Senior Programme Manager

Lumos is looking for an experienced and solutions-focused Senior Programme Manager to coordinate the successful delivery of complex, multi-country programmes, including a major, multi-country and multi-year programme.

This is a pivotal role for an accomplished programme-management professional who can bring people, plans, budgets and evidence together to keep ambitious projects moving forward. Working across countries, disciplines and organisational functions, you will help ensure that our programmes are delivered to a high standard, on time, within budget and in accordance with donor requirements.

You do not need to be a specialist in childcare reform. What matters most is your strong track record of managing large, restricted-funded international programmes and your ability to navigate complexity with clarity, sound judgement and a collaborative approach.

About Lumos

Lumos works to realise every child's right to a family by transforming care systems around the world. Our vision is a world in which all children grow up in safe and loving families, supported by their communities.

Working alongside governments, civil society organisations and young people with lived experience, we help families stay together or reunite and support the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care.

Over the next 10 years, Lumos aims to enable 500,000 children in care to return to family-based care and help prevent 10 million children from experiencing family breakdown and separation. Achieving this ambition requires pace, collaboration and excellent programme delivery-and this role will make an important contribution.

The role

Reporting to the Director of Programme Delivery, you will provide day-to-day coordination, monitoring and support across a portfolio of international projects.

Your principal focus will be coordinating a major multi-country, multi-year programme across multiple participating countries. You will work closely with Country Directors, project teams, technical and MEAL colleagues, Fundraising, Finance and People teams, as well as donors and delivery partners.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Coordinating multi-country project delivery against agreed workplans, budgets, results frameworks and donor requirements
• Maintaining clear project plans, risk registers, dashboards, logframes and delivery trackers
• Identifying risks, delays and bottlenecks early and helping teams find practical solutions
• Managing budgets, forecasts and expenditure, including donor financial reporting and budget realignments
• Supporting country teams and partners to strengthen their project and financial-management capacity
• Managing or matrix-managing project colleagues across different countries and disciplines
• Coordinating monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning activities, ensuring that reliable evidence informs delivery
• Supporting high-quality narrative and results reporting in collaboration with grant-management colleagues
• Monitoring sub-awards, sub-grants and partner compliance
• Supporting donor monitoring visits, audits, procurement and grant-compliance processes
• Contributing to proposals and concept notes for future institutional funding
• Ensuring safeguarding is embedded effectively across the projects you coordinate
• Travelling internationally when required to support programme delivery

As projects begin, evolve and close, you will work flexibly across the wider portfolio, providing dependable coordination wherever it is most needed.

About you

You will bring significant experience coordinating large, restricted-funded international programmes, ideally valued at more than £1 million per year. This may have been gained within international development, child protection, education, health, WASH or another related field.

You will also bring:

• A recognised project-management qualification and strong practical expertise in work planning, risk management and multi-stakeholder coordination
• Experience delivering single- or multi-country projects funded by institutional donors such as USAID, FCDO, the Dutch Government or major foundations
• Strong financial-management skills, including budgeting, forecasting, expenditure monitoring and donor compliance
• Experience of complex institutional-donor grant requirements, or the ability to apply closely related experience
• Experience managing or matrix-managing multidisciplinary and geographically dispersed teams
• Strong knowledge of results frameworks, indicators, monitoring and donor reporting
• Experience overseeing sub-awards, sub-grants, consortium partners or other delivery partners
• Excellent organisation, analysis and problem-solving skills
• The ability to remain calm, make sound decisions and manage competing priorities
• Excellent written and spoken English; Spanish, Romanian, Ukrainian or Arabic would be an advantage
• A genuine commitment to children's rights and to Lumos' mission and values

You will be a collaborative and culturally sensitive communicator who builds trusted relationships across teams, countries and professional disciplines.

You will combine close attention to detail with the ability to see the wider picture and will be comfortable creating structure and momentum in a complex international environment.

Why join Lumos?

This is an opportunity to apply your programme-management expertise to work with meaningful, lasting impact. You will collaborate with committed colleagues and partners around the world, helping to strengthen programmes designed to ensure that children can grow up in safe, loving families.

Closing date: 11 October 2026

Interview dates: week commencing 19 October 2026

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted

Lumos is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The successful candidate will be required to complete safeguarding checks appropriate to the role, including references from previous employers and a relevant DBS check.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds.