Gender & Youth Manager at Pathfinder International

Reporting to the Senior Technical Advisor for Gender and Cross-Cutting Issues, (STA) and working closely with the Afya Pwani service delivery technical Coast project teams, the Gender and Youth Technical Manager will provide programming and operational support to the implementation of adolescent, youth and gender integration activities in the five counties. The role will work closely with the Youth, Partnership and Advocacy Adviser, STA to provide program targeted technical assistance and support to the Afya Project team relating to adolescent and youth friendly services (YFS), gender responsive program implementation, strategy development, work plan development, budgeting, implementation and linkage of the various program components including effective monitoring, evaluation, quality improvement and reporting.

Gender and Youth Manager Job Responsibilities

• Provide technical support to the respective sub-county youth and gender technical working groups in the coordination of youth and gender mainstreaming and integration activities through formation and strengthening of sub-county and community level youth and gender/GBV working groups;
• Provide technical support to county teams to mainstream youth friendly services (YFS) within various tiers of care (i.e Tiers 1-3 – community, primary care and county level) through dissemination of national YFS Guidelines (MoH,2016) and the AYSRH Policy (MoH,2015) targeting local implementing partners, S/CHMT, CHMTs, communities and health facilities;
• Provide technical support to county/sub-county Health Management Teams, local implementing partners (LIPs) and facilities in the development and execution of innovative strategies for implementing youth-friendly, gender-sensitive RH/FP/MNCH programs;
• Provide guidance and support in integration of GBV prevention and management/ response activities in health facilities including maintenance of safe spaces and shelter;
• Work with facility quality improvement (QI) teams to support initiatives that increase young people’s access to YFS including HIV Care and Treatment (HCT), and address disrespectful service for mothers;
• Support and monitor activities that strengthen young persons ability to progressively realize their rights to access quality care and seek accountability from facility-based health services;
• Support Afya Pwani team efforts to create networks (e.g YPLHIV Support Groups) and referral systems for adolescents and young persons to access appropriate, tailored SRH and related services;
• Provide support for positive male involvement in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) including promotion of heathy timing and spacing of pregnancy (HTSP) and GBV prevention and response within existing program activities;
• Work closely with community health workers to identify and train male FP/RH champions in collaboration with other project technical teams;
• Liaise with the Youth, Partnership and Advocacy Adviser and STA to identify gaps and organize capacity-strengthening packages for sub-grantees and other local partners; including cascading of county AYSRH and gender mainstreaming plans;
• Provide support in the mobilization of active gender responsive community participation in local systems and structures including institutions serving youth and adolescents;
• In collaboration with the STA develop, maintain and disseminate a comprehensive gender indicator matrix;
• Represent Afya Pwani at sub-county and community stakeholder partner forums and liaise with focal points in relevant institutions including Government as may be delegated by the STA
• Participate in sub-county stakeholder forums to ensure that adolescent and youth needs are articulated and integrated in county development planning processes in a gender-sensitive manner;
• Support Afya Pwani Project documentation of AYSRH and Gender best practices for replication and dissemination;
• Prepare and consolidate monthly and quarterly reports respectively reporting on the progress and performance of the program
• Other duties and assignments as may be assigned from time to time by the STA.

Requirements for the Gender and Youth Manager Job

• A Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, development studies, clinical studies in reproductive health business administration or a relevant discipline
• 3 years’ experience in working in an international development organization with at least 1 years’ experience in supporting sexual and gender based violence / reproductive health programs
• A good understanding of AYSRH and gender equality issues with an appreciation for the empowerment of women and girls in Kenya
• Good knowledge of civil society organizations and government structures in Kenya
• A good understanding of the social, economic, political and cultural context of Kenya
• Strong writing skills to support technical reporting
• Proficiency in MS Office applications and other communication technology such as email and internet
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with fluency in English and Kiswahili
• Diplomatic, and sensitive to cultural, religious and social diversity;
• Attention to detail with a strong sense of organization and the ability to work under pressure
• Ability to work in a team and support others in their work to achieve program goals.

Personal attributes

• Ability to prioritize and deliver quality results on time with minimum supervision.
• Team player, open to learning about new ideas/concepts, with initiative, patience and tact, who can work with multi-disciplinary teams including providing direction and supervision;
• Ability to work in a multicultural teams and settings.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated capacity contribute to winning project proposals from conception to implementation;
• Proficiency in research methodologies and participatory learning techniques.
• Knowledge of monitoring and evaluation frameworks and systems will be definite advantage;
• Possession of high level analytical and writing skills evidenced by research reports, proposals and/or peer reviewed publications and presentations.
• Previous experience with major donor funded complex programs.