Global Humanitarian Director at Plan International

Plan International was founded over 75 years ago with a mission to promote and protect the rights of children.

The organisation was set up by British journalist John Langdon-Davies and refugee worker Eric Muggeridge in 1937, with the original aim to provide food, accommodation and education to children whose lives had been disrupted by the Spanish Civil War.

Langdon-Davies conceived the idea of a personal relationship between a child and a sponsor – a model that puts the child at the centre, and remains the core of what we do.

Today, Plan International is a global organisation that is active in over 70 countries to advance children’s rights and equality for girls.

Who We Are
We work with communities around the world to end the cycle of poverty for children.
We work with communities around the world to end the cycle of poverty for children.
Founded over 70 years ago, Plan is a nearly $800 million organization often ranked among the top 10 international development agencies by reputation, size and scope.

We work side-by-side with communities in 50 developing countries to end the cycle of poverty for children, developing solutions to ensure long-term sustainability. Our level of community engagement, long-term outlook and constant focus on the needs and priorities of children is unique among international development organizations.

Our solutions are designed up-front to be owned by communities for generations to come and range from clean water and health care programs, to education projects and child protection initiatives. Community by community, Plan works to promise futures that are worthy of all children’s potential.

Our Vision
Our vision is of a world in which all children realize their full potential in societies that respect people’s rights and dignity.

Our Mission
Plan strives to achieve lasting improvements in the quality of life of vulnerable children in developing countries by:
Enabling children, their families and their communities to meet basic needs and to increase their ability to participate in and benefit from their societies;
Fostering relationships to increase understanding and unity among peoples of different cultures and countries; and
Promoting the rights and interests of the world’s children.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.