Country Director - Cambodia

The Country Director leads Plan International's operations in Cambodia, providing strategic and operational leadership to ensure impactful development and humanitarian programmes focused on child rights and gender equality. The role involves managing a team of about 80 staff, overseeing an annual budget of approximately USD 8 million, and representing the organization with key stakeholders including government and donors.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Requirements

• 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.

Skills

• Senior Executive Leadership
• Child Rights Programming
• Gender Equality Programming
• Girls’ Rights Advocacy
• Sustainable Community Development
• Participatory Development
• Donor Compliance
• Finance Management
• Programming in Challenging Environments
• Political Context Analysis
• Humanitarian Programming
• Security Context Understanding
• Team Leadership
• Organizational Change Management
• Workforce Development
• Political Acumen
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Negotiation Skills
• Diplomatic Communication
• Media Relations

Languages

English, Khmer