He is the founder and principal of Child Protection in International Development, a consultancy supporting governments, UN agencies, and civil society organisations to design, implement, and evaluate child protection policies, programmes and systems. Bruce has provided high-level support to UNICEF headquarters and more than a dozen country offices, with a focus on system reform, strategy development, and policy alignment.

Recent assignments include leading the development of UNICEF Lebanon’s Child Protection Strategy and Resourcing Framework (2025–2030); advising UNICEF Viet Nam on child justice under the EU JULE Phase II programme; and reviewing child protection systems and related policies across the ten ASEAN Member States as part of the End-of-Term Review of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence Against Children (2016–2025). He has also contributed to global initiatives on violence prevention, including the INSPIRE Guide to Adaptation and Scale-Up, and supported systems mapping and care reform in the Pacific, Georgia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and the Bangsamoro region.

His consultancy work bridges strategy, research, and evaluation. He has contributed to formative and summative evaluations of child protection systems, conducted legal and policy reviews on child justice and diversion, and led stakeholder and workforce analyses. His assignments regularly involve theory of change development, mixed-method research, and conflict-sensitive monitoring tools. Prior to consultancy, Bruce served as UNICEF Chief of Child Protection in Cambodia, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Malawi, and Papua New Guinea, where he led large-scale programmes and government negotiations to advance national reform agendas in complex contexts.

His work has been recognised through several honours, including a Churchill Fellowship (2002) to study juvenile justice best practices in the UK, USA, and Canada; the UNICEF Executive Director’s Award for Dedicated Service (2019); and a Best Motivator award from the UNICEF Cambodia Staff Association (2018). He earned First Class Honours for his master’s thesis on Child Protection in Development at the University of Melbourne (2008).

His website, www.bruceintheworld.com, shares technical insights and reflections on global practice, and hosts his blog, Child Protection in International Development, which applies a critical, systems-focused lens to global debates, funding challenges, and strategic opportunities in the sector. His blog series and long-form articles explore key issues such as children affected by armed conflict, alternative care, child protection systems, the global funding crisis, and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bruce serves on the Editorial Board of Child Abuse & Practice, the peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.