THE ORGANISATION

Founded in 1937, Plan International, Inc. ("PII") is a globally recognized non-profit dedicated to advancing children's rights and gender equality in both humanitarian and development contexts. With over 80 years of experience, Plan International addresses the root causes of challenges faced by girls and vulnerable children, working in 70+ countries. The organization collaborates with children, young people, supporters, and partners to create a just world, acknowledging that the potential of every child is often hindered by poverty, violence, exclusion, disasters, and discrimination.

PLAN INTERNATIONAL KENYA

Plan International Kenya (PIK), operational since 1982, focuses on long-term development. Collaborating closely with local communities and governments, PIK implements programs to enhance the well-being of children in areas such as Nairobi, Machakos, Kajiado, Tharaka-Nithi, Siaya, Kwale, Kilifi, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Tana River, Turkana, and Marsabit.

Under the current Country Strategy (July 2021 – June 2026), PIK aims to end teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence against girls. This goal aligns with four strategic objectives:

1. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR): Improve access to SRHR services and information to reduce teenage pregnancies and harmful practices in Kenya.
2. Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence: Ensure functional child and girls' rights protection mechanisms to prevent and respond to all forms of violence and abuse.
3. Protecting Girls and Young Women in Crisis and Climate Change Adaptation: Minimize the impact of disasters on girls, young women, families, and communities.
4. Youth-led and Innovative Partnerships for Job Creation: Build a stronger ecosystem for youth employment and entrepreneurship, particularly for vulnerable young women, fostering job seekers and creators.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Turkana Youth Climate Innovation Challenge (SCORE II) is a youth-centered initiative implemented under UNICEF’s SCORE II programme. The project aims to strengthen climate resilience, WASH-related innovation, and economic empowerment of young people of Turkana County enabling them to attain sustainable livelihoods.

The initiative supports youth to launch and scale climate-smart and green enterprises through an innovation challenge model that combines capacity development through structured bootcamp, experiential mentorship, and milestone-based seed funding. Implemented across Turkana Central, Loima, Lokiriama, Turkana North, and Kibish sub-counties, the programme prioritizes inclusive participation of young women, youth with disabilities, and marginalized groups in ASAL contexts. Supported businesses will leverage existing water infrastructure rehabilitated by UNICEF, climate-smart agriculture, WASH innovations, waste-to-value approaches, and other adaptive green livelihood models aligned to County and National climate priorities.

Implementation will be undertaken through collaboration with UNICEF, County and National Government relevant departments, private sector actors, youth-led organizations, and community-based partners, ensuring relevance, inclusion, accountability, and sustainability.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Project Officer will ensure the effective, timely, and accountable implementation of the Youth Climate Innovation and Economic Empowerment Project in Turkana County, working closely with UNICEF and key project partners to ensure high-quality delivery across the five project locations. The role will primarily focus on project planning, coordination, and field-level implementation, including youth engagement and mobilization, facilitation of co-creation processes, coordination of innovation challenge activities, and support to bootcamp and incubation interventions. In addition, the Project Officer will provide targeted support to grants-related processes by contributing to the screening and appraisal of youth proposals, supporting milestone-based seed funding processes, and monitoring grant-supported activities to ensure alignment with project objectives. Through ongoing stakeholder engagement, routine field monitoring, and risk management, the role will ensure that youth-led initiatives contribute effectively to climate resilience, WASH innovation, and youth economic empowerment outcomes within Turkana’s 5 project implementation areas.

Working closely with the Programme Manager, technical advisors, and grants and finance teams, the Project Officer will ensure that youth-led enterprises are supported to comply with project and donor requirements, that activities remain aligned to SCORE II objectives, and that learning and results are systematically documented.

ACCOUNTABILITIES AND MAIN WORK ACTIVITIES

1. Youth Engagement, Co-creation, and Project Implementation (25%)

1. • Facilitate participatory project planning and co-creation processes with diverse youth groups across the five target sub-counties
   • Mobilize and engage young women and men, including youth with disabilities and other marginalized groups, using inclusive and context-appropriate approaches
   • Lead the rollout of calls for applications, youth screening, and onboarding processes for the innovation challenge
   • Coordinate logistics and field delivery of bootcamps, entrepreneurship clinics, and youth engagement forums
   • Ensure project activities reflect Turkana’s humanitarian, climate, and socio-economic context

2. Innovation Challenge, Bootcamp, and Seed Funding Support (20%)

2. • Appraise and document youth business ideas and proposals in collaboration with technical and grants teams
   • Administer milestone-based seed funding, including follow-up on deliverables and use of funds
   • Conduct routine field monitoring visits to youth-led enterprises to assess progress, risks, and capacity needs
   • Facilitate linkages between youth enterprises and mentors, service providers, private sector actors, and ecosystem partners
   • Promote climate-resilient, WASH-related, and water-infrastructure-leveraging business models

3. Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships (15%)

3. • Map and engage key stakeholders including County Government departments, national agencies, UNICEF SCORE II actors, private sector partners, and CBOs
   • Plan and coordinate meetings, learning forums, and alignment workshops at county and sub-county levels
   • Strengthen collaboration between youth innovators and relevant technical, financial, and market actors
   • Ensure alignment of project activities with Turkana CIDP III, SCORE II objectives, and national youth and climate frameworks

4. Grants, Budget, and Compliance Monitoring (15%)

4. • Facilitate basic grants monitoring, expenditure tracking, and documentation for youth seed funding
   • Work with youth and youth groups to strengthen understanding of grant requirements, compliance, and reporting expectations
   • Flag financial, operational, or safeguarding risks early and support corrective actions
   • Contribute to donor compliance, audits, and spot checks at project level

5. Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Reporting (10%)

5. • Support routine data collection, documentation, and tracking of outputs and outcomes
   • Contribute to donor and internal narrative reports, case studies, and learning briefs
   • Ensure gender and disability disaggregated data collection and ethical MERL practices
   • Document lessons learned from youth-led climate and WASH enterprises to inform adaptive programming

6. Gender and Inclusion: (5%)

6. • Practice Gender and Inclusion by understanding and putting into practice the Value-Based Leadership underpinned by Feminist Leadership principles
   • Integrate gender-transformative and disability-inclusive approaches across youth selection, training, and enterprise support by ensuring the project supports 52% Male youth, 48% female and 2% persons with disabilities.

7. Safeguarding (5%)

• Ensure that Plan International’s global policy for Safeguarding and PII policy for Preventing Sexual Harassment Exploitation and Abuse; and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

8. Other duties (5%)

7. • Any other assignment within the scope of work.

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Qualifications/ experience essential:

10. • Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, Social Sciences, Youth Studies, Entrepreneurship, Project Management, or related field.
    • Minimum 3 years’ experience in youth economic empowerment or livelihoods programming, preferably in ASAL or emergency contexts.
    • Demonstrated experience in youth mobilization, community engagement, and stakeholder coordination.
    • Experience supporting grants, seed funding, or cash-based interventions, including monitoring and reporting.
    • Strong reporting, documentation, and presentation skills.
    • Basic knowledge of monitoring and evaluation concepts and tools.
    • Knowledge of gender equality, disability inclusion, and safeguarding in development programming.
    • Willingness and ability to travel extensively to remote locations within Turkana County.

Click on the following link to access the full Job Description: JD-Project Officer Turkana Climate Challenge.pdf

Location: Lodwar, Turkana

Reports to: Turkana Program Manager

Contract end date: 30th March 2027

Vacancy advert closing Date: 18th February 2026

This vacancy is open to Kenya Nationals only and preference will be given to candidates from Turkana County.

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.