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 a dynamic and experienced professional to lead our global gender transformative Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme. In this maternity cover role, you will be responsible for driving the quality, impact, alignment, scale, and resourcing of our ECD initiatives, working in close collaboration with Country Offices, Regions, and National Organisations.

Your expertise will be key in managing our global ECD technical package, developing and scaling effective programme models and good practices, and ensuring robust impact reporting. You will also play a pivotal role in fostering a connected and vibrant programme and technical network, embedding gender transformative ECD policies and practices across our organisation.

Join us in making a lasting difference in the lives of children and their communities.

ROLE PURPOSE:

To drive Plan International's global gender transformative Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme quality, impact, alignment, scale, and resourcing, working collaboratively and in partnership with Country Offices, Regions and National Offices. This includes managing a global ECD technical package, driving the development and scaling of programme models and good practices, and effective impact reporting. It also involves supporting a connected and vibrant programme and technical network to embed gender transformative ECD policy and practice across the organisation.

DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE:

Plan International works with children and girls in over 80 countries to help create a world where we are all equal. As such, it aims to deliver and lead on gender-transformative approaches to programming, including Early Childhood Development.

This is a key role within the Global Programme Department, based at Plan International's Global Hub, acting as programme/technical lead for one of Plan International's thematic priority areas (also known as 'Areas of Global Distinctiveness'). As such it will work closely with other thematic programme leads (Inclusive Quality Education, Protection from Violence, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, Skills and Opportunities for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, Youth Empowerment) and the Head of Gender and Inclusion to take forward the priorities of the department.

Critically, the role requires strong engagement and collaboration from other parts of the organisation (including technical, programming and business development colleagues at COS, NOs, and regions). It manages a global governance structure and supports an ECD network/community of practice to anchoring program quality discourse, share good practice and generate solutions.

It will also involve representing Plan International externally, and working collaboratively to build Plan International's ECD profile and partnership opportunities.

ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Leadership of the global ECD programme and networks

• Provide visionary leadership for ECD in Plan International, working in close collaboration with colleagues across the organisation and external bodies;


• Provide oversight of, and strategic direction for, Plan's global ECD programme portfolio, managing an ECD governance structure to engage and align technical and managerial colleagues across the organisation;


• Support the development of a connected and vibrant global technical ECD network/community of practice and facilitate global ECD leaming opportunities, including via management support for a Network Coordinator;


• Stay abreast of latest global research, trends and programming opportunities for ECD;


• Support a collaborative, solutions-focused Programmes Team that delivers strategic ambitions and sustainable results for ECD as well as integrated programming to advance children's rights and equality for girls;


• Demonstrate and model Plan's values and feminist leadership principles.

Strategic Growth of Programme Portfolio, Partnerships and external engagement

• Actively promote ECD programme models and best practices with senior and business development colleagues to sustain and grow the programme portfolio;


• Work closely with the Fundraising Hub and NOS to identify and support the development of donor relations and maintain a healthy pipeline of proposals;


• In partnership with NOs, COs and the Strategy and Engagement team, develop and maintain strategic partnerships with key external stakeholders, including civil society organisations, non-govemmental organisations, academics, think tanks, foundations, governments, foundations and donors;


• Represent Plan International at technical external networks, conferences or high- level forum in line with ECD programme and influencing priorities.

Impact, learning and best practices

• Develop, maintain and support the uptake and use of a global ECD results framework/menu of indicators as part of the ECD AOGD technical package;


• Drive the use and analysis of evaluations, sponsorship data, research reports, etc. to effectively communicate the scope, impact and leamings from Plan International's global ECD portfolio;


• Support the development of data and evidence-based content for internal and external audiences that enables Plan to tell a "global" story of our ECD work;


• Working in partnership with the MERL team, support the delivery of effective reporting, including reporting on ECD impact evidence;


• Establish and support the identification and addressing of key global ECD research questions.

Programme Development and Quality

• Manage and update the ECD AOGD technical package, to offer a strategic framework and guidance for the global ECD portfolio;


• Ensure timely and relevant support to Country Offces in relation to country strategy development;


• Drive the development of ECD programme models, drawing on good practices from our portfolio or work, working closely with country, regional and national organisation leadership;


• Maintain the ECD technical capabilities by developing and/or updating technical guidance, frameworks and policies to reflect internal and external best practices and emerging trends.

Connecting, collaboration and alignment

• Build a spirit of collaboration and appreciation, ensuring that our programme portfolio builds from local practices working on equal partnership across Country Offices, Regional Offices, GH Teams, and National Organizations;


• Ensure strong collaboration with Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns teams to align our influencing work with the realities of our programming work;


• Collaborate with the Communications team to effectively communicate ECD programme impacts and successes to a broader audience;


• Ensures that Plan International's 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 International's 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:

• External organisations, private sector partners, IJN agencies, foundations, think tanks/academia, NGOs, donors etc;


• Management, Programme and Technical leads in NOs, COs and Regional Hubs;


• Global technical network/colleagues working in or on ECD from across the organization;


• Other thematic counterparts in the Programme Team;


• Other global functions and departments: MERL; Humanitarian; Advocacy and Partnerships, Communications & Brand; Fundraising; Knowledge Management.

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE:

Essential

• Proven experience in international work environments in varied contexts and intercultural communication, including an understanding of NGO structures, the girls and women's equality movement and the IJN human rights and humanitarian system;


• Strong and lived experience in countries of the global south in developing, scaling or mainstreaming ECD programs;


• Experience of developing programme and influencing models in humanitarian and development settings on early childhood development, advancing children's rights and/or gender equality in a national and/or international context;


• Knowledge and experience in rights based and gender transformative programming and influencing;


• Experience in programme and influence design, monitoring & evaluation, learning and knowledge management;


• An undergraduate or postgraduate degree or equivalent experience in human rights, political science, international development, or other specific field relevant to Plan International's work.

Desirable

• Language skills other than English and preferably Spanish and French.

PLAN INTERNATIONAL'S VALUES IN PRACTICE:

We are open and accountable

We create a climate of trust inside and outside the organisation by being open, honest and transparent. We hold ourselves and others to account for the decisions we make and for our impact on others, while doing what we say we will do.

We strive for lasting impact

We strive to achieve significant and lasting impact on the lives of children and young people, and to secure equality for girls. We challenge ourselves to be bold, courageous, responsive, focused and innovative.

We work well together

We succeed by working effectively with others, inside and outside the organisation, including our sponsors and donors. We actively support our colleagues, helping them to achieve their goals. We come together to create and implement solutions in our teams, across Plan International, with children, girls, young people, communities and our partners.

We are inclusive and empowering

We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge inequality in our programmes and our workplace. We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives. We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential.

OTHER INFORMATION:

• Location: The location of this role can be flexible, preferably closer to the point of impact and where Plan International has an office that can employ on behalf of the Global Hub and you have the pre-existing right to work and live;


• Type of Role: Family leave cover from November 2024, potentially up to 13 months;


• Closing date: Thursday 19th September 2024 (Midnight UK time).

Applicable locations include: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, 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, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom, 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.