The Organisation
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances childrenโs 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 childrenโs 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 wonโt stop until we are all equal.
Plan international in East and Central Europe
Plan International responded to the Ukraine Crisis since March 2022, starting in countries hosting Ukrainian refugees (Moldova, Romania, Poland) and thereafter expanding humanitarian operations inside Ukraine since August 2022. Since July-August 2022, Plan International has been duly registered in Poland and Romania as national Foundations and in Moldova as a branch office of Plan International Inc. Since October 2022, Plan International has also been duly registered in Ukraine as a representative office of Plan International Inc.
The Ukraine Crisis Response portfolio across the 4 countries has seen a rapid expansion and has the ambition to grow to EUR 100M between 2022 and 2025. Growth is expected to come through acquisition of grants from both bilateral and multilateral donors, EU funding streams (DG ECHO, DG NEAR, DG HOME) as well as through ongoing public appeals, exploring corporate sector funding opportunities and local fundraising.
Plan International is profiling itself as one of the โgo toโ organizations in promoting and protecting the rights of children, girls and young people in conflict and crisis; in particular through adding value in child protection, education, gender and inclusion, social cohesion, GBV, MHPSS and CVA. As the crisis permits, Plan International will expand its humanitarian interventions into longer term development goals driving youth-led action and equality for girls in Moldova, Poland, Romania and Ukraine.
Plan International works exclusively through strategic local civil society partners to support vulnerable children, young people, and their families to cope with the impact of the current humanitarian crisis and to increase their resilience.
Plan International currently employs approximately 80 staff across the response. It is expected that the ratio of international to national staff will rapidly decrease. A Ukraine Crisis Response Leadership Team comprising of the Response Director, the Heads of Mission for Poland, Romania and Moldova, the Ukraine Deputy Country Director Programme, the Head of Programme Operations, the Head of P&C, the Head of Finance and Operations, the Head of Policy and Advocacy and the Head of Communications, is driving our strategic ambition and promotes inclusive decision making and mutual accountability. The response is supported by the Ukraine Crisis Response strategic and operational shared service hub which strongly connects Plan Internationalโs response and presence in Moldova, Romania, Poland and Ukraine: a multi-country Ukraine Crisis Response Strategy (January 2023-June 2025) guides the strategic ambition of Plan International throughout the multi-country response.
Plan International is committed to meeting safeguarding expectations across all its operations and will expect the Leadership Team to ensure all incidents regarding child abuse and sexual harassment are reported and effectively managed.
Role purpose
Under the leadership of the Response Director, the DCD-Programme provides leadership and strategic oversight over Plan Internationalโs humanitarian and nexus programme & influencing work in Ukraine. S/he will deliver on:
1. Plan International Ukraine programme and influencing initiatives meeting highest levels of technical outcomes, producing results for children, and particularly girls, and contributing to the achievement of Plan Internationalโs strategic plans in Ukraine, East and Central Europe and globally.
2. The annual program & influencing process, monitoring progress towards the achievements of strategic goals and global strategic goals.
3. Assuring exemplary grants programme and project portfolio delivery, with a focus on quality, impact and timely delivery of Plan Internationalโs commitments to donors in Ukraine.
4. Working proactively to engage all important stakeholders around one integrated ambition for the realization of childrenโs rights and equality for girls in Ukraine.
As a member of the East and Central Europe Ukraine Crisis Response Leadership Team, the role has shared accountability to contribute to the overall learning and strategic direction of Plan International in the East and Central Europe region with a total budget to grow to approximately โฌ100 million and a staff complement of about 100 people. This includes helping shape the overall narrative and rationale of grant proposals to ensure programs development aligns with humanitarian needs and with Plan Internationalโs strategic focus.
Dimensions of the role
The Deputy Country Director Programme will lead the work of Plan International Ukraineโs Programme team, comprising of a Programme Quality, Programme Implementation, MERL and Partnerships Section. Duties and responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:
- Oversee the management of all programme activities in country, ensuring activities are in line with, and contributes to, Plan International Strategy in East and Central Europe
- Provide oversight on the selection of local partner organisations alongside the Partnership Specialist, ensuring alignment with Plan Internationalโs partnership approach and programming priorities for Ukraine
- Guide programme technical specialists alongside the Programme Quality Manager to ensure programmes are of high quality and have direct positive impact on children and adolescents, especially girls
- Oversee programme and project delivery alongside the Programme Implementation Manager to ensure program implementation, budget management and partnership management are in line with our commitments to donors
- Supporting the ECE Response Director in representation, both internally and externally, including brokering and enhancing productive working relationships with key national office (NO) partners, donors, and influencers.
- Creating a high performing team through effective working relationships.
You will be a values-based and feminist leader, deeply comfortable with purpose driven humanitarian and nexus programming and influencing, and with a demonstrable commitment to gender equality, equity, diversity, and inclusion. You will understand and drive efforts to deliver positive change for diverse girls and young people in crisis. You will lead by example in ensuring gender equality is evident in everything we do throughout all aspects of our advocacy efforts
Key Accountabilities and main Responsibilities
Programme Portfolio Management | Quality and Implementation
Providing support to quality implementation of programs/projects. Playing a lead role in periodic reviews within the context of Ukraine integrating the global programme quality and influencing policy framework.
Ensuring a robust M&E system and updated output tracker with appropriate benchmarks, targets and that performance indicators are established and monitored.
Identifying opportunities for national scale up and resource mobilisation through documentation and promotion of best practices, and collaboration with stakeholders and community groups.
Supporting the drafting of high-quality concept notes and proposals.
Leading the departmentโs planning processes working in tandem with technical specialists, project managers and finance team to ensure proper budgeting and scaling up or down as required, depending on funding availability and pipeline.
Support the Response Director to identify new ways of working towards a transformative localisation approach which allows civil society organizations to achieve goals in line with Plan Internationalโs Global and ECE Ukraine Humanitarian Response Strategies.
Representation and networking
Support the ECE Response Director to identify opportunities to increase Plan International Ukraineโs influence in Ukraine through developing meaningful working and collaborative relationships with government and civil society.
Contribute to building strong relationships with key international and national organizations, donors, government, and multilateral partners.
Develop links with counterparts in Poland, Romania, and Moldova and, in collaboration with the ECE Response Director, maintain close working relationships with the support functions at the ECE Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Response Hub.
People
Ensuring productive working relationship within the programme team and between different colleagues and teams within the Ukraine office.
Providing leadership, coaching for results and support to the programme team.
Overseeing effective and meaningful partnership building, communication and collaboration between Plan International Ukraine staff and its partners.
Participate as a core member of the Plan International Ukraine Country Management Team
Ensuring that the programme team comprehends and adheres to Plan Internationalโs key policies, values and behaviours.
Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded
Ensure that Plan Internationalโs global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan Internationalโs Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
Key relationships
This role reports to the ECE Response Director (who de facto is also Country Director Ukraine) and collaborates closely with the other members of the ECE Leadership Team
Plan International Ukraine Country Management Team, including the ECE Response Director, Business Development Manager, Finance Manager, Human Resources Manager and Supply Chain Manager
Plan International ECE shared services, including Head of Communications, Head of Programme Quality and Operations, Head of Finance, Head of Policy & Advocacy
In tandem with the Business Development Manager, liaises with international programme department colleagues from National Offices across the Plan International Federation.
Communications and Working Relationships
Internal
Director of ECE Ukraine Crisis Response โ Line manager