Head of humanitarian technical and partner support jobs

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Humanity & Inclusion UK is looking for a Head of Institutional Relations (maternity cover) to lead our engagement with institutional donors, programme partners and allies in the UK. This is a fantastic opportunity to lead a dynamic team in the delivery and implementation of an ambitious institutional relations strategy. With a particular focus on the FCDO and Start Network alongside  growing our Australian and Irish portfolios, you will build partnerships and maximise income and influence to achieve our strategic aims. As a member of the HI UK Leadership Team, you will also play an important role in shaping the culture and direction of the organisation as a whole.

Background Information and Purpose of Post

The Head of Institutional Relations leads HI’s engagement with institutional donors, programme partners and allies in the UK, working closely with colleagues from across the global HI Federation, including our country programmes and our technical departments.

You will lead a dynamic team in the delivery and implementation of an ambitious institutional relations strategy. With a particular focus on the FCDO and Start Network alongside growing our Australian and Irish portfolios, you will build partnerships and maximise income and influence to achieve our strategic aims. This will involve managing relations with a wide range of actors, building our profile and responding quickly and effectively to opportunities. You will oversee and strengthen our compliance with donor requirements, ensure our programmes are effectively supported to implement grants and consolidate our capacity to bid for and manage commercial contracts.

As a member of the HI UK Leadership Team, you will also play an important role in shaping the culture and direction of the organisation as a whole.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership and management

• Implement our ambitious plan for institutional relations, staying aligned with the organisation’s objectives and responding appropriately to the external environment.
• Contribute to the implementation of the network-wide institutional funding strategy.
• Lead, empower and motivate your team to achieve their goals, providing support as needed.
• Manage the team budget, including planning, phasing and forecasting in line with the organisation’s financial procedures.
• Participate as an active and constructive member of the Leadership Team, promoting a positive culture, modelling excellent behaviour and supporting cross-organisational initiatives.
• Provide timely and accurate reporting to the Chief Executive, trustees and Federation as required.

Institutional Relations

• Lead the team in ambitious engagement strategies for all donors in the portfolio, particularly the FCDO, Start Network, Australian DFAT and Irish Aid, strengthening existing relationships and, where appropriate, developing new ones.
• Ensure the team develops and maintains expertise on UK donor priorities, expectations and compliance requirements and is proactively analysing, interpreting and sharing this knowledge internally with relevant colleagues across the Federation.
• With your team, build the ability of our country programmes to engage with our donors locally and to comply with donor requirements, including through training.
• Oversee the process of identifying, analysing and sharing new funding opportunities with relevant colleagues, taking a lead when needed on coordinating large multi-country/framework bids to our donors.
• Maintain a network of contacts at other organisations and, working closely with operational and technical colleagues, build relationships with potential partners, including supporting the development of consortia for new bids when required.
• Contribute to building HI’s capacity to bid for and manage commercial contracts, including frameworks.
• Support the team with risk-based contract analysis and negotiation, due diligence and donor compliance.
• Ensure your team is delivering timely and high-quality reporting and grant/contract management, including follow-up of payment requests and tracking.
• Oversee the team’s information management tools and champion HI-wide internal processes and tools such as the CRM.
• Participate in the Bond Disability and Development Group, including supporting its influencing to promote greater emphasis on disability inclusion by the UK Government.
• Monitor and respond to threats and opportunities relating to the UK aid budget and aid policy, as well as for other donors in our portfolio where capacity allows.
• Support your team, the Chief Executive and technical colleagues to engage appropriately with other relevant networks in the UK to influence the UK government and raise HI’s profile (e.g. on specific crisis contexts, the impact of counter-terrorism legislation, health, education, humanitarian mine action, climate change etc.).
• Contribute to engaging with the Start Network and implementing our Start Network strategy.

Other duties

• Maintain a positive and collaborative working relationship with HI UK colleagues and the Federation’s institutional funding, operations and advocacy teams.
• Represent the organisation at relevant external events and meetings.

· Keep abreast of developments within the sector by liaising with counterparts in other NGOs and relevant networks.

• Keep up to date with any relevant changes in legislation, regulatory procedures, innovation, best practice and industry standards.
• Any other activities commensurate with the level of the post, as may be required.

Person Specification

We genuinely value diversity and are looking to build a team of people with a wide of range of personal and professional experience. If you don’t meet all of the criteria listed below but feel you would be a good candidate for this role, please apply. If you would like an informal conversation about this, please do send us an email or call us – we would love to hear from you.

Essential criteria

· Substantial relevant experience with INGOs, including at least five years’ experience managing strategic relationships with donors, partners and/or networks.

