SAVE THE CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL

ROLE PROFILE

TITLE:  SENIOR SPONSORSHIP MANAGER

(Females candidates are highly encouraged)

TEAM/PROGRAMME: Operations LOCATION: Bamako, Mali with 50% travel in Field

GRADE: 2 CONTRACT LENGTH: CDI
POST TYPE: National

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3:  the role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or
more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or
are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting
process staff.
ROLE PURPOSE:
Save the Children International is a 'dual mandate' organisation that seeks to inspire breakthroughs in the way the
world treats children, and create lasting change in children’s lives. The Senior Sponsorship Manager is a member
of the Operation team. He or /She is responsible for direction, management and oversight of all aspects of
Sponsorship, ensuring that Member policies and procedures are followed in terms of Sponsorship
operations, communications, fundraising, programming and budgeting. The incumbent sits on the
Expanded Senior Management Team (ESMT) making contributions and recommendations in support of
an effective country program management

SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Director of Programme Operations
 Staff reporting to this post: Direct line management: all Bamako-based Sponsorship staff
(operations)
 Matrix line management: all field-based Sponsorship staff (program and operations)
 Budget Responsibilities: $ 3.5 million-year Sponsorship annual budget including partner’s contracts
management
Dimensions: National, with frequent travel to the field; maintains relationships and communications with relevant
government bodies and high value donors; represent team on multiple coordination for a at regional, national and
international levels

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

General responsibilities in Child Safeguarding:

1. Ensure you fully understand the provisions of the Child Safeguarding Policy, the Code of Conduct and
Local/Country Procedures.
2. Conduct yourself in accordance with the rules of the Child Safeguarding Policy, in your personal and
professional lives – which includes reporting suspicions of child abuse.
3. Ensure the way you are carrying out your work is not putting children at risk (or further risk) – this means
constantly scrutinizing your work through a child safeguarding lens and talking to children about possible
design/implementation “flaws”.
4. Promote the message of child safeguarding to colleagues in other organizations and government ministries,
children in their own and beneficiary families, and community members in general
5. Be vigilant about observing possible child abuse/harm in their personal and professional lives.

Specific responsibilities in Child Safeguarding:

1. Contribute to the implementation of the Child Safeguarding policy and standards within the program you
technically back-stop, this includes:

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 Ensure Child Safeguarding is reflected in the proposal development process according to existing
checklists
 Ensure Child Safeguarding is in the kick-off meeting and launch of the project
 Include Child Safeguarding in Term of reference for field missions and missions to the Field Offices
 Include Child Safeguarding in risk assessment in all project and program and campaign activities
 Ensure Child Safeguarding is reflected in report while reviewing program reports
 Ensure Child Safeguarding is in the Term of reference of mid-term review and evaluation exercises

2. Adjust program approach to ensure better control of the Child Safeguarding risks and approaches that would
better protect children from further risk of harm
3. Work in collaboration with the Child Safeguarding Coordinator and Child Safeguarding focal point whenever
is necessary
4. Contribute to set-up of Child friendly reporting mechanism
5. Report any concern following the procedures

Representation, Partnership, Donor and Member Servicing

1. Represent interests of Sponsorship operations and programs in-country and internationally
2. Liaise with Country Director, Fairfield and Washington Offices of Save the Children US, other Members (i.e.
Save the Children Italy and Save the Children Korea) and partners
3. Manage flow of communications between sponsors, Members and Country Office ensuring Sponsorship’s
vision and work are clearly and coherently articulated
4. Ensure strong communication and coordination with other Save the Children Sponsorship Offices and with
other initiatives in order to maximize the use of resources to achieve multi-sector program integration and
avoid redundancy
5. Work closely with Mali Country Office Senior Management Team (SMT)
6. Sit on Mali Country Office Extended Senior Management Team

Management, Strategy and Planning

1. Lead short and long term strategic definition of Sponsorship-funded programming through Sponsorship
Annual Plans (SAP), Impact Area Presence Plan (IAPP) and Three-Year Plan (3YP)
2. Ensure alignment and linkage of Sponsorship-funded interventions with Mali Country Office programs and
strategic vision
3. Propose best way of implementing programs that could potentially lead to greater impact for children in
Sikasso Region and beyond
4. Participate in elaboration of global strategies on Sponsorship (operations and programs)
5. Be responsible for putting monitoring and evaluation systems in place to ensure correct, timely and accurate
evaluation of progress toward objectives
6. Coordinate and supervise all aspects of all Sponsorship-funded programs (fundraising, community
mobilization, planning, execution, reporting, monitoring and evaluation)
7. Implement high quality programming in numerous sectoral areas (early childhood development, basic
education, school health and nutrition, adolescent development, and Livelihoods…) in hundreds of
communities
8. Ensure that programs are implemented in ways that are responsive to key stakeholders in particular the
children and their communities where we work, and have a high level of acceptance by all stakeholders
9. Ensure Sponsorship resources are leveraged and complemented to attract additional opportunities for children
10. Plan and develop strategies for annual maintenance of Sponsorship including child inventory, annual family
updates, annual status reports, correspondence, ineligibility
11. Ensure compliance with Common Approach to Sponsorship-funded Programming (CASP) guidelines and
standards
12. Work closely with globally based sponsorship technical working group technical advisors (TA) on finalizing
indicators & results reporting; ensure that project activities & partners align to achieve these results
13. Design, develop and carry out sponsor retention projects including additional communications, and systems
which encourage responsiveness to and individual communication with sponsors
14. Prepare Monthly Management Reports (MMR)

