Senior Advisor, Maternal and Newborn Health

Save the Children International has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Advisor, Maternal and Newborn Health to join our global team.

Team Purpose

To provide strategic, technical, and operational leadership for Save the Children’s global initiatives to achieve programmatic breakthroughs while ensuring high-quality, evidence-based, and integrated maternal and newborn health programming across our portfolio. To deliver context-responsive, demand-driven technical support to Country Offices to enhance program effectiveness in line with local needs and global priorities. To drive new business development and resource mobilization efforts and lead in global clusters, inter-agency groups, and partnerships to strengthen our collaborative impact globally.

Role purpose

The Senior Advisor, Maternal and Newborn Health provides technical and strategic support in their thematic area to enhance the quality and impact of save the Children’s work across all contexts. Working within the Survive Breakthrough team, the postholder delivers timely country-driven technical assistance, and contributes to the development of tools, guidance, and evidence. The role also plays a key part in capacity strengthening, knowledge exchange, and external engagement, and ensuring work is inclusive, context-responsive, and aligned with global and country priorities.

• Job Title:Senior Advisor, Maternal and Newborn Health 
• Reports To: Senior Lead, Health
• Work Pattern: Hybrid/Remote with flexible working options available
• Location: Any approved Save the Children International office location. For a full list of locations that Save the Children International can hire in, please visit: SCI Careers
• Required Time Zone: Any
• Contract Length: Permanent
• Right to Work: The successful candidate must have the right to work in the country where the role is based, for the duration of employment. 
• Language Requirements: English
• International Travel: up to 40% 
• Remit: Global

Principal Accountabilities

• Provide specialized technical guidance and advice to Country Office teams, ensuring high standards in maternal & newborn health programme implementation, with a focus on specialized support in sub thematic area.
• Conduct regular reviews and analyses of relevant awards to ensure compliance with donor requirements and organisational policies, identifying areas for improvement.
• Apply specialised donor and sub thematic area technical knowledge to support the development and implementation of high-quality proposals and strategic plans in collaboration with country teams, ensuring alignment with Save the Children's mission and values.
• Oversee the design and quality assurance of capacity building and training initiatives for national and local partners to ensure sustainable and effective maternal & newborn health interventions
• Lead on the strategic development and coordination of partnership strategies with local actors, local authorities and peer agencies to advance maternal & newborn health work 
• Play a leadership role in external and internal working groups to continually learn and adapt best practices and institutionalize key learning. 
• Ensure internal systems are in place to support and learn from country office colleagues implementing maternal & newborn health programs
• Manage global and multi-country projects and initiatives to strengthen specific programme guidance, tools, evidence, etc. 
• Deploy to priority countries as needed for emergency response and provide in-person technical support and guidance (up to 40%).
• Promote a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion within all programmes, ensuring all interventions are accessible and effective for all community members, regardless of background or identity.

Experience and Skills

Essential

• Technical Expertise: Deep understanding of maternal & newborn health issues, technical guidelines, and effective program strategies. This should include experience in designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating MNH related programs and interventions. It will be an added value to have experience from several setting specifically humanitarian settings. 
• Demonstrated commitment to ongoing professional development and staying updated with the evidence, innovations, latest trends and best practices.
• Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills: 
• Knowledge and experience in using tools such as bottleneck analyses to strengthen programs
• Capacity Building and Mentoring: Considerable experience in building capacity, developing and delivering training, and mentoring staff and local partners on key MNH areas such as emergency obstetric care (EmONC), essential newborn care (ENC), care for small and sick newborns including kangaroo mother care (KMC). 
• Lead global thought leadership and representation of Save the Children's MNH work globally. 
• Proposal and Strategic Plan Development: Proven experience in developing high-quality proposals and strategic plans. A track record of writing successful proposals for donor-funded projects is essential.
• Quality Improvement: Proficient experience in reviewing and assuring compliance of awards with donor requirements and organisational policies. Demonstrated ability to identify and implement areas of improvement.
• Communication and Interpersonal Skills: High proficiency in communication, including presentations, training, , influencing, and coaching. Must demonstrate the ability to build and maintain effective relationships with diverse teams and stakeholders internal and external to Save the Children.
• Ability to Operate in High-Pressure Environments: Ability to travel and work independently, occasionally in challenging environments and with short notice (up to 40%).

Education and Qualifications 

Essential

• An advanced degree in Public Health, Midwifery, Medicine, Nursing, or a related field. Maternal and newborn health clinical experience preferred. Extensive professional experience may be considered in lieu of a formal degree. 

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 at SCI Careers. 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

1. Application review by our recruiting team based on your CV and cover letter
2. Two-stage competency-based interviews with the hiring team
3. Some recruitment may include an additional assessment or case study stage, or a third stage interview
4. 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.