Director, Organisational Effectiveness Programme

Director, Organisational Effectiveness Programme

Contract type: 2-year fixed-term contract, full-time

Location: London, UK.

Hybrid Working: A minimum of 40% (2 days) of working time is spent face-to-face, either in the London office, or as a result of external engagement or travel for WaterAid. WaterAid is located at Canary Wharf, London and this will be your location and contract base. In order to apply for this post, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the UK.

Salary: £73,964 per annum with excellent benefits, depending on experience

We offer competitive, market-aligned salaries based on the grade and scope of each role. Roles are offered at the advertised starting salary, with any exceptions considered only in exceptional circumstances

Change starts with water. Change starts with you.

Every day, millions of people live without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid exists to change that – for everyone, everywhere. Join us, and your energy will help unlock people’s potential and create a fairer future.

About WaterAid

We’re a global federation driven by one vision: a world where everyone, everywhere has clean water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. Powered by our values of Respect, Accountability, Courage, Collaboration, Integrity and Innovation, we work alongside communities, partners and supporters to make change happen.

About the role

The Director, Organisational Effectiveness Programme will lead the implementation of Impact and Effectiveness. Reporting to the Global Executive Director, People, the postholder will work with the WaterAid UK Executive Leadership Team, directors, sponsors and workstream leads to translate agreed implementation outputs into a coherent, prioritised and well-governed programme of change

The role will not directly own every workstream. It will provide programme-level leadership, coordination, challenge and assurance, ensuring clear accountability, active management of risks and dependencies, timely decisions and consistent attention to change adoption and benefits realisation.

In this role, you will:

• Lead the mobilisation and implementation of the Impact and Effectiveness portfolio.
• Translate agreed priorities into a coherent programme roadmap, with clear outcomes, milestones, measures and a critical path.
• Prioritise and sequence activity to maintain a clear connection between WaterAid UK’s strategy, organisational priorities, organisational capacity, dependencies and the risk of change overload.
• Work with executive sponsors, directors and workstream leads to establish clear agreed workstream Terms of Reference including ownership, resourcing, delivery plans and measures of success. Hold sponsors and workstream leads to agreed commitments.
• Coordinate delivery across interdependent workstreams, identifying and resolving cross-functional issues and dependencies. Enable clear, evidence-based trade-offs where priorities compete for organisational capacity or resources.
• Establish effective programme governance, decision rights, reporting rhythms and escalation routes. Provide concise, evidence-based reporting and assurance to the I&E Steering Committee, WaterAid UK Executive Leadership Team and other relevant governance bodies.
• Maintain an integrated view of progress, risks, issues, dependencies, decisions, resources and benefits, challenging and ensuring action is taken where required.
• Ensure effective change management, employee engagement and internal communication are embedded throughout the programme, building understanding, involvement and ownership.
• Monitor adoption, impact and benefits, using evidence and feedback to adapt the programme and embed continuous improvement.
• Build organisational capability and shared accountability so that improvements are sustained and ownership transfers effectively into business-as-usual arrangements
• Lead on the development of stronger enterprise programme management and consistent project and change management practice.
• Ensure leaders visibly sponsor the change, model the expected behaviours and reinforce agreed ways of working. Working with the Global Executive Director, People and the Executive Leadership Team champion the culture shift needed to sustain change and integrate culture change work into the overall programme of activity.

Requirements

To be successful, you will need:

• Substantial experience of leading complex, organisation-wide transformation or organisational effectiveness programmes, preferably in an international organisation.
• Strong track record of coordinating multiple interdependent workstreams and delivering through senior leaders and subject matter experts.
• Experience of working with executive teams, directors and senior governance groups, with the credibility to influence, challenge and hold senior stakeholders to account.
• Experience of improving organisational effectiveness across areas such as strategy execution, planning, governance, operating models, processes, systems, data, knowledge, performance or ways of working.
• Strong programme and portfolio leadership skills, including governance, integrated planning, risk and dependency management, reporting and benefits realisation.
• A track record of embedding change, of engaging employees with change, building organisational ownership and transferring improvements successfully into business-as-usual arrangements.
• Systems thinking with the ability to connect strategy, people, structures, processes, culture and technology.
• Exceptional influencing, relationship-building and facilitation skills, with the confidence and judgement to challenge senior colleagues directly and constructively.
• Excellent analytical and communication skills, with the ability to synthesise complex information into clear decisions, recommendations and action.

Although not essential, we’d prefer you to have:

• Experience in an international NGO or other mission-led organisation.

• Experience of establishing or working with an enterprise programme management office or equivalent organisational capability.

• Experience of digital, systems, data or knowledge-management transformation.

• Experience of organisational design, cultural change or performance enablement

• Closing date: Applications close at 12:00 PM UK time on Monday 30th November 2026. First-round interviews are expected to take place during the week commencing 7th December 2026.