Country Director - Myanmar

The Organisation

 Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

 We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And its girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

 We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

 We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years and are now active in more than 70 countries.

Plan International Myanmar (PIM) is a leading NGO in Myanmar, with a presence across the country.  The country office is in Yangon, and there are sub-offices in Sittwe, Mandalay, Nyaung U and Mytikyina

 PIM which is in its final year of its country strategy 2021 – 2026., and has a funding ambition of USD 80 million, provides multi-sectoral support to girls, young women, children and young people so that they can make a successful transition to adulthood as leaders.  PIM focuses on 7 core Programmatic Areas:

1.    Early child development 
   2.    Inclusive quality education 
   3.    Youth employment and entrepreneurship
   4.    Child protection
   5.    Sexual reproductive health and rights
   6.    Resilience and disaster risk reduction (DRR)
   7.    Emergency response, CPiE, EiE, SRHRiE, MPCA, WASHiE
   

To achieve these ambitions, Plan International Myanmar recognizes its needs to improve and refines both its programmatic and operational functions by:

- Strengthening the capacity on gender transformative, inclusive, and conflict-sensitive programming, both in development and humanitarian contexts;
- Increasing Plan’s relevance and distinctiveness to decision makers, institutions and the public as a leader in championing girls’ and young women’s rights;
- Modifying the delivery model, structure, staffing and support systems to suit the needs of a transformed entity.

THE OPPORTUNITY

To achieve the significant goals we have set above, we need a bold, forward-thinking and innovative individual to lead our country operations in a complex environment, driving change, and delivering results that will allow us to deliver the strategy, while managing a team of over 250 staff

In this exciting role:

• 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 lead transformative change, have a demonstrable commitment to gender equality and represent Plan International at the highest levels of government, civil society, and media
• You will lead efforts to deliver positive change for girls through advocating, campaigning and communicating at both the national and international level, while equally, you will ensure the country operating model is fit for purpose, taking into account the unique Myanmar context, 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 ensure that gender equality is evident in everything we do from staffing, to programming and influencing, to ways of working, while working 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

For a detailed job description, please click HERE

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

To be successful in this role you will need among other things:

•    Proven experience of exercising leadership functions in complex and fragile context with a strong track record of managing teams and operations in humanitarian high risk areas
•    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 Goals (SDGs).
•    Experience and understanding of the concepts of sustainable community development and participatory approaches and practice in development interventions and triple nexus.
•    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 Myanmar 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.
•    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 Burmese would be an asset. 

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Location:      Yangon, Myanmar
Expected:     Fixed Term 3 Year contract (possibility of extension) starting in Oct 2025
Reports to:   Director of Mekong Sub Region
Closing Date:  18 June 2025

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• This is an unaccompanied post
• Early application is 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.