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 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.
Role Purpose
As the Head of Business Development, you will lead the Business Development Unit (BDU), driving fundraising, proposal development, and donor engagement to grow Plan International Sudan’s funding portfolio in line with the Country Strategic Plan and Humanitarian Response Plan.
You will play a key role in securing new grants, strengthening donor relationships, and ensuring high-quality proposal development, grant management, and compliance.
This is a senior leadership role in a complex and fast-paced environment. You will need strong strategic thinking, sound judgement, and the ability to solve problems in a dynamic context.
In this role, you will directly contribute to strengthening funding, performance, and impact for children, particularly girls.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Develop and implement a resource mobilisation strategy to expand and diversify funding.
- Build and manage relationships with institutional donors, UN agencies, National Offices, and partners.
- Identify funding opportunities and lead the development of high-quality proposals and concept notes.
- Manage the proposal pipeline, funding trackers, and reporting calendars.
- Ensure strong coordination across programme, finance, and support teams.
- Lead consortium bids and support meaningful partner engagement.
- Ensure compliance with donor requirements and internal policies, including cost recovery.
- Capture and share learning to strengthen proposal quality and success rates.
- Integrate gender equality and humanitarian standards across all submissions.
- Manage and develop a team of grants and business development specialists.
- Contribute to Country Management Team (CMT) leadership and overall programme performance.
What We’re Looking For
- A proven track record of securing grants and developing successful donor proposals
- Significant experience in resource mobilisation within humanitarian and/or development settings, particularly in an emergency context
- Strong knowledge of donor requirements, consortium bids, and project cycle management
- A Master’s degree in a relevant field or experience of working in a related field for an extended period of time.
- Excellent coordination, communication, and stakeholder management skills
- Strong written and spoken English
- Arabic language skills highly desirable
- Experience working in the region is highly desirable
Please respond to the requirements of the role in your cover letter.
Only CVs and cover letters in English will be accepted.
Location: Port Sudan, Sudan. With 30% travel to communities in Sudan. This is a mandatory unaccompanied assignment.
This is a global recruitment search and support with relocation is available if required.
Type of Role: 12 month Fixed term contract
Reports to: Country Director
Closing Date: 14th June 2026
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.
Please note that Plan International will never send unsolicited emails requesting payment from candidates.
