Introduction and Background
During the last few years there has been a significant decrease in funding globally, a challenge that particularly affects Latin America and the Caribbean for Plan International, putting at risk not only the effective implementation of Plan´s programs but also the sustainability of our organisation.
This scenario forced to reflect deeply and make decisions on how Plan International can continue to fulfill its commitment to children, young people and their communities, who are the reason for our work.
Therefore, during mid 2024 in coordination with the Global Financial Sustainability Program (FSP) team and the leadership of the regional management team, a process of change was initiated at the regional level for the country offices in the Americas and for the Regional Office. As part of this approach, it has been decided to adopt a management model based on groups, known as ‘clusters’.
This model proposed the creation in the region of a cluster for the countries of South America (Ecuador, Bolivia, Perú and Paraguay), and another for those of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico). This process did not include the FCNOs (Brazil and Colombia), nor, for the time being, the Caribbean countries (Haiti and the Dominican Republic).
In this scheme, the organisation moved from having four country directorates and four management committees for each group, to one Cluster Directorate and one Management Committee for each cluster. Also, at the regional level the Deputy Sub-Regional positions (2) were replace with Deputy Regional Director (1).
These changes were sought to optimise resources, as well as to promote collaborative and standardised work methods.
As mentioned above, one of the implications of this change was the need to incorporate new positions across the region as follows:
- Deputy Regional Director
- Cluster Director
- Cluster Functional Managers (People and Culture, Finance & Operations, Business Development,
- Country Representatives (for each of the 8 countries)
- Cluster Coordinators (Security, Communications)
- Cluster Humanitarian Managers
- Country Director, Country CMT member in Haiti and DR.
- Regional Managers or Directors
In addition, the new model also implemented shared services centers (SCC), based on the experience of the IT Shared Service Center that was implemented in Central America during 2021-2022.
The SCCs are responsible for providing standardised and efficient transactional services in Finance/Operations (Payments & Financial Planning and Analysis), IT, Business Development and People & Culture (Labour relations and compensation); optimising processes and contributing to building resilience, efficiency and capabilities in the cluster countries.
Each SCC has a leader that coordinates the work of the team ensuring services provided comply with agreed quality of service measured through key performance indicators.
The new operating model started its work as described above on October 1, 2024.
The Caribbean (Haiti and Dominican Republic) continue working in a common strategy that require mutual support with Country Director and Country Management Team by Country. Therefore, they must work collaboratively between them and with the clusters, as one Region.
This work is crucial for the region because it addresses key factors that directly impact our operations and the achievement of organisational goals. Staff are undergoing a transition into new roles, responsibilities, and work environments, which requires an agile and tailored approach to professional development. It is essential to provide a development plan that is adapted to local realities, not only to enhance operational effectiveness but also to ensure the well-being of employees and equip them with the necessary competencies to perform their roles with confidence.
In the context of transformation towards new operational models, the region faces challenges that require localised solutions and closer collaboration among teams with different ways of working. This work focuses on strengthening the key competencies of leadership style at both regional and local levels, ensuring they are prepared to face the challenges arising from structural and strategic changes. Leadership style should be model a culture of accountability, trust and partnership that manage ambiguity, build teamwork, learn from conflicts, and empower the teams.
1. Requirements
Plan are seeking to:
Improve leadership skills awareness for modelling team behaviours toward a culture of trust, accountability and partnership, empowering to take decisions and manage conflicts as an opportunity of organisational learning.
Conduct an individual learning needs analysis with 22 leaders who have been appointed into new roles following the implementation of the new Cluster operating model and binational Caribbean work in ROA to enhance collaborative work in a culture of trust, accountability and partnership that empower teams to take decisions and manage conflicts as an opportunity of organisational learning.
Outputs:
- To create a personal development plan (including learning outputs/outcomes) for 22 leaders
- To accelerate the implementation of realistic and practical career and development plans
- To identify regional/cluster/binational common strengths, gaps, and opportunities for peer action learning.
Regions of Americas wants to give deliberate and meaningful attention to its 22 newly appointed leaders to support them towards success.
The 22 roles selected are senior leadership positions crucial for the success of the region’s transformation and operational effectiveness. These leaders hold pivotal roles at both the country-specific and regional levels, overseeing critical areas such as Programs and Sponsorship.
As newly appointed leaders we want them to be able to “Build a culture of high performance, focusing on achieving through others, creating psychological safety and inclusivity, empowering teams, ensuring accountability, personal and professional development and wellbeing, aligning individual goals with organisational strategy for sustainable success”.
In PII we have developed a new Country and Cluster Directors (CD) Induction Framework which aims to create a consistent and coherent global framework for onboarding CDs across PII (See attached CD Framework) to support successful transition into the role and a key component of the programme is called “Beyond Induction – Activities to support continuous learning and improvement”. This framework will be used as a key tool to support the development of personal development plans.
The project will also explore the need for mentoring, coaching or action learning for this cohort of leaders in support of their confidence, networks, competencies and understanding.
While focusing on individual learning, the results can also identify common strengths and gaps across the region/clusters and opportunities for peer action learning.
At the end of the project all leaders will have a personal development plan on HRIS/Success Factors.
Consultant profile
- Proven experience of working in ROA Region (Understanding the context and environment is critical) as a senior leader in a medium size NGO – desirable
- Fluent in Spanish, French and English – required
- Coaching qualifications and experience of mentoring senior leaders – required
- Experience of conducting one to one learning needs analysis through coaching lens – desirable
How to apply
Please visit our website at: Calls for tender Plan International for further information and instructions for submitting a proposal for this RFQ. All correspondence must include the reference “RFQ FY25 – 195 RoA Leadership Programme”.