Internship Program Open At Save The Children in London

Innovation is at the heart of Save the Children’s theory of change for how we will drive impact with and for children. Our team inspires and supports innovation across Save the Children with the objective to use new ideas, emerging technologies, and different ways of working to address complex problems and amplify our impact for children. The team is focused on accelerating innovation through:

• Adding fuel – driving initiatives that create a culture and practice of innovation across Save the Children
• Reducing Friction – building internal ways of working and systems that inspire and enable innovators
• Clear for Launch – discovering and scaling high potential solutions from both within and external to Save the Children

The Innovation Intern plays a hands-on role in developing, testing, and scaling of innovative solutions. As part of the Innovation Team’s Strategic Plan, the intern will help:

• Identify promising innovation solutions and opportunities.
• Support the mapping and development of fundraising and partnership opportunities.
• Build innovation capability across teams and country offices.
• Apply artificial intelligence and digital tools to increase the impact and efficiency of the Innovation Team’s work.

This role is designed for someone who is curious, proactive, and excited by experimentation. You bring fresh thinking and have a track record of making a positive difference whether in your community, studies, or work. You are adaptable, motivated by impact, and enjoy learning by doing, collaborating with others, and using new tools and technologies to solve real-world problems.

Work Pattern: Hybrid/Remote with flexible working options available

Location: Any approved Save the Children International office location.

Time Zone: Any

Right to Work: The successful candidate must possess the unrestricted right to work in their current or preferred location for the duration of employment.

Principal Accountabilities: The intern 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 organisational 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 catalogue 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.
• Support the design and roll-out of the Innovation Astronaut Program.
• Innovation Team AI-Enabled Workflows – Develop and produce a weekly internal newsletter summarising emerging trends, tools, sector developments, and opportunities to support the innovation team’s situational awareness.
• Design and implement an automated system to generate monthly emails highlighting relevant funding opportunities.
• 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:

• Research and Analysis – Strong desk-research skills, including the ability to identify, review, and synthesise information from multiple sources. Ability to assess innovations, funding opportunities, and tools and summarise 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, summarisation, or automation, or strong willingness to learn.
• Project and Task Management – Ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritise effectively, and meet deadlines. Basic planning and coordination skills to support innovation challenges and research activities.

Education and Qualifications: 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. Project work that shows initiative, personal projects, hackathons, case competitions, or research that demonstrates they can take an idea from concept to execution. Exposure to design thinking or similar innovation frameworks. Experience with prototyping or experimentation (could be digital tools, physical making, or process design). Cross-functional work – internships or projects that required working with different departments or disciplines. Any involvement with start-ups, incubators, or entrepreneurship programs.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Equal Opportunities: DEI is core to our vision, values and global strategy. Save the Children is committed to creating a truly diverse, equitable and inclusive organisation, and one which will support us in our vision to ensure every child attains the right to survival, protection, development, and participation. We are committed to equal employment opportunities, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, disability, marital or civil partnership status, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, caring or parental responsibilities, age, or beliefs and religion. We are committed to diversifying our staff to better represent the communities we serve and actively welcome underrepresented groups to apply. Reasonable adjustments will be made should any candidate invited to interview require this.