Role Purpose
The Intelligence and Foresight Analyst monitors and analyses the external policy, donor, geopolitical, and humanitarian environment to surface trends, risks, and opportunities that sharpen Plan International's positioning, influence strategic decision-making, support rights-based, equitable decision making and identify key partners for maximum impact.
This role brings rigorous evidence-based analysis and forward-looking intelligence that reflects diverse perspectives, including from crisis-affected and marginalised contexts into the heart of the Global Affairs function, enabling Plan International's senior leadership to make informed, timely decisions and to position the organisation proactively at global policy moments. The Analyst is central to building and maintaining networks and influence across key multilaterals, think-tanks, academic institutions, foundations, and the private sector to ensure “just-in-time” briefings and longer-term horizon projections of high relevance to Plan and impact on girls. The Analyst is central to Plan International's drive to be propositional, data and intelligence-led, and strategic in its global engagements and impact.
Dimensions of the Role
This is a technical and analytical role within the Policy, Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships function with significant cross-departmental reach. The post-holder monitors and analyses the external policy donor and humanitarian trends to identify trends, risks and opportunities and produces intelligence outputs that directly inform the Global Affairs Executive Director, senior leadership, and the CEO's Office, as well as the Policy, Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships Director, Leads and team, the Fundraising Intelligence function, and the Programme Impact and Innovations team, to sharpen position and influence and enable identification of partners for impact.
There are no direct line management responsibilities. The role requires a high degree of intellectual independence, strong analytical capability, including economic analytical capabilities, and the ability to communicate complex findings clearly and credibly to senior non-technical audiences. The Analyst operates within a high-functioning Global Affairs team and is expected to set the standard for evidence-based thinking across the department. The Analyst serves as an essential intelligence advisor to the Plan International Leadership. The Analyst is expected to apply critical awareness of bias, power dynamics and whose voices are represented or excluded in global policy, donor and geopolitical analysis.
Accountabilities
- Conduct ongoing market and landscape scans that consider differential impacts of global trends on children, young people, girls and marginalised groups across political, economic, donor, geopolitical, and humanitarian environments, producing timely updates, rapid short analytical briefing notes, and reports on emerging trends, risks, and opportunities relevant to Plan International's strategy and positioning.
- Draft high-stakes “just-in-time” briefings, intelligence reports and strategic memos to be considered by the CEO, Leadership Team, International Board, and ensuring Plan’s highest governing bodies are sighted on horizon risks and opportunities.
- Build and sustain a high-level network with foresight leaders and economists across key institutions, including multilateral development Banks (MDBs) and key UN agencies, global think tanks (e.g., Brookings, Chatham House), academic institutions to exchange early-warning signals and emerging policy shifts.
- Provide a strategic interface with key private sector analytical heads, including at major consultancy firms to synthesize private sector macro-trends with humanitarian needs and build a networked private sector analyst community.
- Influence key partners, shape approaches and identify areas for collaboration with key strategic partners and institutions to undertake research and translate cutting-edge research into actionable foresight for children’s rights. Consolidate, synthesise and analyse foresight inputs from across the Global Affairs team and wider organisation into actionable scenario summaries, horizon scans, and strategic intelligence briefings and recommendations for Plan.
- Deliver evidence-based intelligence outputs that directly inform decision-making by the Global Affairs Director, senior leadership, and the CEO's Office.
- Support the global strategy design process by coordinating input-gathering activities across relevant teams and synthesising key findings into clear, usable strategic recommendations.
- Maintain a live intelligence repository and horizon-scanning system, that include analysis from Global South research institutions, local think tanks and diverse knowledge sources, where available to track policy shifts, donor trends, economic and geopolitical developments, and emerging thematic issues of relevance to Plan International.
- Provide thematic intelligence and foresight analysis to support the Policy, Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships Director and Leads in identifying funding opportunities, policy windows, and partnership entry points with consideration of safeguarding, GEI alignment and ethical partnership principles.
- Produce compelling, high-quality written intelligence outputs that translate complex multi-source information into concise, accessible formats for senior leadership, including drawing from economic trends analysis and drawing out implications for Plan International.
- Ensures that Plan International's global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People 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.