· A track record of securing and managing institutional income.

· Good knowledge of the FCDO as a donor and influencing target.

· Excellent management skills, including the ability to provide appropriate support and to develop colleagues’ capabilities.

· Excellent relationship-building, networking and negotiation skills, both internal and external, and at a variety of levels.

· Demonstrated capacity to design and deliver high-quality proposals, reports and briefs.

· An entrepreneurial thinker with a strong ability to identify opportunities, cultivate prospects and achieve strategic aims.

· Ability to carry out sound strategic analysis, identifying key trends and producing clear summaries from complex information.

· Good understanding of project design, programme quality and effective delivery.

· Excellent planning skills and an ability to work under pressure, to prioritise and to meet standards and deadlines.

· A collaborative and team-oriented approach with strong self-motivation.

· Ability to work effectively in an international and multicultural organisation.

· Willingness to travel and to work outside of office hours when necessary.

· Good IT skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams).

· Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.

· Commitment to creating and maintaining an inclusive and protective environment for everyone that comes in contact with the organisation.

Desirable criteria

· A track record of securing and managing funding from, building relationships with and influencing DFAT and/or Irish Aid

· Good knowledge of the Start Network

· Experience of bidding for and managing commercial contracts for humanitarian and development programmes.

· Experience of cross-organisational leadership.

· Understanding of key humanitarian and development issues.

· Understanding of and experience of advocacy or campaigns, including working with the UK political system.

· Experience of developing NGO or academic partnerships.

· Lived experience of disability or from one of our countries of operation.

· French-language proficiency.

Equal Opportunities Policy

HI UK is committed to diversity and inclusion. We recognise that discrimination shapes the opportunities that many people have in society and that people have different needs in order to realise their full potential.

Addressing this requires organisations to be proactive in creating environments that encourage the inclusion and development of all. Though we still have a long way to go, inclusion is central to our identity at HI UK and we are strongly committed to the continuous work that it requires.

We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates with disabilities and/or from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds, to help make us more representative. If you declare a disability and you meet the minimum requirements for the role, we will offer you an interview to demonstrate your skills. In the event that we receive a high level of applications for a role, we will invite those applicants who best meet the person specification.

You hold a critical and integral role for the growth and development of the DEC’s website and digital marketing, taking an audience and insight led approach to innovation and supporter engagement. The role builds on various workstreams, projects and innovation processes that have been developed in recent years.

You will be digitally astute with expertise in paid media and digital product development, and a confident communicator, who project manages with ease and leads and engages with diverse internal & external stakeholders to develop an effective, responsive and agile approach to fundraising and supporter engagement in the digital environment. You must have demonstrable knowledge of UX principles and tools, a working knowledge of Drupal (or equivalent CMS), HTML and CSS, and excellent knowledge of digital analytics, particularly Google Analytics and social platform analytics.

Key Responsibilities for this role, include:

Website Management: Act as Product Owner, oversee roadmap, UX testing, security, hosting, and SEO.

Digital Fundraising: Manage paid search, social media, programmatic advertising, and evergreen campaigns; optimise performance and ROI.

Innovation & Strategy: Develop new digital tools, lead AI strategy group, drive product development from ideation to MVP, and foster a culture of innovation.

Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate across teams, manage external agencies, and lead digital collaboration with member charities.

Financial & Risk Management: Oversee £100k+ budgets, ensure compliance, report on performance, and mitigate digital risks.

Digital & Innovation Strategy and ensure adherence to legal and ethical standards, maintaining best practices in equality and accessibility.  Design and deliver programmes that build awareness and capability around inclusive behaviours.

Data & trends: Monitor, analyse, and report on D&I metrics to measure progress and inform future actions. Stay ahead of trends, lead new initiatives, and represent the organisation in external forums to promote our commitment to inclusion.

If you are are able to confidently pick up and adapt to new technologiues and systems, can communicate digital technology to non-rechbnical audiences and have outstanding planning, organisaitonal, project and time management abilities & skills, then we would love to hear from you.

How to apply

If you have the skills and passion for this role, please apply by 9am, Monday 09th February 2026.

We are unable to support applications for our vacancies if you do not have the right to work in the UK

The DEC is an equal opportunities employer and provides opportunities to learn and grow in an inclusive, supportive, and productive environment. We encourage applications from anyone who can meet the criteria, regardless of gender, race, age, disability, sexuality, or religion.

The DEC is committed to the safeguarding and protection of children and vulnerable adults and participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from successful applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. 

By applying, the job applicant confirms their understanding of, and consent, to these recruitment procedures.

