Share your experience working at an NGO in PP

I don't work for an NGO but my partner works for a major Internation NGO in a mid-ranking position.  There are many areas where NGOs operate in Cambodia due to the high levels of poverty, the fact that this is a developing nation and, frankly, the fact that Cambodia is an important country in the geopolitical sphere, so many NGOs and development agencies (UN, USAID, China Aid, JICA, MOEJ etc.) take a great deal of interest in Cambodia. 

I am quite cynical in general about international NGOs.  I work in an industry which has quite a high level of interest from NGOs and development agencies, and I am sure that the money spent on the salaries of international workers and the projects that are implemented would be better deployed in alternative ways.  For me, NGOs are just another industry whose sole purpose is to perpetuate itself.   

There are opportunities to work at grassroots level if that is what you prefer to do, but be prepared for a low salary.  You mention that you have experience in 'the funding space'.  If that experience is related in any way to USAID funding, I am sure you will be hired very quickly.  If not, LinkedIn or [link under review] are the most common sites in my experience for finding reliable job offers.  Be wary of Facebook job ads as there are a lot of scams there. 

Some INGOs that operate in Cambodia: Save the Children, IDE, Oxfam, WWF, Wildlife Conservation Society, Plan International, CORD, People in Need etc..  They operate in a number of areas, including child protection, poverty relief, environmental protection, women's rights, health, education, human rights etc.

Working for a charity should enable you to obtain a "C" (Courtesy) type visa, which in theory should be free, but in reality costs about $180 per year depending on which customs officer you are bribing.  Salaries vary substantially depending on which organisation you are working for, but I try to give an idea here:

• INGO ground level (e.g. project officer, accountant, HR / Admin staff etc.) $500-1000/month 
• INGO manager (e.g. Project Coordinator, Funding Manager, BDM etc.) $2500-3000/month
• INGO senior manager (project manager, head of department) - $3500-5000/month
• INGO country manager, head of mission etc. $5000+ /month

For local NGOs, I am not 100% certain but as a rough guide, I would halve the above figures.

What's life like here.. this is quite a difficult question to answer, and it will be specific to each individual including you.. If you have family members living in the country, perhaps it would be better to reach out to them instead.

Living in Phnom Penh is a mixed bag.  It's very busy, loud, hot, difficult to walk around, you are surrounded by chaos - traffic, market stalls, construction sites.  It's an assault on the senses in many ways, it's difficult to escape at times.  For some people, this is an exciting and vibrant city of opportunity and novelty, where people are friendly and happy just to see you.  For others, it is a disgusting, oppressive hell-hole lacking in green space and overburdened with people and traffic.  In my view, your own preferences will dictate how you view the city.  For me, it's somewhere in between paradise and hell, depending on how I'm feeling at that particular moment. 

There are numerous threads on living expenses here, but basically one person can live fairly comfortably on $1000 per month.  At that salary, you should be able to rent a decent apartment in the city centre, pay your bills, eat out several times a week, and still have enough left over for social activities or hobbies.