WaterAid

Director, Organisational Effectiveness Programme

London, United Kingdom
Full-time
Posted Nov 13, 2026

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Skills

Communication
Leadership
Recruiting

Job description

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

View the full job description here

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.

How to apply: Click Apply to complete the pre-screening questions and upload your CV and a cover letter.

Can I use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in my application? At WaterAid, we strongly advise against using AI technology at any stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure a fair and transparent process that provides every applicant with an equal opportunity to succeed. We value hearing about your unique experiences and perspectives in your application, and, if shortlisted, during the interview as well.

Pre‑employment screening: To apply for this role, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the respective country. All pre-employment checks will be carried out according to local law and WaterAid’s Safer Recruitment policy. All UK-based roles require a basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Benefits

•36 days’ holiday (including 8 Bank Holidays)

•Option to buy an extra 5 days’ annual leave

•Employer pension contribution up to 10 %

•Flexible and hybrid working arrangements

•Season ticket loan

•Free annual eye tests

•‘Give as you Earn’ charitable giving scheme

•Enhanced parental leave (maternity, adoption/surrogacy, shared parental and paternity)

•Sabbaticals

•One paid volunteer day each year

As part of our annual leave policy, all employees receive three additional days of annual leave on top of their standard allocation of 25 days. These days are designated to cover the period when our UK office closes between Christmas and New Year, allowing all UK Water Aiders to take a well-deserved break.

These days are automatically scheduled and cannot be changed or moved. Annual leave is accrued based on your start date. If sufficient leave has not been accrued by the time of the closure, the 3 days will be taken as unpaid leave or pro-rated, depending on your circumstances.

Our Global Commitment:

Our people promise

We will work with passion and focus to make sure everyone everywhere has clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid is a place of purpose – where people have a real commitment and shared responsibility for the impact we have. We are a global community with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, motivated by inspiring, stimulating work. We are determined to be a place where people feel safe and able to contribute their voice and truly live our values.

Equal Opportunities

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions, ways of life and status. This includes, but is not limited to, race, ethnicity, caste, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability status, neurodiversity, age, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, economic and social situation.

Safeguarding

We are committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero- tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and to any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously. All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks (which can include counterterrorism, safeguarding and criminal records checks).

Together, we’ll change the world through water.

Join us and be part of the change!