THE OPPORTUNITY
You will spearhead strategic, technical, and operational leadership for Plan International Kenya’s humanitarian preparedness, emergency response, and resilience initiatives, ensuring the organization is fully prepared to mitigate, anticipate, and address emergencies while fostering long-term community resilience. Additionally, you will champion climate adaptation and nexus programming across the portfolio to strengthen PICK’s impact and sustainability.
You will further enhance PICK’s institutional capacity to implement high-quality, gender-transformative interventions in humanitarian contexts while advocating for climate-resilient programming across sectors. Additionally, you will spearhead integrated nexus planning and coordination, ensuring PICK’s strategic positioning within national, regional, and global coordination frameworks.
You will serve as PICK’s representative on national humanitarian and disaster risk reduction coordination platforms, spearhead donor engagement and resource mobilization initiatives for humanitarian and climate-resilience programs, and assist the 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.
We are seeking a highly motivated professional to oversee a range of core responsibilities essential to the success of our operations. The role demands meticulous attention to detail alongside the ability to manage multiple tasks efficiently under demanding deadlines. Key duties include analyzing complex data sets to identify trends, preparing comprehensive reports to inform strategic decisions, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to implement process improvements. Additionally, the position requires fostering strong relationships with stakeholders, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, and maintaining rigorous quality control measures throughout all projects. The ideal candidate will demonstrate exceptional problem-solving skills, adaptability in dynamic environments, and a commitment to driving measurable results across all initiatives.
Lead the alignment of Plan Kenya’s humanitarian, resilience, and climate strategies with global best practices while spearheading nexus programming, policy advocacy, and the safeguarding of girls. Foster collaboration among multisectoral stakeholders to ensure cohesive implementation, maintain a highly skilled emergency response team, and uphold rigorous standards for timely data analysis, comprehensive reporting, and unwavering accountability.
Design and provide strategic direction for humanitarian and resilience initiatives in crisis-affected regions, ensuring programs are gender-transformative, climate- and conflict-sensitive, and inclusive. Oversee assessments, response planning, and the implementation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies, early action frameworks, and climate-resilient livelihoods. Lead the coordination of high-quality, multisectoral interventions while championing protection, resilience-building, climate justice, and gender equality.
Lead emergency preparedness initiatives by conducting comprehensive risk analyses, developing early warning systems, crafting detailed contingency plans, and executing realistic simulations. Oversee seamless coordination efforts, bolster surge capacity, and maintain procurement readiness to ensure operational resilience. Offer expert technical guidance during crises to facilitate swift, effective responses, while consistently evaluating national disaster risk assessments to refine and enhance preparedness strategies.
Ensures programs adhere to international standards and donor requirements while enhancing accountability through established feedback mechanisms. Facilitates continuous learning and systematic documentation of best practices in real time. Implements rigorous monitoring and evaluation frameworks, utilizing MERL methodologies to assess impact effectively. Conducts periodic assessments to refine strategies by identifying gaps, addressing challenges, and applying key insights from ongoing evaluations.
Support fundraising efforts and cultivate donor relationships by developing strategic initiatives, crafting compelling proposals, and fostering impactful partnerships. Secure grant funding, strengthen external connections, and serve as PICK’s representative in coordination forums to amplify visibility and expand influence within key networks.
Enhance partner capabilities in emergency response, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, and nexus programming by delivering technical mentorship and ensuring high-quality implementation. Additionally, advocate for and advance locally led preparedness and response initiatives.
Oversee humanitarian and resilience teams by establishing transparent expectations while fostering an environment rooted in gender equality, continuous learning, accountability, and excellence. Strengthen surge capacity preparedness and prioritize staff wellbeing to maintain resilience during critical situations.
Oversee budgets, financial planning, and grant compliance for humanitarian and resilience initiatives, guaranteeing precise and prompt expenditure tracking and reporting in collaboration with Finance.
Plan International maintains a comprehensive global safeguarding policy, as well as a robust policy for protecting personally identifiable information (PII) and preventing sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse. Additionally, the organization upholds Gender Equality and Inclusion principles, along with implementation standards and guidelines relevant to your area of responsibility. In this role, you will be accountable for ensuring compliance with these policies and enforcing adherence among staff and associated personnel within your designated scope.
You will be entrusted with undertaking additional tasks based on operational requirements, as directed by your supervisor.
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 related discipline is preferred; alternatively, a Bachelor’s Degree along with a minimum of ten years of progressively responsible and relevant experience may be considered.
A minimum of eight to ten years of progressive experience in humanitarian response, resilience building, disaster risk reduction, climate programming, or nexus initiatives is required, with at least five of those years served in a senior leadership capacity.
A professional with a proven track record in leading emergency response operations across multifaceted environments, including drought conditions, conflict zones, refugee crises, and infectious disease outbreaks, is sought.
You must possess a robust technical foundation encompassing a deep comprehension of key principles, methodologies, and systems relevant to the role. Additionally, familiarity with industry-standard tools, frameworks, and best practices is essential to effectively execute the associated responsibilities. Prior hands-on experience in similar environments or projects is highly advantageous, as it demonstrates your capability to apply theoretical knowledge to practical challenges. Strong analytical skills are required to troubleshoot issues, optimize performance, and ensure seamless integration of technical solutions.
Climate adaptation and resilience frameworks encompass strategies designed to address the impacts of climate change, aiming to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance the capacity of systems to withstand and recover from environmental stressors. These frameworks typically include risk assessments, vulnerability analyses, and adaptive management plans tailored to specific sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, and public health. They also emphasize stakeholder engagement, policy development, and the integration of traditional knowledge with scientific advancements to ensure sustainable and inclusive solutions. Professionals in this field are expected to possess expertise in climate science, data analysis, and policy implementation, along with strong problem-solving and communication skills to effectively collaborate with diverse stakeholders and drive actionable outcomes.
The organization seeks to implement robust Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) mechanisms, alongside comprehensive early warning and early action systems, to proactively mitigate potential hazards and enhance community resilience.
Humanitarian principles, the Sphere standards, and the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) serve as the foundational frameworks guiding this role. Applicants must demonstrate a thorough understanding of these principles and standards, ensuring their work aligns with ethical, accountable, and quality-driven humanitarian practices. Responsibilities include integrating these principles into project planning, implementation, and evaluation to uphold the highest standards of humanitarian response. A commitment to these frameworks is essential for maintaining integrity, effectiveness, and accountability in all activities.
HDP Nexus and its associated programming modules serve as a central platform for managing and executing data-driven applications. Candidates must possess proficiency in integrating and utilizing these tools to develop robust data solutions. Responsibilities include configuring, optimizing, and maintaining the HDP Nexus environment to ensure seamless operation and high performance. Experience with integrated programming frameworks and a strong understanding of distributed computing principles are essential for success in this role.
We seek a candidate with demonstrated expertise in cultivating donor relationships and securing resources effectively.
Candidates should possess experience in representing organizations within national-level coordination frameworks.
We seek a candidate with exceptional analytical prowess, adept problem-solving abilities, strong communication skills, and proven negotiation expertise.
A professional with a proven track record in team leadership and the development of partner capabilities is sought.
Qualifications
BA/BSc/HND , MBA/MSc/MA
Experience Required
8 - 10 years
