Lead, Advocacy & Public Engagement

(12 month contract)

Save the Children believes every child has the right to a future. In Canada and around the world, we do whatever it takes – every day and in times of crisis – to support children to fulfill their rights to a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn, and protection from harm. With over 100 years of experience, Save the Children is the world’s first and leading independent children’s organization – transforming lives and the future we share.

Save the Children Canada is a hybrid workplace based in Toronto Ontario Canada. This position is based in Ottawa, Ontario.

THE IMPACT YOU WILL MAKE:

Reporting to the Director, Brand, Communications & Influence, the Lead, Advocacy & Public Engagement provides strategic leadership for advancing policy change through government engagement, mobilizing public support, shaping narratives, and driving collective action to advance Save the Children’s (SCC) strategic priorities. This role develops and translates advocacy objectives into strategic interest holder engagement and compelling, high-impact campaigns and oversees social media and digital communications strategies to inspire action, influence decision-makers, and achieve measurable outcomes.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

Strategic

• Develop and execute comprehensive public-facing advocacy and campaign strategies, with clear KPIs, aligned across SCC; annually develop action plans to advance strategic goals.
• Lead the evolution of SCC’s advocacy and public engagement approach, aligning campaigns and mobilization strategies with organizational transformation priorities.
• Work closely with teams to translate research, evidence, and program impact into compelling public narratives and campaign priorities that build public will for child-focused policy change.
• Working closely with Brand and Media, provide strategic guidance on advocacy positioning, narrative framing, reputational considerations, and opportunities to mobilize public support for influencing.

Operational

• Design and deliver integrated, multi-channel campaigns in collaboration with Communications, Media, and Fundraising to strengthen SCC’s public voice and drive engagement on priority issues.
• Develop compelling digital advocacy content tailored to diverse public audiences to drive engagement and action.
• Partner with fundraisers to align campaigns with donor engagement opportunities, strategic partnerships, and supporter mobilization initiatives.
• Influence and align with SCI members and partners to coordinate key influencing moments, shared campaigns, and collective mobilization efforts; strategically leverage the President and CEO’s platform to amplify public calls to action.
• Develop and manage resourcing plans to support campaign delivery, digital mobilization, and public engagement priorities.
• Monitor the external environment to identify emerging issues, narrative trends, and advocacy opportunities, providing timely insights to inform campaign strategy.
• Work with Senior Manager, Media to monitor reputational risks and opportunities related to advocacy positioning and public campaigns, advising Leadership and developing mitigation strategies as needed.
• Work with SCC teams to identify and build strategic alliances, coalitions, and movement partnerships that strengthen public mobilization and collective impact aligned with organizational strategic priorities.
• Collaborate with Communications on targeted outreach to thought leaders and sector influencers to expand campaign reach and strengthen narrative influence in the public domain.
• Conduct outreach to and convene external partners, identifying and cultivating relationships with policymakers, government agencies, and industry influencers to advance policy change. Where relevant, strategically participate in coalitions, relevant forums, legislative hearings, and meetings and events to communicate advocacy positions and messaging to political and policy targets.

People Management

• Lead assigned team/department providing strategic direction, coaching, and performance management while ensuring alignment with organizational values and policies.
• Set clear team and individual performance expectations for productivity, quality, and success; providing direction and support as needed.
• Oversee budget management, recruitment, change management and career development while ensuring compliance, fostering a respectful, values-driven culture, and maintaining a safe and inclusive workplace
• Ensure regular and transparent communication on strategy and policies, uphold SCC’s Code of Conduct, Policies, Leadership Charter, Reconciliation, Equity, Anti-Racism, Diversity, Inclusion (READI), Health and Safety standards, integrates Child Safeguarding practices, models competencies, and professional and ethical behavior.

