Summary

Save the Children recognizes that achieving our ‘Ambition for Children 2030’ of scaling our impact for the children and families we work with will require a stronger evidence base about the value for money (VfM) of our program delivery of outputs and outcomes. 

The Advisor for Economic Evaluations will implement economic evaluations (“value for money” analyses) and support research for programs across Save the Children’s technical sectors. Reporting to the Lead Advisor for Economics and Data Analytics, the Advisor will work with technical advisors, country program and finance teams, and counterparts in Save the Children International to generate, use and manage evidence about programmatic interventions with respect to cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The Advisor will lead the design of economic evaluations, and support colleagues implementing economic evaluations that accurately gather and analyze cost data to be used for program learning at multiple levels of the agency. The Advisor will ensure the use of best-practice VfM tools and processes at all levels, to support Save the Children making evidence-based decisions about how our resources are best used, beginning with project design and extending through the life of our programs. The Advisor will help to communicate and build awareness about the significance of cost research and evidence across the organization.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

Technical Assistance for Economic Evaluations (65%)

Lead the technical value for money (VfM) analysis process for Save the Children’s international programs portfolio – with particular focus on cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness analyses. Bring together diverse forms of quantitative and qualitative evidence about VfM (financial data, program/MEAL data, impact evaluations, external research and evidence) to produce a holistic picture of program performance and areas for improvement Work collaboratively with technical advisors, colleagues and partners in country offices, and the global economic evaluations team, in line with the strategic priorities set out in our global Research, Evidence and Learning Agenda. Proactively collaborate with business development teams to embed key priority research questions, economic concepts, evidence, analytical tools, and VfM methodologies into proposals and evaluations, through early engagement in project design. Provide formal and informal capacity building on economic evaluations to colleagues, including partners, for example through mentoring, coaching, training, or technical guidance. Support requests from country and regional offices for technical assistance related to economic evaluations and data analysis. In line with sector best practice on economic evaluation, advance the use VfM techniques and evidence in project design and program implementation decision making.

Development of Technical Best Practices and Thought Leadership (30%)

In collaboration with other team members, strengthen and grow Save the Children’s capacity to use and conduct high-quality economic analysis that generates new evidence to address Agency priorities and global evidence gaps, including through the development and promotion of movement-wide tools, guidance and processes. Synthesize and communicate technical data and evidence effectively for non-technical audiences to produce knowledge products related to VfM through presentations, blogs, contributions to agency newsletters, “lunch and learn” sessions, and other internal dissemination outlets. Promote a learning culture that identifies new / enhanced approaches to amplify Save the Children’s impact,and considers economic factors in our policy and advocacy efforts. Participate actively in Save the Children’s VfM and Evidence and Learning (E&L) communities of practice Keep apprised of internal and external stakeholder demands in relation to economic evaluation and VfM (including for program management and learning, policy advocacy, external communications, and donor accountability), and of relevant external thinking and practice in this area.

Other (5%)

Contribute to team and wider divisional meetings and occasional corporate initiatives. Represent Save the Children when engaging in external forums and communities of practice related to VfM and MERLA.

Required Qualifications

Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 5 years of relevant experience Proven ability to plan and coordinate research and data analysis projects Proven skills in economic evaluation and/or VfM analysis with international development projects; preferably familiar with the ‘4Es’ value for money framework, either as a practitioner or knowledgeable commissioner/ manager of technical experts Demonstrated skills and experience in analyzing complex data, including programmatic outputs, outcomes and financial data, and interpreting results Proven facilitation, teaching and coaching skills on evaluation, research and learning, preferably on economic evaluation, including design, data collection, data entry, analysis, and reporting, across different cultures and contexts, using both face-to-face and remote facilitation Demonstrated writing, editing, and verbal communication skills, including the ability to summarize, synthesize and present data and technical information to non-technical audiences Willing and able to travel, primarily internationally, up to 20% of the time

Preferred Qualifications

 Proven proficiency using data analysis programs (e.g. SPSS, STATA, Dioptra) Skills in data visualization (PowerBI or Tableau) Proficiency in French, Arabic, or Spanish

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 $84,150 – $94,050 base salary Geo 2 - Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $76,500 – $85,500 base salary Geo 3 - Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $68,850 – $76,950 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 upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, base salary of internal peers, business sector, and geographic location (more information on job structure is available here). Employee may be eligible for an incentive program. Save the Children US also offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, a retirement savings plan with employer contribution, paid vacation leave, safety & wellness leave, family leave, parental/adoption leave, caregiver leave, and much more.

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our work for children and their families requires that we commit—at every opportunity—to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination in this country and beyond.  As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form—in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.

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.