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15. Coordinate and implement revised policies related to Sponsorship

16. Seek opportunities to further program development, integration/collaboration with other, non-sponsorship
programs as appropriate

Training, Documentation and Technology

1. Ensure that ASISt functions smoothly; provide support in trouble shooting as necessary
2. Ensure that appropriate Mali staff receive training and ongoing support in using ASISt
3. Plan, organize, and conduct Sponsorship training/workshops for sponsorship operations and program staff as
required
4. Prepare annual and monthly reporting for Sponsorship programs and operations
5. Conduct annual self assessments of Sponsorship finances, programs, operations
6. Ensure the triennial, mid-term and end line evaluations are conducted as required

Acquisition of New Sponsors

1. Cooperate with Members in sponsorship activities, providing information as requested
2. Ensure proper parental consent is obtained for each child enrolled within Sponsorship
3. Work out annual case history quota and submission schedule with
3.6.1. Donor Services
4. Assign annual case history quota to each Community Development Agent
5. Ensure case histories are collected on a timely basis
6. Ensure case histories are processed and submitted to Donor Services on a timely basis according to established
schedule

Sponsor Servicing and Retention

1. Ensure welcome letters and 1st child communications (30-day letters) are sent to each new sponsor on time
2. Respond to weekly Donor Services communications in a timely manner
3. Ensure that sponsors receive timely and high quality responses to their special inquiries
4. Ensure that communications between sponsors and sponsored children take place smoothly and in a timely
manner
5. Oversee handling of correspondence and Special Cash Gifts to and from sponsors
6. Ensure annual mailings ASR, holiday cards and other retention assets are collected and mailed to members.
7. Ensure that all staff are trained on Save the Children communications good practices
8. Maintain liaison between Save the Children members, sponsors and sponsored children

Child Safeguarding and Benefits

1. Ensure Sponsorship provides age appropriate written or verbal child safeguarding information to Sponsorship
beneficiaries in a language they understand
2. Through cross-functional team efforts, ensure that programs are designed and implemented in a way that
provides relevant, significant benefits to all sponsored children
3. Ensure that systems are in place to ensure that children are active participants in core programs
4. Ensure timely action is initiated in case of child ineligibility

AFU (Annual Family Update) / ASR (Annual Status Report)

1. Plan annual AFU collection
2. Meet deadlines for AFU collection and ASR mailing
3. Draft ASR documents in coordination with Operations and Program Coordinators

Information Management, System Capabilities and Records Maintenance

1. Manage personal data on more than 40,000 children and sponsors in accordance with organizational privacy
policies
2. Ensure that Sponsorship statistics are maintained and updated timely and properly
3. Ensure that a proper tracking and monitoring system for child benefits is in place and is maintained properly
4. Ensure that manual files are kept accurate, up-to-date, and secure

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Budget and Administrative Management

1. Grow Sponsorship budget while diversifying funding sources; manage a multi-million-dollar budget annually
2. Ensure the effective and efficient use of sponsorship resources
3. Serve as main budget holder for both Sponsorship programs and operations, support budget holders on
individual Sponsorship-funded program budget management
4. Ensure budget is spent within authorized limits and in line with donor policies and procedures
5. Regularly monitor budget versus actual expenditures and proactively propose any modification to expenditure
plans and projections
6. Oversee appropriate logistics management including procurement, fleet and provision of goods and materials
to communities

Staff Management, Mentorship and Development

1. Manage sponsorship staff members either directly or indirectly
2. Ensure recruitment, training, mentorship and promotion of staff as appropriate
3. Ensure availability of appropriate professional development opportunities for staff
4. Build and nurture effective teamwork in the department and ensure a cohesive workplace environment for
optimum staff retention

Miscellaneous
1. Liaise with (US), Roma (Italy) and Seoul (Korea) to coordinate and execute donor visits
2. Prepare all reports required for the semi-annual and annual reports

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
 Master’s degree preferred in management, education, or community development. The Equivalent or
Bachelor’s degree with relevant experience in management, education or community development is
acceptable.
 Fluency in oral and written French and English non-negotiable.

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EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential:
 At least five years’ experience in managing a Sponsorship program
 At least five years’ experience in community development
 At least five years’ experience in staff and budget management
 At least five years’ experience in planning and managing development programs
 At least five years’ experience in communication, report writing, and documentation
 Advanced computer literacy
 Experience in public relations
 Strong leadership and management skills
 Good communication, organization and analytical skills
 Proactive, courteous and available
 Available to travel in Mali and abroad
 Inter-personal skills to work in a collaborative manner within the Country Leadership Team.

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.
JD written by: Ezechiel Coulibaly Date: June, 07 2022
Updated By: Fadima TALL Date: June 8, 2022
Evaluated: Fadima TALL Date: June 8, 2022