Qualifications include (but are not limited to):

• Post secondary education in a relevant field or equivalent experience.
• Minimum 5-7 years of management experience in International Development, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO/INGO), or other not-for-profit sectors is required. People management experience in a unionized environment is preferred.
• Progressive hands-on experience leading an advocacy and campaign or public engagement function.
• Extensive knowledge of developing and implementing advocacy and campaign strategies with the strong ability to mobilize the public to influence change.
• Demonstrated project management experience including project financial management. Strong financial management and analysis skills, with intermediate to advanced level expertise in MS Excel. Ability to work within tight deadlines and time pressures.
• Experience with child rights programming in areas of Health, Education, Child Protection, Gender Equality, and Livelihoods
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills for building strong working relationships across cultural and organizational settings, both internally and externally. French is an asset.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to create new processes, with demonstrated change management expertise to lead successful implementation
• Apply judgment and make sound decisions that are accountable, justifiable, and in adherence to organizational policies.
• Strategic-minded, and keen to think outside the box to secure innovative and exciting partnerships that deliver real benefits for the children and families we serve.
• Ability to occasionally travel locally, nationally and internationally (less than 10%) as required.

WHAT WE OFFER

The salary range for this position is non-union pay band 7 between $88,628.10 - $103,942.56 CAD depending on skills and experience. In addition to this, our employees will have the following package of additional benefits:

• Comprehensive benefits package for you and your dependents available three months after employment start date. Coordinated benefits for your partner paid by Save the Children Canada.
• Hybrid workplace including opportunities to work remotely and flexible work hours to support employee wellbeing and work life balance. 
• 4 weeks of annual paid vacation.
• In addition to annual leave, we offer an end of year office closure December 25- January 1 (SAVE Days) so we can all recharge simultaneously.
• 5 paid personal days.
• 3 paid float days.
• 10 paid sick leave days.
• Parental leave top-up.
• Employer contributions to group pension plan. Access to help save for a first home through the pension provider.
• Learning and development opportunities and specialized training including professional development time.
• Confidential Employee Assistance Program services available to you and your dependents from your first day of employment.
• Organization-wide membership access to Headspace.

HOW TO APPLY?

If you are interested in this position, please visit the career page at https://www.savethechildren.ca/ and submit your resume and cover letter by 5:00 pm EST September 14, 2026. Internal candidates, please apply via ADP by 5:00 pm EST September 8, 2026. Applications will be reviewed on ongoing basis. We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Please note that AI is used in some components of the recruitment process.

It is our individual and collective responsibility to ensure all children are protected from deliberate or unintentional acts that lead to the risk of, or actual, harm caused by our employees. Each employee shall be aware that there may be additional vulnerabilities facing children associated with their age, socio-economic background, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, identity, sexual orientation or identity, and is committed to ensuring this does not form barriers to effective safeguarding.

Each employee is committed to fostering and sustaining a safe environment through proactive, accessible, and effective approaches that seek to prevent and respond to any harm to the children including but not limited to sexual exploitation and abuse. SCC and all its employees will take all reasonable steps to make itself safe, both as an organisation and in the conduct of all aspects of its day-to-day operations of emergency, humanitarian, developmental, policy, campaigning and administrative work.

SCC supports and acts in compliance with the Human Rights Code. SCC is committed to providing accessible employment practices that are in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (‘AODA’). Providing an accessible and barrier-free environment is a shared effort, and as an organization, SCC is committed to working with the necessary parties to make accessibility for all a reality. If you require an accommodation during any stage of the recruitment or employment process, please notify People & Culture at peopleandculture@savethechildren.ca

Please Note: This job opportunity is to fill an existing vacancy.

This recruitment process may involve the use of AI-enabled or automated tools within ADP Workforce Now to help manage job postings and application workflows. These tools may assist with tasks such as organizing applicant information, identifying potential matches based on job-related qualifications, or supporting communication and scheduling.

All hiring decisions are made by our People & Culture team and hiring managers. No automated tool makes final decisions about your candidacy. If at any point you have questions about how your information is used, please contact our team at peopleandculture@savethechildren.ca