Location: Mae Sot, Thailand (with travel to Chiang Mai and field locations)
This manager leads a staff of professionals who independently consult on, develop and support the implementation child development programs and interventions. Manages assigned professional staff and inculcates all initiatives with Compassion's program design. The leader ensures that holistic child development is considered in all initiatives. The manager supports the development and implementation of local program design in support of the global framework. The primary purpose of this position is to provide full management of senior professional staff. This responsibility includes hiring, discipline, and termination, as well as, coaching, performance management, assigning, checking, and approving work to satisfy broad objectives and department strategies. The incumbent will ensure completion of department responsibilities, calling on available resources to achieve department objectives, working within approved budget.
Key Responsibilities
- Acts as an advocate to raise the awareness of the needs of children. Understands mandate to protect children. Commits to and prioritizes child protection considerations in all decision-making, tasks and activities across the ministry. Abides by all behavioral expectations in Compassion’s Statement of Commitment to Child Protection and Code of Conduct. Reports any concerns of abuse, neglect or exploitation of children through Compassion’s internal reporting process and appropriately supports responses to incidents if they occur.
- Lead and coach a field-based team delivering frontline program support across the Thai-Myanmar border locations
- Guide partners in implementing child and youth development interventions, aligned with Compassion's ministry approach
- Monitor and strengthen program quality, ensuring contextual relevance and evidence-based impact
- Foster strong relationships with local partners, communities and networks to support collaboration and learning
- Manage risk and lead field-level child protection, safeguarding, and accountability processes.
- Serve as a bridge between strategy and implementation, collaborating with national office and regional teams
- Oversee team operations, including planning, field visits, reporting, and resource use.
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Accountable for supporting, upholding, and engaging in Compassion's core "Cultural Behaviors" in all internal and external communication and relationships.
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3–5 years’ people management experience, ideally in a non-profit setting.
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Strong background in program implementation in an NGO setting
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Demonstrated success leading in high-complexity, low-resource environments (e.g., border communities, refugee contexts).
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Karen language highly preferred or significant experience working with Karen-speaking communities.
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Fluency in the English Language
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Deep understanding of the Thai-Myanmar Border context, including local networks and geographic sensitivities.
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Willingness to travel frequently; initial field presence will be ~30% during onboarding phase.
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Bachelor's Degree in a related field
What We Do
Compassion International is a Christian child development ministry aimed at releasing children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty in Jesus’ name.
We are church-based: Compassion believes the Church is God’s chosen instrument to bring hope to a hurting world.
We believe the strategic placement of local churches makes them best suited to address the holistic needs of the children in their communities. And only they can effectively deliver the Jesus-based teaching and whole-life care that children in poverty deserve. Compassion partners with 8,000+ churches in 25 countries around the world to deliver our holistic child development program.
We are child-focused: Compassion’s ministry is focused on the individual child and his/her development. We offer this assistance irrespective of caste, creed, class or religion. At Compassion, we believe entire communities will feel the positive impact of our presence because what happens in the life of a child ripples throughout his or her environment.
We are Christ-centered: Jesus is the core of our ministry and his life and teachings shape our programs. They reflect the spiritual commitments of our staff. And they guide how we love people, respect communities and cooperate with nations.
We are committed to integrity: We hold ourselves to the highest professional and biblical principles in all aspects of our ministry and maintain the highest industry standards for our allocation of funds.
Compassion and Compassion International are registered trademarks of the United States government
