Philippines: Country Director

Jun 16, 2020 | Plan International
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Plan International is a rights-based development and humanitarian organisation working for better lives for all children. We are independent of government and have no political or religious affiliation.

Our purpose is to strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 80 years and are now active in more than 70 countries.

This is an exciting time for Plan International as we implement our global strategy for 2017-2022. Our global strategy has a specific focus on girls, as they are often the most marginalised and most often left behind. We have committed ourselves to the ambitious target of reaching 100 million girls over 5 years, to ensure they can learn, lead, decide and thrive. This is our contribution to reaching the sustainable development goals, and in particular the goals on gender equality. To achieve greater change in children’s lives we are dramatically transforming how we operate, and we need bold, forward-thinking and innovative individuals to steer our country operations, driving change and delivering results that will allow us to transform the lives of 100 million girls globally.

Plan International Philippines

Plan International Philippines’ Country Strategy has four Strategic Program Objectives - Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation; Youth Economic Empowerment; Nutrition and Responsive Care; and Child Protection contributes to delivery of Plan’s Global Strategy in the Philippines.

The program goals and objectives of the current strategy are interconnected to address persistent inequality, under-nutrition, rights violations and protection issues children are facing in the Philippines that are worsened by natural disasters and conflict, particularly in Mindanao and Eastern Visayas Regions.

Organizational transformation to ensure Plan remains relevant in the Philippines for next 10 – 20 years is in process to position Plan to be a leader and national NGO of choice for promoting gender equality and protecting the rights of marginalized children and youth especially girls and young women in development and humanitarian situations in the Philippines. The transformation encompasses three priority work streams – Gender Transformative Programming and Influencing, Localization and Governance and, People, Structure, Systems and Delivery Model. It aims to achieve the following objectives:

  • Strengthen the capacity on gender transformative, inclusive, and conflict-sensitive programming, both in development and humanitarian contexts
  • Increase Plan’s relevance and distinctiveness to decision makers, institutions, and the public as a leader in championing girls’ and young women’s rights
  • Transition from being a branch to a Filipino organization
  • Modify the delivery model, structure, staffing and support systems to suit the needs of a transformed entity

The Role

  • Title: Country Director, Philippines
  • Reporting to: Director, South East Asia
  • Location: Manila, Philippines
  • Remuneration: Competitive local salary and benefit package
  • Start date: August 2020

Role Purpose

  • Drive Plan International’s programme and influencing work in the Philippines, setting overall direction, leading a high performing team, ensuring accountability for meeting demanding targets and maintaining alignment with the global strategy
  • Ensure the country-operating model is fit for purpose, not only now, but in the future, as we move towards localisation.
  • Ensure the right funding mix to achieve our ambition, key business processes are in place and organisational values are embedded in everything we do.

Dimensions of the Role

  • Responsible for all work that takes place for Plan International in the Philippines, including responsibility for the delivery of work and as Plan International’s in-country representative to government and non-government partners.
  • Leading Plan International’s organisational transformation towards a local entity ensuring sustainable, legitimate presence with programme impact
  • Managing the Country Office Budget. Currently the annual budget is USD 20 million of which 70% is from grants and 30% from Sponsorship.
  • Managing relationships with key donors such as Accenture, BMZ, CHAF, DFAT, DFID, Dubai Cares, GFFO, SIDA, and USAID
  • Leadership, management and development of the Plan International Philippines team comprising of over 200 staff, based in Manila and the field
  • Responsible for managing relationships with the donors, local partners and communities.
  • As a member of the Regional Leadership Team, contribute to the overall learning and strategic direction within the Asia region. This includes sharing experience of program development and learning and working in a poor security and disaster-prone environment

Main Responsibilities

As a Country Director, you will drive Plan International’s programme and influencing work, setting overall direction, leading a high performing team, ensuring accountability for meeting demanding targets and maintaining alignment with the global strategy.

You will be deeply comfortable with leading transformative change, have a demonstrable commitment to gender equality and relish the prospect of representing Plan International to the highest levels of government, civil society and the local and international media.

You will understand and drive efforts to deliver positive change for girls through advocating, campaigning and communicating at a national level. Equally you will ensure the country operating model is fit for purpose, we have the right funding mix to achieve our ambition, key business processes are in place and organisational values are embedded in everything we do.

You will lead by example in ensuring gender equality is evident in everything we do from staffing, to programming and influencing, to ways of working. You will work with your team to bring about the right culture that ensures we are champions for girls and gender equality.

You will lead a motivated team, ensure legal compliance, and be ready and able to respond to emergency and development needs of the most marginalised children, especially girls.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Essential

  • Proven experience of exercising leadership functions with increasing responsibility in an international environment related to development.
  • Proven understanding of “child rights” and “gender in development” concepts and the promotion of girls’ rights in the context of relevant International Conventions (Convention of the Rights of the Child, Convention for the Eradication of Discrimination against Women) and the Global Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Experience and understanding of the concepts of sustainable community development and participatory approaches and practice in development interventions.
  • Knowledge of the requirements of donor compliance and financial management
  • Knowledge of programming in challenging environments with good understanding and appreciation of the historical, security context, political environment, economic, social/religious and humanitarian context in Philippines or a comparable environment.
  • Proven skills in the development and management of effective and motivated teams, including distance management.
  • Excellent English written and verbal communication skills.
  • Proven networking and negotiation skills with governmental and non-governmental actors
  • Strong diplomatic and communication skills, including through mass-media in order to influence decision-makers and key stakeholders.

Desirable

  • At this stage in the development of the organisation and its transition towards a local legal entity, a Filipino leader is preferred.
  • Experience with regards to the establishment of local legal entities.
  • Relevant University degree in development, social science, business administration or related field
  • Knowledge of the geopolitical factors affecting child-poverty in the country and the political, social and environmental opportunities for change is an advantage
  • Working knowledge of Khmer would be an asset.

How to apply

All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button in the job advert page and complete our online application form. Please provide a CV and cover letter in ONE single document, which should be prepared before applying as they will be requested in the application process.

If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email PlanCD-Philippines@oxfordhr.co.uk in the first instance.