procedures and deployment mechanisms.

Recruitment, Retention and Performance Management

  • Ensure effective recruitment, onboarding, retention and succession planning for cluster staff, balancing national and international staffing models.
  • Lead and embed a strong performance management culture across the cluster, where expectations are clear, feedback is regular, and performance is fairly assessed.
  • Support managers to address under‑performance, disciplinary matters, grievances, and conflict resolution in line with policy and law.
  • Oversee learning, leadership development, and talent management strategies that build a sustainable leadership pipeline for the cluster.

Staff Engagement and Employee Relations

  • Lead cluster staff engagement initiatives, including engagement surveys, focus group discussions, and action planning.
  • Ensure effective two-way communication between leadership and staff during periods of change and stability.
  • Manage relationships with staff representatives and support constructive labour relations across both countries.
  • Promote staff wellbeing, inclusion, and a safe working environment.

Core HR Operations and Payroll Oversight

  • Provide strategic oversight and assurance on core human resources operations across the cluster, including payroll management, benefits administration, staff records, contracts and statutory compliance.
  • Ensure payroll processes are accurate, timely and fully compliant with labour, tax and social security legislation in Malawi and Zimbabwe, and aligned with Save the Children systems, controls and audit requirements.
  • Work closely with Finance to ensure integrity of HR and payroll data, clear role separation, effective reconciliations and strong internal controls.
  • Oversee compliance reporting, audits and regulatory submissions, and drive continuous improvement in efficiency, service quality and risk management within HR shared services.

Government and External Relationships

  • Maintain and strengthen strategic relationships with relevant government authorities in Malawi and Zimbabwe on HR, administration and safeguarding matters.
  • Represent Save the Children at high‑level meetings related to labour relations, safeguarding and organisational compliance, as required.

Child Safeguarding Leadership

  • Serve as Cluster Child Safeguarding Lead, ensuring robust safeguarding systems, culture and practices across both countries.
  • Ensure staff, partners and associates understand and adhere to safeguarding policies and codes of conduct.
  • Promote prevention of abuse and exploitation, effective reporting mechanisms and timely, appropriate response to safeguarding concerns.
  • Ensure safeguarding considerations are fully embedded in cluster programmes, partnerships and operations.

Localisation, Partner HR Capacity Building and Leadership Development

  • Lead and support the localisation agenda from a people and culture perspective, strengthening the capacity of local and national partners to lead, manage and sustain effective organisations.
  • Provide strategic oversight and technical guidance to partners on HR systems, organisational design, leadership structures, safeguarding, performance management and people policies, in line with localisation commitments.
  • Support the design and delivery of leadership development and capacity strengthening initiatives for partner organisations, including boards, senior leadership and emerging leaders.
  • Work closely with programme and partnership teams to ensure HR and leadership development support to partners is intentional, well-coordinated and aligned with Save the Children’s partnership principles.
  • Promote equitable partnerships by progressively shifting knowledge, skills and decision-making power to local actors, while ensuring appropriate risk management, safeguarding and accountability standards are maintained

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within the reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Experience and Skills

Essential

  1. Substantial experience in senior management in Human Resources, organisational development or corporate services, preferably in an NGO or complex multi-country environment.
  2. Proven experience leading organisational change, integration or transformation initiatives.
  3. Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management, Business Administration, Social Sciences or a related field, or equivalent experience
  4. Strong knowledge of labour law and HR best practice, ideally across multiple jurisdictions.
  5. Demonstrated ability to lead diverse teams through periods of change with clarity, empathy and firmness.
  6. Excellent communication, facilitation and influencing skills.
  7. Strong analytical, planning and decision‑making capability.
  8. Commitment to Save the Children’s mission, values and safeguarding principles

Desirable

  • Postgraduate qualification in Human Resources, Organisational Development or a related discipline preferred (or equivalent experience)

Working at Save the Children International

Save the Children is the world’s leading organisation for children, employing ~25,000 staff. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Through our work in 116 countries, we put the most deprived and marginalised children first.

We know that great people make a great organisation, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

The work here is challenging but is also immensely rewarding. At Save the Children, you will be in good company, working with talented, like-minded individuals who are determined to ensure that all children survive, learn, and are protected. Your contribution will help ensure children’s voices are heard at the highest levels, and that we achieve our global strategy, Ambition for Children 2030, and reach every last child.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Equal Opportunities

DEI is core to our vision, values and global strategy. Save the Children is committed to creating a truly diverse, equitable and inclusive organisation, and one which will support us in our vision to ensure every child attains the right to survival, protection, development, and participation.

We are committed to equal employment opportunities, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, disability, marital or civil partnership status, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, caring or parental responsibilities, age, or beliefs and religion. We are committed to diversifying our staff to better represent the communities we serve and actively welcome underrepresented groups to apply.

Reasonable adjustments will be made should any candidate invited to interview require this.

Application Information

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application. A full copy of the role profile can be found via the job listing. It is recommended that you save a copy of the role profile as it will no longer be available after the advert closes. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the job advert may be closed earlier than advertised subject to the volume of suitable applicants. Please submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Candidates who are successfully shortlisted should expect to hear from us within 2 weeks of the advert deadline.

Our recruitment process:

  • Application review by our recruiting team based on your CV and cover letter
  • Two-stage competency-based interviews with the hiring team
  • Some recruitment may include an additional assessment or case study stage, or a third stage interview
  • If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment, followed by your contract subject to passing background checks

We need to keep children and adults safe so our selection process includes rigorous background checks and reflects our commitment to the protection of children and adults from abuse. All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our Code of Conduct and all policies and procedures relating to Anti-harassment, Health and Safety, Safeguarding, and DEI and Equal Opportunities.

Save the Children does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.

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