Applying for a role with us

All of our latest roles can be found here. You can apply for one of our roles by submitting an online application form. 

Our online application is the first step in the hiring process. By applying online you will be added to our applicant tracking system which ensures that we can process your application in an efficient and timely manner, and that information about candidates is captured in a consistent way.


The application form plays an important part in the selection process, both as a tool for helping us to shortlist candidates for interview, and as a basis for the interview itself. To ensure fairness to all applicants, any decision to shortlist you for interview will be based solely upon the information you supply on your application form. Even if you are already known to us as a previous or current employee, it is important you complete the form in full. We cannot take into account in the selection process any previous knowledge we may have of you.


Please note: Our website and application form has an Accessibility Tool which allows you to display the web page content in a way that works for you. It looks like this:  and you can find it on the bottom right hand side of the screen.


If you require an application form in an alternative format please email us on ukvacancies@plan-uk.org.

Examine the Job/Role Profile and Person Specification

All our vacancies will include a full job/role profile with a person specification. The purpose and main duties and responsibilities of the post are set out in the job/role description and the knowledge, skills and experience we are looking for in the successful candidate are listed in the person specification. It is important to read all the information in these documents before completing your application.


Analyse your experience

Look at the activities involved in the vacancy. Ask yourself why you are interested in this vacancy? Would it be a good career move for you? Is the move a promotion which would enable you to gain more responsibility or enhance your skills, or is it a sideways move intended to broaden your skills and experience?


Think about what evidence you can provide to demonstrate you have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience. Explaining your current or previous jobs to someone else may help you uncover ‘hidden’ skills that you take for granted. You may also want to include voluntary/unpaid work experience, or experience gained via a role of responsibility in one of your leisure pursuits if this is relevant to the requirements of the vacancy.


Completing the form

We use an online application process because this enables us to collect information from candidates in a consistent way. Please do not attach to your application form your CV, testimonials or copies of educational certificates, unless specifically requested to do so.


Applications in the form of CVs will not be considered.


It is important to remember that those involved in the selection process cannot guess or make assumptions about you. Make sure you complete all the sections on the form.


The section headed ‘Vacancy questions’ is a very important part of the form. In this section you will be asked to respond to some or all of the essential criteria as set out in the person specification for the role. This is your opportunity to tell us specifically why you wish to work for us and what makes you a suitable applicant. It is important that you provide us with evidence to demonstrate that you possess the knowledge, skills and experience required. It is not sufficient to merely state in your application that you have the knowledge, skills or experience required, you will need to provide specific examples of what you have done and how you believe this demonstrates you meet each requirement.


Don’t forget to proof-read your form and check for any errors before submitting it to us.

Once you have submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation email from us. If you can’t find it, please check your junk/spam folder. 

Most roles have the closing date clearly specified. Very occasionally, we advertise roles on a rolling basis, and encourage candidates to apply as early as possible to avoid missing out. We reserve the right to close a vacancy early if a high volume of applications are received. This is to ensure that we can manage application levels whilst maintaining a positive candidate experience.

Unfortunately, we don’t accept speculative CVs. However, you can sign up for job alerts to stay up to date on all new vacancies as they are published.

We are not currently running an internship programme, so unable to host any internships at this time.  

Our volunteering opportunities are all advertised on our vacancies pages. Please sign up for job alerts if there are no current openings.

Absolutely. We’re always happy to help and will do what we can to support you. Please email ukvacancies@plan-uk.org if you require any adjustments to be made to enable you to participate in our selection process.

Plan International UK holds a sponsor licence, however there are restrictions on which roles we can provide sponsorship for. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide sponsorship for any of our volunteer roles. For our paid roles, we assess whether we can provide sponsorship at the point of offer.


If it is determined that we can sponsor you, Plan International UK will cover the costs of the certificate of sponsorship and immigration skills surcharge. You will need to pay the fee for your leave to remain (visa) application, healthcare surcharge and any related visa costs such as an English language test and biometrics appointments where applicable. You will also need to provide evidence that you have a certain amount of savings to support yourself when you arrive to the UK. For further information about Skilled Worker Visas and the associated costs, please visit the gov website.

shortlisting

We review every application following the closing date through a process we call shortlisting. Usually, you will hear back within a week of the closing date. On occasion, where we have had large volumes of candidates it may take slightly longer than this. We always email each candidate with the outcome of their application once it has been reviewed.  

When shortlisting we are making an assessment of how closely your application meets the essential criteria that we set out in the ‘Vacancy questions’ section of the application form.  Hiring managers will go through your application in detail looking for specific evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills and experience required for the role. Unless you have provided specific evidence, supported by relevant examples, you are unlikely to be shortlisted.

We are committed to increasing diversity in our workforce and we particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as they are currently underrepresented in our organisation. In recognition of our commitment to disability equality, Plan International UK is a Disability Confident Employer.  We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a vacancy and consider them on their capabilities and potential.   

 

The minimum criteria being assessed at application stage are set out in the ‘Vacancy questions’ section of the application form and are drawn from the person specification for the role. 

 

You will be invited to participate in the guaranteed interview scheme if you have declared that you have a disability.  You will be given a choice to opt in or out of the scheme. Participating in the scheme means that providing you meet the essential criteria for the vacancy, you will be invited for interview. If you do not wish to be included in the guaranteed interview scheme, you will have the opportunity to inform us of this before submitting your application.  

our Interview and selection process

Our process involves at least one competency-based interview, and often a skills-based assessment. Sometimes there is more than one stage to the process, which means you might be invited back for a second interview.

