THE OPPORTUNITY
You will lead Plan International Kenya’s humanitarian preparedness, emergency response, and resilience initiatives with strategic, technical, and operational oversight. Your role will ensure Plan International Kenya is fully prepared to prevent, mitigate, and respond to emergencies while fostering long-term community resilience. Additionally, you will advance climate adaptation strategies and integrated nexus programming across the organization’s portfolio.
You will also enhance PICK’s institutional capacity to implement high-quality, gender-transformative interventions in humanitarian contexts, advocate for climate-resilient programming across sectors, spearhead nexus planning and integration efforts, and position PICK strategically within national, regional, and global coordination frameworks.
You will serve as PICK’s representative on national humanitarian and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) coordination platforms, spearhead donor engagement and resource mobilization efforts for humanitarian and climate-resilience initiatives, and assist Country Office leadership in aligning country-level response strategies with Plan International’s Global Humanitarian Strategy, Climate Change Adaptation Framework, and the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus approach.
Oversee a range of critical duties, including the management of daily operations to ensure seamless workflow, the development and implementation of strategic initiatives to drive organizational growth, and the supervision of team performance to maintain high productivity standards. Additionally, collaborate with cross-functional departments to align objectives, resolve operational challenges, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. Monitor key performance indicators to assess progress and implement data-driven adjustments as necessary, while also ensuring compliance with company policies and industry regulations. Serve as a primary point of contact for internal and external stakeholders, addressing inquiries, resolving issues, and facilitating effective communication to enhance overall operational efficiency.
Lead and integrate Plan Kenya’s humanitarian, resilience, and climate strategies in accordance with global benchmarks, championing nexus programming, policy advocacy, and the safeguarding of girls. Collaborate with multisectoral stakeholders to align efforts, while maintaining a proficient emergency response team. Ensure prompt analysis, reporting, and accountability throughout all initiatives.
This role involves designing and managing humanitarian and resilience initiatives in crisis-affected regions, guaranteeing that interventions prioritize gender transformation, environmental considerations, conflict sensitivity, and inclusivity. The position requires leading evaluations and strategic response planning, while enhancing disaster risk reduction (DRR), proactive measures, and climate-adaptive livelihoods. Additionally, the role entails coordinating comprehensive, multi-sectoral implementation, and championing protection, resilience-building, climate justice, and gender equality.
Drive strategic emergency preparedness initiatives by conducting comprehensive risk analyses, developing robust early warning systems, designing detailed contingency plans, and organizing regular simulations; maintain operational cohesion, surge capacity, and streamlined procurement processes; offer expert technical guidance in crisis situations; and consistently evaluate national disaster risk assessments to enhance overall response effectiveness.
To guarantee alignment with international standards and donor expectations, we must establish and enforce robust accountability frameworks through structured feedback mechanisms. Additionally, fostering a culture of continuous improvement is essential, which involves promoting real-time learning, systematically documenting best practices, and deploying comprehensive monitoring, evaluation, review, and learning (MERL) systems to measure impact effectively. Regular assessments will further enable the identification of strategic gaps, emerging challenges, and key takeaways, ensuring adaptive, data-driven decision-making for sustained program success.
Support fundraising initiatives and cultivate donor engagement by developing strategic approaches, crafting compelling proposals, and fostering key partnerships. Procure grants, strengthen external relationships, and serve as PICK’s representative in coordination forums to amplify visibility and expand influence.
Enhance partner capabilities in emergency response, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, and nexus programming by offering technical guidance and ensuring quality standards, while advocating for locally driven preparedness and response frameworks.
Lead, develop, and guide humanitarian and resilience teams by establishing transparent goals and fostering an environment of gender equality, continuous learning, responsibility, and excellence. Additionally, maintain surge capacity readiness and prioritize staff welfare during crisis situations.
Oversee budgets, financial planning, and grant compliance for humanitarian and resilience projects, maintaining precise and timely expenditure tracking and reporting in collaboration with Finance.
Plan International maintains a comprehensive global policy framework encompassing Safeguarding and PII protocols to prevent sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse, alongside Gender Equality and Inclusion principles and their corresponding implementation standards and guidelines relevant to your role. Consequently, you will be tasked with ensuring strict adherence to these policies and enforcing their application among staff and associates within your designated area of responsibility.
You will be entrusted with additional tasks and responsibilities as deemed necessary by your supervisor, based on operational demands.
What we are looking for:
A candidate holding a Master’s Degree in Humanitarian Studies, Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Management, International Development, Public Policy, or a closely related discipline—or alternatively, a Bachelor’s Degree coupled with a minimum of ten years of progressively responsible and relevant work experience—is required.
Professionals should possess between eight and ten years of progressive experience in humanitarian response, resilience, disaster risk reduction, climate programming, or nexus initiatives, with a minimum of five years served in a senior leadership capacity.
A professional with a proven track record in overseeing emergency response operations within intricate environments, including drought conditions, conflict zones, refugee crises, and disease outbreaks.
You must possess a robust technical foundation encompassing in-depth knowledge of key concepts and principles relevant to the role.
Climate adaptation and resilience frameworks encompass comprehensive strategies designed to enhance the capacity of systems, communities, and infrastructure to withstand and recover from the impacts of climate change. These frameworks integrate scientific research, policy development, and practical implementation to address vulnerabilities, mitigate risks, and foster sustainable long-term solutions. They often involve multi-stakeholder collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and adaptive management approaches to ensure effective responses to evolving environmental challenges. Key components typically include risk assessments, capacity building, policy integration, and innovative technologies to bolster resilience across various sectors.
DRR, early warning and early action systems play a pivotal role in mitigating disaster risks and enhancing community resilience by providing timely alerts and enabling proactive interventions before hazards escalate. These systems integrate advanced monitoring technologies, data analytics, and multi-stakeholder coordination to detect potential threats, assess vulnerabilities, and disseminate critical information to at-risk populations. Their implementation requires expertise in risk assessment methodologies, real-time data processing, and the development of standardized protocols to ensure effective response and recovery efforts. Professionals in this field must possess strong analytical skills, proficiency in GIS and remote sensing tools, and the ability to collaborate across diverse sectors to translate early warnings into actionable strategies.
Humanitarian principles, along with adherence to the Sphere standards and the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), serve as the foundational framework for this role.
HDP Nexus, along with its associated programming components, serves as a critical platform for managing data workflows and integrating diverse computational tasks. This integrated programming environment facilitates seamless interaction between various data processing modules, enabling efficient execution of complex data pipelines. It supports compatibility with multiple programming languages and frameworks, ensuring flexibility for developers to leverage their preferred tools. Additionally, the platform emphasizes scalability, security, and performance optimization to meet the demands of large-scale data operations. By providing a unified interface, HDP Nexus streamlines collaboration among teams while maintaining robust data governance and compliance standards.
We are seeking a candidate with demonstrated expertise in donor engagement and resource mobilization.
Proficiency in representing organizations within national-level coordination frameworks is essential.
Proficiency in analytical reasoning, problem-solving methodologies, effective communication, and negotiation tactics is essential.
A professional with a proven track record in team leadership and the development of partner capabilities.
Qualifications
BA/BSc/HND , MBA/MSc/MA
Experience Required
8 - 10 years