Closing Date: 15 February 2026

Ref 7251

Save the Children UK is looking for an experienced and collaborative leader to join us as Head of Service Operations. In this role, you will shape how colleagues across the organisation experience and use digital, data and technology services, working closely with senior leaders, technical teams and partners to ensure our services are accessible, effective and deliver maximum impact for children.

Note, internally, this role is referred to as Head of Customer Enablement, reflecting our customer-centric approach.

About us

Save the Children UK believes every child deserves a future. In the UK and around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children's unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach.

About the role

As Head of Customer Enablement, you will lead the function responsible for ensuring Save the Children colleagues receive reliable, high-quality and accessible digital, data and technology services. You will combine strong service management leadership with a strategic focus on customer enablement, ensuring teams are supported, confident and equipped to use technology effectively. As part of the DDaT senior leadership team, you will oversee service delivery, supplier relationships, budgets and continual service improvement, while acting as a trusted partner to stakeholders across the organisation.

In this role, you will:

• Lead the Customer Enablement function, owning service management processes and ensuring services are designed and delivered to maximise customer value.
• Act as a strong customer advocate for digital, data and technology, ensuring a consistently high-quality service experience across the organisation.
• Develop and grow the Service Desk and Customer Support functions, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, user experience and engagement.
• Take ownership of major incidents, coordinating teams and stakeholders to minimise impact and ensure clear, timely communication.
• Oversee supplier management, contracts, asset and licence management, procurement processes and budget control.
• Drive continual service improvement through customer insight, service reporting and the delivery of service improvement plans and operational projects.

About you

To be successful, it is important that you have:

• Proven experience in IT service management methodologies such as ITIL and COBIT with experience operating in complex environments.
• A track record of leading customer-focused IT services, service desks or support functions, with a strong emphasis on service quality and user experience and service performance monitoring.
• Experience managing budgets, procurement, suppliers and contracts, ensuring best value, compliance and effective risk management.
• Strong leadership and people management capability, with experience building, developing and empowering high-performing teams.
• Proven project management skills with a track record of identifying, scoping and delivering small to mid-size initiatives that improve service quality, customer experience or adoption of technology.
• Broad knowledge of software, operating systems, and cloud services with demonstrable experience in software licensing and asset management.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences and act as a trusted business partner.
• A strategic, improvement-focused mindset, balancing day-to-day operational delivery with longer-term customer enablement and service transformation goals.
• Commitment to Save the Children's vision, mission and values.

What we offer you:

Working for a charity provides one of the best benefits there is – a sense of purpose and reward for helping others. However, we understand the importance of giving back to our employees to ensure a happy and healthy working environment and work/life balance.

• We focus on flexibility, inclusion, collaboration, health and wellbeing both in and outside of work.
• We provide a wide range of benefits which will reward your hard work, motivate you, and inspire you to work to improve the lives of children every day. 

Please note: To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications are received. This is to ensure that we can manage application levels whilst maintaining a positive candidate experience. Unfortunately, once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications.

Note, this is the Head of Customer Enablement position with job title adjusted for external advertising.

Ways of Working: 

The majority of our roles can be performed remotely in the UK, but at times you will be required to come to your contracted office (usually between 2–4 days per month, depending on the needs of your role, team, or service). For many roles, this is likely to be the minimum required to deliver impact. This will be discussed and agreed with your manager / team and we encourage candidates to discuss our ways of working in more detail at interview stage. 

Please note: travel costs to your contracted office will be at your own expense. 

Out of hours working  
From time to time, you may be asked to work outside normal business hours, such as in the evening or at the weekend, to support activities like system upgrades or maintenance. This is expected to be infrequent (usually no more than four times a year) and we'll always give you as much notice as possible.

In exceptional situations, such as a major emergency, humanitarian response, cyber attack, or total system failure, you may be asked to temporarily adjust your working hours to help manage the situation.

Flexible Working - We are happy to discuss flexible working options at interview.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: 

Save the Children UK believes in a world that is fair, inclusive and equitable where all children have the opportunity to change their world. We apply this to our workforce and we are committed to developing and supporting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organisation where all employees have a sense of belonging and feel that they can be "Free to Be Me". We are not looking for just one type of person - we want to recruit people who can add fresh perspectives, innovative ideas or challenge that disrupts the risk of group think. 

We are especially interested in people whose childhood experiences - of life on a low income, of migration, of being in a racialised community, of the care system, of being LGBT+ or in an LGBT+ family or living with (or with someone with) a disability - help us to see things we might otherwise miss. Whatever your story is we want to hear it because we know that different voices, ideas, perspectives and knowledge, working together will enable us to better the lives of children around the world. This is the reason why we are all here.