Country Director, Solomon Islands

We’ve been working in the Solomon Islands since 1986, focusing on education, health, child protection and disaster preparedness. We work at community, provincial and national levels to strive for the attainment of the rights of children and young people.

A place to make a difference:

In this full-time, permanent role, you’ll work as a part of our Pacific Leadership team, based in our Country Office in Honiara, to help us create lasting change for children everywhere. The Country Director drives Save the Children’s vision for children in the Solomon Islands, growing the scale and quality of our programs and operations to maximise our impact for children. In this role, you will also raise the profile of Save the Children’s work in the Solomon Islands, drive a quality agenda across all programs and will deliver growth to the portfolio in the areas of child protection, health, education, disaster risk reduction, climate change and emergency response.

In addition, you will lead by example to build a high performing and cohesive team, oversee systems and processes for greater operational effectiveness, and will provide strategic focus to new and existing programs. Finally, you will also contribute to high level decision making and the strategic growth of Save the Children’s programs as a member of the Pacific Leadership Team.

You will make a difference by:

· Leading and inspiring the Solomon Islands country team, driving a culture of high performance and results orientation.

· Identifying and developing talent in the country team, and planning for succession of leadership roles.

· Overseeing the implementation and review of the three-year strategy and ensure ongoing relevance.

· Leading business development in line with the agreed strategic priorities and targets.

· Proactively building strategic networks with government, institutional and private sector donors, as well as with NGOs, professional networks and community partners.

· Profiling the organisation through branding, advocacy, local partnerships, regional platforms and operational excellence

· Leading the team to ensure the efficient and effective management of all programs in line with agreed plans and budgets.

· Developing a culture of cost-consciousness in the Solomon Islands country team and ensuring compliance with Save the Children’s financial policies.

A place to feel valued:

Your deep expertise in similar senior management / Country Director-level roles within the international development sector is invaluable. In addition, a sound understanding and demonstrated work experience in the Solomon Islands context will be looked upon highly favourably.

This role requires:

· Experience building strong and dynamic teams

· Financial management experience, including management of large-scale budgets, instituting financial controls, and all aspects of grant management

· Track record in successful business development

· Demonstrated experience of project planning, monitoring and reporting

· Demonstrated experience in high level representation and fundraising

· Experience in risk assessment and management

· Sound understanding of the child rights approach to development

· Strategic development and review experience

· Highly developed relationship building, influencing, negotiating and interpersonal skills

· High level of cultural awareness and an ability to adapt and negotiate between cultural difference

· Results oriented with a demonstrated ability to think strategically, to analyse complex informatio n and offer creative, practical solutions.

· The resilience and personal circumstances to be able to travel within the country and internationally as required

This role will also require a tertiary qualification in a relevant / related discipline.

A place to belong:

We are diverse personalities, backgrounds and talents, embracing our differences as one strong and united team. We see and celebrate the unique value you bring to our organisation, and offer a range of rewards for your effort, including:

· Individual learning plans to help map and deliver on your career development.

· Internal employment and development opportunities

· Support for workplace wellness, including access to our free, confidential Employee Wellbeing Program

· Celebrate and feel supported in your diversity. We’ve established internal networks to support our diverse workforce, foster in clusion and allow you to bring your whole self to work (if that’s what you want!) (Pride@Save, Parents and Carers@Save, Mental Wellness Alliance, Disability@Save, First Nations Advisory Committee).

· Extra leave to use in a range of ways to ensure you’re able to perform at your optimum

Follow this link for the full list of our employee benefits.

Does this sound like the place for you?

We’d love to hear from you. Submit your cover letter and resume below.

Applications close 4pm Honiara time, Tuesday 25th February 2025.

Position Description – Country Director, Solomon Islands

For more information about this position, please contact Kim Koch on kim.koch@savethechildren.org.au or for more information about a career at Save, visit our Careers Page.

We have tested our application process with diverse groups in mind, with the intent to ensure it’s straightforward and accessible for all to apply. Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our culture and improve our ability to reach our most vulnerable client groups. But we also know there is no one-size fits-all when it comes to recruitment – so if we didn’t quite hit the mark for you, please let us know at people.culture@savethechildren.org.au. We’re dedicated to ensuring Save the Children Australia is a place where everyone can feel supported – no matter your race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexuality, neurodive rsity, culture and beliefs.

Save the Children Australia is a child-safe organisation. All employees are required to undergo a National Police Check, a Working with Children Check, and sign our Child Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct. We also support the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.

Save the Children is committed to providing and maintaining a safe working environment for its employees and client groups, consistent with our obligations under OH&S legislation.

If you are having any issues with uploading your application for this role, please contact people.culture@savethechildren.org.au for further support.