Global Humanitarian Director

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

For over 85 years, we have rallied other determined optimists to transform the lives of all children in more than 80 countries.

We won’t stop until we are all equal.

The Opportunity

Plan International is seeking an exceptional humanitarian leader to shape and drive our global humanitarian ambition.

The Global Humanitarian Director provides strategic leadership for Plan International's global humanitarian strategy, influence and operations. Reporting to the Chief Impact Officer, the role will lead our continued evolution as a stronger dual-mandate organisation, ensuring that high-quality humanitarian programming reaches those most in need at scale while strengthening the integration of humanitarian action, resilience building, systems strengthening and long-term development.

Working across the organisation, the Global Humanitarian Director will bring together Global Hub teams, Regions, Country Offices, National Organisations and partners behind a shared humanitarian vision. The role is responsible for strengthening organisational readiness, capability and crisis response, while ensuring excellence in programme quality, effectiveness and impact.

As Plan International's senior humanitarian leader, the postholder will position the organisation as a leading voice on humanitarian action, localisation, resilience and the humanitarian-development nexus, building strategic partnerships with governments, donors, multilateral institutions, UN agencies, INGOs and civil society organisations to increase our influence and impact.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Organisational Transformation

• Lead the development and delivery of Plan International's global humanitarian strategy and agenda.
• Drive the organisation's evolution as a dual-mandate organisation, integrating humanitarian action, resilience, systems strengthening and policy influence.
• Ensure humanitarian priorities are embedded in organisational strategy, operating models, investments and performance frameworks.
• Champion innovation, learning and thought leadership to strengthen humanitarian impact and effectiveness.
• Strengthen Plan International's visibility, influence and reputation across humanitarian forums, partnerships and policy dialogues.
• Promote evidence-based approaches that advance the rights and wellbeing of children and girls affected by crisis.

Global Humanitarian Capability and Readiness

• Strengthen regional and country-level capability to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from crises.
• Build the humanitarian leadership capacity of Country Office leadership teams.
• Oversee the development of systems and tools that support effective humanitarian programming and performance monitoring.

Programme Effectiveness, Performance and Risk Management

• Oversee humanitarian programme quality, impact and effectiveness, driving continuous improvement and learning.
• Lead global humanitarian risk analysis and forecasting to inform prevention, preparedness and response priorities.
• Ensure strong governance, safeguarding, security, compliance and risk management across humanitarian operations.
• Embed accountability to affected populations and adherence to recognised humanitarian standards.
• Lead the ongoing review and strengthening of emergency procedures and crisis activation protocols.

Strategic Partnerships and Localisation

• Build strategic partnerships and coalitions that strengthen humanitarian impact, resilience and local capacity.
• Increase Plan International's influence through engagement in humanitarian networks and interagency fora.
• Advance locally led humanitarian action and strengthen the role of local and national actors in humanitarian response.

Humanitarian Financing and Growth

• Work with Global Affairs and Finance teams to strengthen humanitarian financing and support response at scale.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with donors, multilateral agencies, foundations and private-sector partners.
• Advise leadership on investment priorities that strengthen capability, innovation and impact.
• Promote funding approaches that enable locally led and sustainable humanitarian action.

Leadership and People Management

• Lead and develop a high-performing global humanitarian team.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative and values-driven culture aligned with Plan International's purpose and values.

About You

You are a highly credible humanitarian leader with significant senior leadership experience within complex international humanitarian and development organisations.

You bring:

• A proven track record of leading large-scale humanitarian programmes across multiple countries and regions.
• Experience shaping humanitarian strategy and leading organisational transformation.
• Strong expertise in humanitarian financing, donor engagement and partnership development.
• Experience building organisational capability, preparedness and response systems.
• Exceptional stakeholder management, negotiation and influencing skills.
• Experience representing organisations with donors, governments, UN agencies, multilateral institutions and strategic partners.
• Strong people leadership skills and experience leading diverse, internationally dispersed teams.
• A deep commitment to children's rights, equality for girls and locally led humanitarian action.

Location: The location of this role can be flexible where Plan International has an office* that can employ on behalf of the Global Hub, however, the Director should be based where they can best serve the organisation and working hours that align with the UTC timezone are preferred. If required, support with relocation to Kenya or the UK may be available.

Type of Role: Permanent or maximum fixed term contract as per employing entitys terms and conditions

Reports to: Chief Impact Officer

Closing Date: Friday 20th November

*Plan's offices include: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Please note that Plan International will never send unsolicited emails requesting payment from candidates.