Our advice to all interviewees is to do your research on Plan International UK (there’s lots of information on our main website), review the job profile and think of a couple of examples to demonstrate your skills and/or experience for each essential criteria on the person specification. You should also familiarise yourself with our values too. And remember you are interviewing us as much as we are interviewing you – so think of some questions you want to ask us.

We do a mixture of virtual interviews over Microsoft Teams and in person interviews at our offices near Old Street, London. You will receive confirmation of whether your interview will be virtual or in person in the email confirming the details of your interview.

As a charity, unfortunately we are not able to offer to pay interview expenses to attend interviews in person.

This will depend on the role you are applying for but could include answering a short question, taking a technical test or producing a presentation. You will be informed of all assessment information and given full instructions if we need you to undertake a skills assessment.

Yes, in the email inviting you to interview we ask if you have any specific requirements which will enable you to participate effectively in our selection process. Please let us know as soon as possible on receipt of your interview confirmation email via ukvacancies@plan-uk.org so that we can do what we can to support you.

We know that feedback is important for ongoing career development, so we will always do our best to provide it upon request.

job offers

The salary for all of our roles is provided in both our adverts and job profiles. This salary has been determined through our job evaluation and salary benchmarking process.

Our commitment to the safeguarding of children and adults is at the forefront of everything we do. This means a formal employment contract will not be sent and candidates cannot start with us until they have successfully passed all our pre-employment checks.

 

Offers of appointment to all our roles are subject to a range of vetting checks which may include some or all of the following:


  • Identity check - we need to verify your identity by asking you to produce identity documents confirming your identity, date of birth and current address.

 

  • Right to work check - we will need to confirm that you have the right to work in the UK by asking you to provide documents and carry out online checks to confirm this.

 

  • Satisfactory references covering the last five years of your employment and/or Education – including receipt of a satisfactory Statement of Conduct in accordance with the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme -  Plan UK is a member of the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and, therefore, we will request information from your previous employers details of any findings of workplace misconduct during your employment, related to sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment and other acts of gross misconduct (ie, theft, fraud, bribery or corruption, actions related to harassment, bullying or discrimination), or incidents under investigation when you left employment.

 

  • An anti-fraud and anti-terrorism check - this involves checking your details on an online compliance system which identifies if individuals come up in a search on: Adverse media, Enforcement or Government Sanctions Lists.

 

  • A Basic or Enhanced Disclosure and Barring (DBS) check and/or check of barred lists and overseas criminal record checks, where applicable.  Please note, a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working for us; this will depend on the circumstances of any offences.

 

  • Business Appointment rules - as part of the Business Appointment Rules laid out by the UK government, Plan UK is obliged to ensure that we remain compliant and meet the rules stipulated by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).  As such declarations will be required by all candidates to determine if you are in scope of the FCDO mandated Business Appointment rules.

On average this process takes up to 4 weeks but can be as quick as 2 weeks. In some rare instances, it can take as long as 6 weeks (e.g. if you have recently lived overseas or require sponsorship). We advise that you start your pre-employment checks as soon as you get the request through as we cannot confirm a start date until they are complete.

Working at Plan International UK

We are a UK based employer and all of our roles are UK based working from our offices near Old Street, unless otherwise stated.

We operate a hybrid working model where our staff split their working week between working at home and in the office in a way that fosters collaboration and enables people to balance work, home life and their wellbeing. Each of our teams takes a different approach to hybrid working (e.g. number of days in the office per week / set days etc), one that works for them operationally – be sure to ask the recruiting manager about this at interview stage or when you are offered the role.

Full-time hours are 34.5 hours per week, typically worked over 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Thursday, and 9.00 am to 4.30 pm on a Friday. We are a flexible organisation and are happy to accommodate requests for flexible working where we can operationally do so.

Many of our roles in our International Programmes and Influencing and External Affairs directorates require some overseas travel – this will be made clear in the job profile if it is the case.

Diversity and inclusion

We want to attract the best people for our roles, regardless of their personal characteristics or background. We recognise that positively valuing diversity and inclusion makes our organisation stronger and helps us to learn, innovate and deliver benefits for the people we’re here to support. You can read here about the specific steps we're taking to become a more inclusive employer and make our recruitment inclusive.

There is no obligation at all for you to tell us about a disability. However, we want all of our staff and applicants to thrive, so sharing with us that you have a disability or health condition could enable us to ensure you have the right support and working environment to work at your best. For that reason, we encourage you to do so.


If you do tell us about your disability we will not share this with anyone else without your permission.

To help us monitor the effectiveness of our recruitment and diversity and inclusion practices we ask all applicants to supply information about their personal characteristics. Provision of this information is completely voluntary and if you do not wish to provide this information you can select the “Prefer not to say” option.


This information will be kept securely and the only information that will be made available to those shortlisting or interviewing will be if you have told us you have disability and you have not opted out of our guaranteed interview scheme.


This diversity monitoring information will not be used in deciding whether to shortlist you for interview or offer you employment. The information will only be used to monitor Plan International UK’s practices. It will not be revealed outside or within Plan International UK except as part of an overall diversity statistical report which will not identify individuals.

contact us

If you have a question that isn't covered here please email us at ukvacancies@plan-uk.org and we will be happy to help.