Innovation Intern at Save the Children

Principal Accountabilities

The internal will support key innovation priorities across a range of workstreams, which may include:

Open Innovation Challenge

• Support the design and launch of an open innovation challenge to identify and source high-potential solutions aligned with organizational priorities.

Donor Landscape Mapping for Innovation Funding

• Research and map key innovation funders, including decision-makers, funding priorities, recent investments, and potential entry points for engagement.

Innovation Pipeline Research

• Conduct structured desk research to identify and catalog 50+ promising innovations relevant to Save the Children’s work.
• Produce a shortlist of high-potential innovations, with concise assessment summaries to inform decision-making.

Innovation Astronaut Program

• Support the design and roll-out of the Innovation Astronaut Program.

Innovation Team AI-Enabled Workflows

• Weekly Innovation Trends Newsletter: Develop and produce a weekly internal newsletter summarizing emerging trends, tools, sector developments, and opportunities to support the innovation team’s situational awareness.
• Automated Monthly New Business Development Email: Design and implement an automated system to generate monthly emails highlighting relevant funding opportunities.
• AI Funding Opportunity Bot: Enhance an existing AI-based tool to improve accuracy, broaden data sources, and introduce additional features such as deadline tracking and relevance scoring.

Business as usual

• The intern may support additional innovation tasks as defined by the Innovation team.

Experience and Skills

Essential

Research and Analysis

• Strong desk-research skills, including the ability to identify, review, and synthesize information from multiple sources.
• Ability to assess innovations, funding opportunities, and tools and summarize findings clearly.

Written and Verbal Communication

• Clear, concise writing skills, particularly for briefs, summaries, and internal communications.
• Ability to present ideas and findings in a structured and accessible way.

Digital and AI Literacy

• Comfortable using digital tools to support research, collaboration, and workflow management.
• Familiarity with AI-enabled tools for research, summarization, or automation, or strong willingness to learn.

Project and Task Management

• Ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritize effectively, and meet deadlines.
• Basic planning and coordination skills to support innovation challenges and research activities.

Education and Qualifications

Essential

• Recently completed an undergraduate degree in a relevant field, such as:
• Design, innovation, or business
• Data, information systems, or related analytical disciplines
• International development, public policy, or social sciences
• Other relevant fields with demonstrated interest in innovation and social impact
• Equivalent practical experience, coursework, or demonstrated capability will be considered in place of formal qualifications.