Senior Advisor, Operations

About Plan International

Plan International is a global independent development and humanitarian organization dedicated to advancing children's rights and promoting equality, especially for girls. For over 85 years, the organization has addressed barriers such as poverty, violence, exclusion, and discrimination which disproportionately affect girls, striving to create a more just world through partnerships with children, youth, supporters, and other stakeholders. Plan International supports children from birth to adulthood and advocates for policy and practice changes at all levels globally.

Role Overview

The Senior Advisor, Operations, will provide strategic counsel and coordination support to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), enhancing prioritization, decision-making, and execution within Operations through influencing and alignment mechanisms. The role ensures cohesion between strategic direction and operations execution to boost performance outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary strategic advisor to the COO, facilitating coherence, timely prioritization, and effective delivery within the Operations department.
• Coordinate operational planning and performance management including workplans, reviews, and risk monitoring to maintain accountability and progress visibility.
• Lead the organization of the COO's internal and external engagements, including preparation of speeches, briefs, and positioning content.
• Influence cross-departmental priorities, help resolve delivery barriers, and drive successful outcomes without direct management authority.
• Oversee leadership operational discipline, such as managing agendas, tracking decisions, and ensuring follow-up actions.
• Monitor and advance strategic initiatives aligned with operational priorities on behalf of the COO.

Accountabilities

• Deliver timely, well-informed strategic advice by synthesizing complex information into actionable guidance for the COO.
• Proactively identify and report emerging challenges requiring corrective interventions.
• Manage comprehensive preparation and alignment for leadership interactions, ensuring clear goals, messaging consistency, and follow-through.
• Champion planning, monitoring, and learning processes across Operations aligned with departmental goals and metrics.
• Collaborate with the Executive Office to coordinate initiatives aligning CEO and Operations priorities and partnerships.
• Facilitate efficient information flow and decision-making across Operations, escalating issues and preventing delivery delays.
• Prepare forward-looking agendas, briefings, and strategic insights to support leadership’s decisions on priority and emerging matters.
• Ensure full integration of Plan International’s safeguarding, gender equality, and inclusion policies within the operational domain, including staff awareness and compliance with codes of conduct.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Proven experience providing senior advisory support within complex, global organizations.
• Exceptional critical thinking with the ability to distill complex discussions into clear, actionable recommendations for senior leadership.
• Experience assisting leaders in making decisions that are equity-aware and aligned with organizational values in multifaceted contexts.
• Advanced skills in stakeholder engagement and relationship management.
• Strong strategic writing capabilities, including preparing briefings, speeches, narratives, and presentations, complemented by excellent organizational and prioritization skills.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain execution momentum within matrixed organizational structures.
• Robust problem-solving competencies.

Desirable Qualifications

• Knowledge of international development, humanitarian efforts, and trends related to children’s and girls' rights.
• Experience or skills in management consulting.

Location & Contract Details

The position offers flexible global location options within Plan International offices, contingent upon the candidate’s existing right to work and live in the country. Preferable working hours align with the UTC timezone. This is a fixed-term contract of six months reporting to the Chief Operating Officer.

Equality, Diversity & Safeguarding

Plan International prioritizes diversity and inclusion, ensuring equal opportunities and fostering a workplace rich in diverse perspectives. The organization is committed to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights, and inclusion. Strict safeguarding policies protect children and young people, including rigorous pre-employment checks and participation in misconduct disclosure schemes. Applicants must adhere to these policies and procedures throughout the hiring process.