ThaiNGO

TITLE:  NATIONAL DIRECTOR – Thailand

TEAM/PROGRAMME: Thailand/MST/Asia

LOCATION: Bangkok

CONTRACT LENGTH: Open ended

ROLE PURPOSE:

Every child survives, every child learns, and violence against children is no longer tolerated. These are the three 2030 breakthroughs that Save the Children is committed to working in partnership to achieve globally. In Thailand, we are seeking an exceptional candidate to help us take our next steps on the road towards a sustainable long term presence where we can have a sustainable impact for children in Thailand over the longer term.

The National Director will lead the transformation of the country to a new operating model, whilst also delivering Save the Children’s strategy within the country through:

• Delivering quality programmes, including advocacy, for children; and
• Motivating and engaging staff to work towards the organization’s program goals of addressing child deprivation and inequity.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand (MST) Director

Staff reporting to this post: Program Director, Advocacy Campaigns & Communication Manager, Finance manager, HR & Administration Manager. Indirect approx. 60.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategy:  The Thailand National Director will set and implement the vision and strategy for Save the Children Thailand, consistent with Save the Children’s mandate, global strategy & theory of change and MST strategic priorities. This includes:

• ensuring that the focus of the organisation remains on the rights and needs of deprived and marginalised children;
• creating an environment of continuous learning, where staff are encouraged and supported to grow and develop and are willing to be held accountable for their commitments
• being the paramount representative for Save the Children with external audiences and stakeholders in Thailand with a view to inspiring support for Save the Children’s work

Deliver transformational change in-country, this includes: Strengthening MST ways of working and systems, ensuring that overall setup is effective in supporting the achievement of Thailand strategic objectives.

• Ensuring alignment of organizational capabilities and operating model with the funding mix and programming modalities, in consultation with the MST Director and the Asia regional team
• Supporting the establishment of a national entity in Thailand.

Revenue Generation: The Thailand National Director will maintain and grow the revenue base of the organisation, this includes:

• where appropriate innovating and testing new approaches and methods while optimising the existing revenue generation tools and
• ensuring the right mix of income to have a sustainable, effective organisation.
• developing and maintaining good relations with partners including government, institutional donors, civil society partners, and communities.
• over the longer term, building a network of corporate, celebrity, foundation, public and individual donors in Thailand.

Advocacy & External Relations: The Thailand National Director is primarily responsible for external advocacy for the organisation, this includes:

• ensuring that Save the Children’s profile is maintained and enhanced via media appearances and top-level engagement with Government, business, the general public and other NGOs,
• where appropriate using online and mobile platforms to deliver key messages.
• working closely with the MST Advocacy, Communication and Campaign Director to define and execute the Advocacy Campaigns Communications & Media (ACCM) strategy for Thailand.
• seeking and building partnerships with other organisations that can help Save the Children achieve its mission.

Management and Financial Oversight: The Thailand National Director has overall responsibility for the organisational management, financial performance and accountability of Save the Children Thailand. The Thailand National Director will ensure that the organisation adheres to all relevant national laws and Save the Children International (SCI) policies and procedures, including SCI’s Safety & Security, Child Safeguarding & Fraud policies, as well as legal agreements with national and international affiliates.

Building the Team and Change Leadership:  The Thailand National Director needs to build and maintain a high performing, accountable, motivated team, leading and engaging existing managers while also attracting new talent to the organisation.  The Thailand National Director needs to lead the organisation through significant change, striking the right balance towards new opportunities and embracing new skills, without downgrading existing ones.

Program Quality: In conjunction with MST Director for Strategy Evidence and Impact, the Thailand National Director will ensure that Save the Children Thailand’s programming activity is of a high quality and aligned with the Save the Children global initiatives & standards, delivering improved outcomes for children resulting in significant impact.

 Brand and Reputation: The Thailand National Director has overall responsibility for protecting and enhancing the reputation and brand of Save the Children in Thailand which will, in turn, enhance SC brand & reputation more widely. 

Senior Management Team (SMT) management, mentorship & development:  The Thailand National Director will:

• Act as a role model and lead the way on the new values and ways of working
• Develop & coach the SMT to optimise their potential in pursuit of SC’s objectives
• Ensure appropriate SMT staffing at all levels, ensure appropriate gender & ethnic diversity
• Ensure the availability of appropriate professional development opportunities for the SMT
• Ensure that all staff understand and are able to perform their role in an emergency
• Encourage a team culture of learning, creativity & innovation

Board and Chair:  In the event that SCI secures local registration, the Thailand National Director will ensure that the national entity is equipped with a board that complies with relevant regulatory obligations and supports its strategic endeavour.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

The ideal candidate will be:

• An experienced Thai leader with a considerable years of experience in setting up and/or leading a national organisation.
• Demonstrated strong ability in strategic, communications and relationship management skills
• Strong networking and resource generation skills resulting in securing new opportunities for the organisation
• Experience of working with a diverse donor base to secure and/or manage innovative and/or competitive funding
• Strong track record in building high performance teams & future successors/leaders
• Experience of managing a crisis situation requiring quick changes to priorities and rapid action to respond
• Experience of leading change in an organisation which has led to considerable results for the organisation and its stakeholders
• Experience of building personal networks at a senior level, resulting in securing new opportunities for the organisation
• Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy-in
• Good understanding of programme, financial and operational management processes
• Good understanding of key trends in international and humanitarian development
• Fluency in speaking and writing in both English and Thai
• Experience in managing safety & security needs

The successful candidate will be committed to Save the Children’s mission and must be a highly motivated self-starter who brings a business-like achievement and management orientation to the role.  The candidate should also recognise the importance of Save the Children becoming a learning organisation.

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 reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

SCI offer competitive National package; Transportation & Communication allowance, Wellness Top up, 13th month salary & Annual leave 20 days, etc.

Interested candidates should submit a motivational letter, comprehensive CV and details of at least 3 referees to: mstrecruitment@savethechildren.org

Please indicate in the subject as “National Director-Thailand_(Name of candidate)”

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

“We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse”

Contact : mstrecruitment@savethechildren.org