Head of Programmes

THE ORGANISATION

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation/charity/non-profit that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. 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.

For over 85 years, we have rallied other determined optimists to transform the lives of all children in more than 80 countries.

We won’t stop until we are all equal!

Plan International started working in Egypt in 1981 and has a presence in ten of the 27 governorates in which the country including Greater Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Beheira, Kalyoubia, Damietta, Qena, Assuit and Sohag. Plan international Egypt implements programmes designed to enable communities to improve the lives of the most marginalised children and their families. Plan Egypt’s Country Strategy focuses on five strategic objectives.

Through a five-interconnected, gender transformative and context-fit country objectives, PIE intends along with the various stakeholders at all levels to continue delivering positive and transformative changes so that “Children, especially girls, and young people grow up in an enabling environment, realizing their rights and contributing in both development and humanitarian settings as active agents of change”.

THE OPPORTUNITY

You will be part of the senior leadership to bring together programme implementation, technical quality, and organisational strategy under one unified mandate. You will report directly to the Country Director and you will be a standing member of the Country Leadership Team (CLT).

Additionally, you will assume full accountability for the effective delivery of all Plan Egypt programmes across all thematic areas and locations— and you will be the primary custodian of Plan Egypts's programmatic vision, translating the Country Strategy into coherent, evidence-based, gender-transformative programming that delivers lasting impact for children, girls and young people in Egypt. You will operate deliberately across the humanitarian-development, you will be required to be able to hold both dimensions simultaneously without compromising either.

Further, you will serve as a strategic thought partner to the Country Director, contributing to CLT leadership on organisational direction, programme innovation and evidence-based decision making, and working in close collaboration with the Resources Mobilisation Manager to ensure programme quality and evidence systematically strengthen donor engagement and resource mobilisation.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the development and implementation of country programme strategies aligned with organizational priorities, donor requirements, and local context. Provide strategic leadership in programme planning, quality assurance, budgeting, gender and inclusion mainstreaming, sponsorship alignment, resource mobilization, and disaster risk management. Ensure effective coordination across departments and stakeholders to deliver high-quality, impactful programmes addressing child rights, gender equality, humanitarian, and development priorities.
• Lead the planning, implementation, monitoring, and quality assurance of PIE programmes in alignment with the Country Strategy, project management standards, and donor requirements. Oversee project and programme teams, strengthen partner capacity, promote programme quality, learning, and safeguarding, foster a values-based and high-performance culture, ensure cross-functional coordination and compliance, support knowledge sharing and sponsorship commitments, and drive the timely delivery of high-quality results and reports.
• Lead the development and implementation of knowledge management, monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems to promote innovation, evidence-based programming, and continuous improvement. Oversee programme quality, data management, performance monitoring, and cross-project coordination to ensure effectiveness, efficiency, value for money, and compliance with organisational standards. Support programme design, assessments, proposal development, strategic partnerships, and organisational learning to achieve sustainable programme outcomes and impact.
• Lead the development and implementation of advocacy and influencing strategies that advance Plan International Egypt’s strategic priorities and promote positive policy, legal, budgetary, and behavioural change. Ensure advocacy efforts are evidence-based and closely linked to programme implementation and MERL, while coordinating stakeholder engagement, partnerships, networks, and national-level representation. Drive impactful advocacy initiatives for girls’ rights and gender equality, monitor and report on influencing outcomes, and strengthen the visibility, credibility, and dissemination of Plan International Egypt’s work among key stakeholders.
• Lead localization and partnership initiatives, build strategic relationships with key stakeholders, and strengthen partner capacity to support effective and sustainable implementation of the country strategy. Build and maintain strategic relationships with government ministries, UN agencies, INGOs, national NGOs, local partners and coordination platforms.
• Ensure adherence to safeguarding, gender equality, anti-fraud, safety, security, and other organizational risk and compliance standards.
• Ensure compliance with Plan International’s Child Protection and Gender Equality policies, including staff awareness and reporting procedures.
• You will be trusted to take on additional assignments within the scope of work as assigned by your supervisor on need basis.

What we are looking for:

Qualifications/ experience essential:

• Someone with Master’s Degree in Social work, International Relations, Development or similar field.
• Should have relevant experience in INGO Sector or demonstrated equivalent combination.
• Someone with at least 10 years of experience (including international) in managing development programmes, preferably with a disaster response component, with large and complex budgets
• Proven experiences and ability to coordinate and collaborate with different civil society and Community based organization.
• Demonstrable working experience in development programme.
• Knowledge of developmental agendas in complex and protracted development and humanitarian landscape.
• Experience in context, funding and market analysis.
• Ability to communicate effectively and authoritatively on area of expertise, and influence others to reach common goals.
• Demonstrated track record of proposal writing and budget management
• Experience in leading team, coaching and mentoring, especially managing a large team.
• Excellent experience in conflict resolution.
• Proven track record in technical quality management.
• Experience across multiple thematic sectors.
• Strategic planning processes.
• Programme design.
• Donor engagement across multiple funding mechanisms.
• Networking with UN, government and donors.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Arabic and English.

Knowledge:

• In-depth knowledge of gender and inclusion and global/local development issues, with particular knowledge in girls’ rights and child rights, feminist movements, the key actors and institutions, and the power dynamics involved.
• Mastery of key gender inequalities, gaps, barriers and opportunities at the national, regional and global level and gender and inclusion in programs, and especially for children and girls.
• In-depth understanding of the policies, processes, institutions and organizations that shape the development and humanitarian context and standards within Egypt
• Understanding of the implications of working with a rights-based approach to development and is able to analyze the situation of children’s and particularly girls’ rights in his/her working context
• In-depth knowledge on different types of partnerships and civil society strengthening and capacity building. Understanding issues, principles and strategies and their root causes and working with Plan’s principles and a range of strategies and approaches to improve outcomes;
• Demonstrable knowledge on key issues in development regarding Global Goals, UNCRC and CEDAW particularly around child rights.
• Knowledge of the host country, the geopolitical factors affecting child-poverty in the country as well as the political, social and economic opportunities for development are an advantage.
• Strong conceptual understanding of socio-political systems and power relations plus the practical approaches and skills to influence them in context.

Skills

• Ability to lead programme managers and staff to design and implement evidence-based solutions for gender transformative programmes, and to provide monitoring and quality assurance support to the programme areas.
• Ability to apply a range of gender and inclusion analysis tools and conduct high-quality and nuanced gender and inclusion analysis from a child rights perspective.
• Ability to influence power holders about the need for and benefits of addressing gender equality and inclusion, including being able to offer a range of evidence based solutions.
• Mastery of the ability to analyze the social and political structures, dynamics and power relations that enable/exclude girls and boys from enjoying the fulfilment of their rights and equality.
• Excellent relationship building skills – networking, influencing and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to identify, analyze and monitor diverse, relevant external actors to work with and understand the purpose and implications of working with them.
• Experience in developing strong, equal and robust partnership contracts or experience in strengthening civil society
• Experience in capacity building and hands-on experience and skill in result based MERL system

Please respond to the requirements of this role in your cover letter. Only applications in English language will be accepted.

Location: On site working and the role is based at Country Office

Reports to: Country Director

Job Grade: Hay Level 18

Vacancy advert closing Date: 7th August 2026

This vacancy is open to Egypt nationals only.

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International 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 foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

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. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Disclaimer: Plan International is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate applicants on any basis. We also do not charge Job seekers any fees at any point of the recruitment process.