Country Director - Cambodia

The Organisation

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.

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.

Our organisation is transforming itself to meet this enormous challenge everywhere we work.

We need bold, forward-thinking and innovative individuals to lead our country operations, driving change and delivering results that will allow us to reach our target of 100 million girls.

The Opportunity

Plan International is seeking an experienced, values-driven and strategic leader to serve as Country Director for Cambodia. This is a pivotal leadership role, responsible for setting the overall direction of Plan International’s work in Cambodia and ensuring strong programme delivery, influencing impact and sustainable organisational performance. 

As Country Director, you will lead a team of about 80 staff and oversee a country programme with an annual budget of approximately USD 8 million. You will represent Plan International at senior levels with government, donors, civil society, media and partners, while ensuring the organisation delivers relevant, gender-transformative impact for the most vulnerable children, particularly girls.

This role requires a leader who is comfortable driving transformative change, strengthening organisational culture and accountability, and ensuring that Plan International Cambodia remains a credible, influential and effective development and humanitarian actor.

In this pivotal role, you will:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for Plan International’s development, humanitarian and influencing work in Cambodia, aligned with the global strategy and the organisation’s commitment to gender equality and girls’ rights.
• Lead the development and implementation of an ambitious Country Strategy grounded in gender transformation, child rights and participation.
• Ensure programme and influencing work achieves impact at scale by linking grassroots action with national-level influencing and advocacy.
• Drive effective emergency preparedness, risk reduction and resilience building, and ensure readiness to respond to both predictable and sudden-onset emergencies.
• Strengthen resource mobilisation across institutional, multilateral, corporate and National Office funding sources, ensuring long-term sustainability.
• Lead and develop a high-performing, inclusive and values-driven team, embedding Plan International’s standards on safeguarding, gender equality, accountability and ethical practice.
• Ensure strong financial stewardship, legal and donor compliance, and effective planning, budgeting, reporting and performance management systems.
• Act as Plan International’s senior in-country representative, building trusted relationships with government, donors, media, INGOs, national NGOs, communities and other stakeholders.
• Contribute as an active member of the Regional Leadership Team, supporting regional collaboration, organisational learning and shared services.

Do you have what it takes?

To excel in this role, you will need among other things:

• Proven senior leadership experience with increasing responsibility in an international development environment.
• A strong understanding of child rights, gender in development and girls’ rights, and the ability to translate these commitments into impactful programmes and influencing strategies.
• Experience in sustainable community development and participatory approaches in development interventions.
• Knowledge of donor compliance requirements and sound financial management.
• Experience of programming in challenging environments, with a strong understanding of the political, social, economic, humanitarian and security context in Cambodia or a comparable environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and motivate diverse teams, manage organisational change, and build an efficient and motivated workforce.
• Strong political acumen, networking and negotiation skills, with experience engaging governmental and non-governmental actors.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Khmer, with strong diplomatic and media-facing communication skills.
• A relevant university degree in development, social science, business administration or a related field.

For a detailed job description which includes the full list of accountabilities and requirements PLEASE GO TO THIS LINK

Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Reports to: Director of Sub Region

Conditions:  Local terms and conditions

Closing Date:  13 April 2026

Cambodian Candidates are encouraged to apply and are preferred for this role

Early applications are encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People policy.

As an international child centred community development organisation, Plan International is fully committed to promoting the realisation of children's rights including their right to protection from violence and abuse. That means we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with.

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. We must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk. 

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for. Our organisation 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 will provide equality of opportunity and will not tolerate discrimination on any grounds. We foster an organisational culture that embraces and exemplifies our commitment to gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion while supporting staff to adopt good practice, positive attitudes and principles of gender equality and inclusion.