Gwen Hines, Save the Children UK’s executive director of global programmes, has been promoted to chief executive of the charity.

She takes up the post having joined three years ago from senior roles at the Department for International Development. Her previous roles have included UK executive director at the World Bank.

She replaces Kevin Watkins, who is stepping down after five years in the role, and will oversee a budget of more than £250m a year and nearly 1,000 staff.

Her priorities include cross sector campaigning on overseas aid and tackling child poverty.

She will also focus on “a ‘culture of kindness’ among staff, who have been hard-hit by the pandemic, and to increase diversity and inclusion so that the charity better reflects the communities it serves”, says the charity.

She will earn £143,000 in the role, the same as her predecessor. She and other senior leaders at the charity took a 10% pay cut last year to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the charity’s finance.

“Gwen has an outstanding track record in supporting the development of staff, building effective teams and delivering results,” said SCUK chair Tsitsi Chawatama-Kwambana

“I’m thrilled to have her as CEO and the board is confident she will bring a strong focus on impact and people-centred leadership to Save the Children UK and our global movement.”

Hines added: “‘I’m determined to ensure that every pound raised for our programmes in the UK and around the world is spent on making maximum impact for children.

“We’ll be consulting children as never before to make sure we’re respecting their wishes in our work alongside them.”

Last year it emerged that almost a third of SCUK workers and volunteers felt “excluded in some way because they belong to a marginalised group”.

The charity pledged to improve inclusion and diversity and tacke an under representation of marginalised groups in its organisation.

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