THE OPPORTUNITY
You will spearhead the strategic, technical, and operational leadership of Plan International Kenya’s humanitarian preparedness, emergency response, and resilience initiatives. Your role will involve ensuring that PICK is fully prepared to mitigate, respond to, and recover from emergencies while strengthening long-term community resilience and advancing climate adaptation and nexus programming across the 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 diverse 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 coordination platforms, spearhead donor engagement initiatives, and mobilize resources to advance humanitarian and climate-resilience programs. Additionally, you will 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.
Oversee a range of critical tasks, including the management and execution of project deliverables, collaboration with cross-functional teams to align on objectives, and the development of strategic initiatives to drive organizational growth. Ensure adherence to established timelines, maintain rigorous quality standards, and address any potential challenges proactively. Facilitate clear communication channels to guarantee transparency and accountability across all stakeholders. Monitor progress through regular evaluations and adjust approaches as necessary to optimize efficiency and outcomes.
Lead the strategic alignment of Plan Kenya’s humanitarian, resilience, and climate initiatives with international best practices, while advancing integrated nexus programming, policy advocacy, and the safeguarding of girls. Foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders across sectors, ensuring cohesive and effective coordination. Establish and sustain a highly skilled emergency response team prepared for rapid deployment. Oversee rigorous analysis, comprehensive reporting, and robust accountability measures to uphold operational excellence and impact.
Design and supervise humanitarian and resilience initiatives in regions affected by crises, guaranteeing that interventions are gender-transformative, climate- and conflict-sensitive, and inclusive. Oversee assessments and strategic response planning, while enhancing disaster risk reduction (DRR), early action measures, and climate-resilient livelihoods. Coordinate the implementation of high-quality, multisectoral programs and champion advocacy efforts for protection, resilience, climate justice, and gender equality.
Lead emergency preparedness initiatives by conducting thorough risk analyses, implementing early warning systems, developing comprehensive contingency plans, and executing realistic simulations; maintain robust coordination among stakeholders, ensure surge capacity readiness, and streamline procurement processes; offer expert technical guidance during crisis response efforts; and regularly evaluate national disaster risk assessments to enhance overall preparedness and response effectiveness.
Ensure alignment with international standards and donor mandates while fostering enhanced accountability through established feedback loops. Facilitate continuous improvement by capturing real-time insights, documenting proven methodologies, and integrating robust monitoring and evaluation (MERL) frameworks to measure impact effectively. Additionally, conduct systematic reviews to refine strategies, addressing identified gaps, overcoming challenges, and applying key lessons learned.
Support fundraising efforts and cultivate donor engagement by devising strategic initiatives, crafting compelling proposals, and fostering meaningful partnerships. Secure grant funding, build and maintain strong external relationships, and serve as PICK’s representative in coordination forums to amplify its visibility and strengthen its influence in the field.
Enhance partner capabilities in emergency response, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), climate adaptation, and integrated nexus programming by offering specialized technical guidance and rigorous quality assurance. Additionally, advocate for and advance locally led approaches to preparedness and response, ensuring sustainable and community-driven solutions.
Oversee humanitarian and resilience teams by establishing unambiguous expectations, fostering an environment rooted in gender equality, continuous learning, accountability, and excellence, while guaranteeing surge capacity preparedness and safeguarding staff wellbeing amid crises.
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 policy framework encompassing Safeguarding, PII protocols for preventing Sexual Harassment, Exploitation, and Abuse, as well as Gender Equality and Inclusion principles, alongside relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines applicable to your role. Consequently, you will be responsible for ensuring strict adherence to these policies and actively promoting compliance among all staff and associated personnel within your designated area of responsibility.
You will be entrusted with assuming additional tasks within your defined scope of work at the discretion of your supervisor as needed.
What we are looking for:
A candidate must hold a Master’s Degree in Humanitarian Studies, Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Management, International Development, Public Policy, or a related field. Alternatively, a Bachelor’s Degree with more than a decade of progressively responsible and relevant experience may be considered.
Seeking candidates with a minimum of 8–10 years of progressive experience in humanitarian response, resilience-building, disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate programming, or nexus initiatives, along with a demonstrated track record of at least five years in a senior leadership capacity.
A candidate must exhibit proven expertise in leading emergency response efforts within intricate environments, such as drought-affected regions, conflict zones, refugee contexts, and during disease outbreaks.
You are expected to possess a robust technical foundation encompassing a deep comprehension of essential principles and practices within the designated field. This includes familiarity with key methodologies, tools, and systems pertinent to the role, ensuring the ability to analyze complex challenges and implement effective solutions. A solid grasp of industry standards, emerging technologies, and best practices will be critical to your success in this position.
Climate adaptation and resilience frameworks
DRR, early warning, and early action systems constitute a critical framework for mitigating risks and enhancing preparedness against potential hazards. These systems enable timely detection of threats, facilitate rapid dissemination of alerts, and support proactive measures to minimize the impact of disasters. They rely on robust data collection, advanced technology integration, and collaborative stakeholder engagement to ensure effective response and resilience-building efforts.
Humanitarian principles, along with adherence to the Sphere standards and the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), serve as the foundational framework for this role, ensuring ethical, effective, and accountable humanitarian action.
HDP Nexus, along with its embedded programming components, serves as a critical platform for executing advanced data processing tasks. This integrated solution streamlines workflows by facilitating seamless interoperability between diverse data systems and programming frameworks. Professionals utilizing this tool set must demonstrate proficiency in leveraging its capabilities to enhance data analysis, integration, and automation processes. A deep understanding of Hadoop-centric architectures, coupled with expertise in programming languages such as Java, Python, or Scala, is essential for optimizing performance and ensuring robust system functionality. Additionally, familiarity with distributed computing principles and big data technologies is required to effectively harness the platform’s full potential.
A candidate must demonstrate a track record of success in cultivating donor relationships and securing financial support for organizational initiatives.
Qualified candidates must possess prior experience in representing organizations within national-level coordination frameworks.
A candidate possessing robust analytical abilities, advanced problem-solving capabilities, exceptional communication skills, and proficient negotiation expertise.
We seek an individual with demonstrated expertise in team leadership and the development of partner capabilities.
Qualifications
BA/BSc/HND , MBA/MSc/MA
Experience Required
8 - 10 years
