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Recruitment Privacy Statement

This statement covers data protection for job applicants and referees. It is in addition to our Privacy Statement available on our website. 

Job applications are made through this site to Save the Children International, a registered charity in England and Wales (1076822) and a registered company in England and Wales (3732267) and subsidiaries and branch offices of Save the Children International (collectively referred to together as "Save the Children International” or “SCI”).

The personal information that you submit in your application will be used to evaluate and progress your application and to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements (if necessary).


How do we collect your information?

We collect personal information directly from you when you submit a job application to SCI using this site. SCI accepts applications from any country in the world.

We may also request and receive information about you from third parties, such as Save the Children International’s Member organisations, your referees, your former employers, and providers of financial, criminal and other security background checks (including against sanctions lists).  In particular, if you have previously been employed by a Save the Children Member organisation or in the INGO sector in general, information about your previous employment may be disclosed to us for safeguarding purposes.


What information do we collect?

The information we collect about you may include:

  • The information included in your application and submitted through the Applicant Tracking System on this website, including any self-declarations relating to criminal or disciplinary conduct relevant to your employment at SCI prior to this application;
  • Information about your interactions with us and any other relevant information you share with us about yourself during those interactions, including during any formal or informal interviews or discussions; and
  • Information about you received through references (including recommendations for or against hire by former employers or any statements of conduct), background checks (including any criminal records or against sanctions lists or media reports).


Do we process 'Special Category’'personal information?

In certain countries, we process sensitive personal data relating to race/ethnicity, religion and/or disability for equal opportunities monitoring purposes (and, with respect to information regarding disabilities only, to assess suitability for particular jobs and to consider whether adjustments may need to be made to accommodate an applicant with a disability). Under our current internal policies, we do not share diversity data with hiring managers and keep such data anonymised.  We may use information you or third parties provide about criminal allegations, proceedings or convictions or any former disciplinary proceedings relating to sexual misconduct as part of our background and reference checks and to ensure that we do not employ staff or volunteers who constitute safeguarding risk.  This sensitive personal data and criminal offence data will be processed in accordance with SCI’s applicable data protection policy.


How do we use your information? 

Save the Children International may use your information in a number of ways, including:

  • by the SCI internal HR department and the relevant hiring manager(s), to assess your suitability for employment, including taking up references,
  • following the start of employment, for personnel administration, management and other reasons of which we will separately notify you,
  • to perform appropriate background checks, including to ensure that we do not employ staff or volunteers who constitute safeguarding risk, and
  • to monitor recruitment statistics.

With your consent, we may also share your personal data with other Save the Children entities if we believe that you may be suitable for a role at those entities.

When we are recruiting for an SCI Country Office or Regional Office post based in a country other than the United Kingdom, or where the relevant Save the Children Member is located outside of the European Economic Area, it may be that that country does not provide the same level of data protection as in the European Economic Area.  If you apply for a post based outside the European Economic Area, SCI may, to the extent necessary to comply with applicable data protection laws, ask you to consent to us sharing your personal data with the relevant SCI Country Office, Regional Office or Save the Children Member located outside of the European Economic Area.


How will we disclose the information we have collected to outside parties?

SCI may provide your information to our service providers and agents; for example, for undertaking background checks, as referred to above. We enter into contracts with all service providers and agents who process personal data requiring them to comply with data protection laws and to ensure that they have appropriate controls in place to protect the security of your information.

SCI will always take up references (including background checks) in connection with an offer of employment and may do this at any stage of the recruitment process, in accordance with the terms set out in the referee form available on the Applicant Tracking System.

If you submit an application on behalf of another individual, you do so on the basis that you have the express authority of that other individual to make the application and that he or she has been provided with all the information set out, and consented to the processing (including international transfer) of his or her personal information described in this Recruitment Privacy Statement.


How do we protect your personal information?

Although we use appropriate security measures once we have received your personal information, the transmission of information over the internet is never completely secure. We cannot accept responsibility of unauthorised access or loss of personal data due to the circumstances beyond our control.

The personal data you provide will be kept for an initial period of six months, at which point we will contact you to ask if you would like for us to delete your application. If you do not request us to delete your application, we will continue to hold your personal data for successive six-month periods, up to a maximum of two years unless we use such data, and may contact you for future employment opportunities.

If your application is successful and you commence employment, the personal information collected as part of the recruitment process that is pertinent to your employment will be electronically transferred from the recruitment system to our HR system.


Why do we process your personal information?

Processing of your personal data for this purpose is necessary for Save the Children International’s legitimate interests in recruiting appropriately qualified personnel, including conducting appropriate background checks. Some processing may also be necessary so that we can perform a contract with you or because it is required by law.


What rights do you have in relation to your data?

You have certain rights in relation to your personal data and the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights included in this notification, or otherwise have any queries or complaints, please contact the Data protection officer (DPO) at dpo@savethechildren.org