Regional Gender Inclusivity Advisor - East & Central Africa at Solidaridad Eastern & Central Africa Expertise Centre (SECAEC)

Position Overview: Supervised by the Regional Director, in close working collaboration with the Network’s Gender Task Force Leader and team, colleagues in the Programming department, and gender focal persons at country level; the Regional Gender Inclusivity Advisor will be responsible for ensuring integration of gender into the Solidaridad East & Central Africa projects.

S/he will work closely with, and build gender capacities of the gender country teams in integrating gender throughout all projects, and guide them in developing and implementing regional and country specific gender plans of action, monitoring and evaluating the contribution of gender-focused strategies on project impact.

Location: The successful candidate shall be located either in Kenya, Uganda, or Tanzania; with extensive regional and international travel

Candidate Profile

• Experience in project cycle appraisal, management and monitoring;
• An influential communicator, with excellent written and verbal skills in both English, Kiswahili /or any East African Language;
• Ability to network effectively, with the ability to develop a wide range of relevant contacts;
• Comfortable working within a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural team;
• Strong, effective gender advocate, with a robust background in gender and empowerment;
• Deep skills in gender integration methodologies, and technical training/education in agriculture, strategic management, communication, or other relevant technical areas;
• Understand gender as a set of complex context-specific social constructs, which contribute to and stem from learned behavior;
• In-depth knowledge of gender in humanitarian and development settings, gender-based violence, humanitarian policy issues, and its linkage with food security and nutrition;
• Problem solving skills, Solid analytical, writing skills, and communication skills (including developing advocacy messages);
• Sound knowledge and skills in training and facilitation;
• Flexibility to travel on short notice and in challenging and difficult environments;
• Team spirit and excellent interpersonal relations.

Tasks and Responsibilities

Strategic Planning and Advisory

• Support the development of clear policy and practice change targets on gender within the Region’s programmes, through critical analysis and reflection;
• Provide leadership and technical support in the development and implementation of viable work plans for the Regional  programmes, in line with Regional  strategies and the overall gender thematic strategies;
• Facilitate the institutionalization of gender equality across the region;
• Coordinate the development of the annual budget for the gender thematic programmes within the regional  and ensure their adequate implementation;
• Spearhead context/gender analysis in country offices so that the country team identifies strategic and concrete responses to fight gender based exclusion, within Solidaridad’s operations and across programs;
• Work with management to ensure adequate allocation of human and financial resources for effective mainstreaming of gender, inclusive of  targeted actions;
• Provide strategic and technical support in the mainstreaming of gender inclusivity across Solidaridad East & Central Africa’s operations;
• Catalyze the implementation of the Regional Gender Strategy and the Gender Policy at the regional and global levels;
• Advice on the integration of gender inclusivity in the formulation of REC and country-level projects/programmes;
• Facilitate and support the integration of gender perspectives in the overall strategic planning and programming;
• Design and deliver realistic and pragmatic gender strategies and programming interventions that will lead to positive gender equality outcomes.
• Ensure gender inclusivity is integrated in the REC and provide leadership support to the Managing Director as well as play key strategic advisory role on the position, approach and strategy the REC should apply.

Gender Mainstreaming

• Coordinate development of the gender thematic strategies in line with Solidaridad’s Strategic Plan and Programming guidelines;
• Provide leadership in the implementation of the gender thematic strategies through the core gender team(s);
• Advise and support Country Offices  within the region on the implementation of the Global Gender Policy and Regional Gender Strategy to mainstream gender into Solidaridad’s Operations;
• Ensure robust mainstreaming of gender into Solidaridad’s programming and operations, including systematic change and gender analysis, monitoring & evaluation, reporting, and policy advice on specific gender issues that impact on Solidaridad’s operations and performance;
• Advise Country Offices on how best to  address gender-dimensions  that are project-specific, among other technical areas;
• Mainstream gender inclusivity objectives/goals in all Solidaridad’s strategies, projects and programmes;
• Mainstream gender into needs assessment frameworks including adaptation of tools, collection, analysis and reporting processes to ensure that different beneficiary needs are identified, met and that equal opportunities are given;
• Identify opportunities for advocacy for the promotion of gender inclusivity;

Research, Learning, Knowledge Management & Sharing

• Provide leadership in cross-learning and knowledge generation for thematic alignment in relation to Solidaridad’s gender strategic priorities across the organization;
• Lead conceptual development, implementation of gender integration program activities and deliverables, including supporting training and monitoring & evaluation;
• Build gender integration capacity of core gender team within the region, stakeholders, private sector collaborators, partner organizations and CSO service providers;
• Undertake quantitative and qualitative research and analysis as needed, draft sharp and comprehensive syntheses based on data analysis, and write high quality reports, papers, training materials, and more informal products such as blogs and success stories;
• Produce project-related technical deliverables, including research briefs, power point presentations, white papers, and Monitoring & Evaluation guidelines, training modules, indicators and frameworks.
• Support and ensure  knowledge management, information and analysis
• In coordination with the  Regional Monitoring & Evaluation Manager, promote the effective use of the quantitative and qualitative information collected throughout the region, by ensuring that the results of the data analysis feed into programmatic decisions;
• Promote operational research and good knowledge management practices to increase the overall understanding of how gender and protection issues in the region affect household income, food and nutrition security, including the documentation and dissemination of best practices;
• Contribute to gender knowledge networks and communities of practice through identification of best practices and lessons learned;
• Track and report against gender indicators and disaggregate data by gender to analyze results within each domain;
• Develop and disseminate regular updates and/or briefing materials to demonstrate that gender equality is core to Solidaridad’s business in the region.

Stakeholders Engagement and Partnerships Management

• Represent Solidaridad East & Central Africa, and participate in relevant fora, conferences and trainings aimed at strengthening policy advocacy for gender and  gender priorities;
• Engage with donors on gender related issues at the regional and country levels;
• Provide support and build capacity for the integration of gender perspectives into advocacy and partnership.

Fundraising and Donor Reporting

• Identify new funding sources and generate concept notes and proposals in line with the gender thematic strategies;
• Develop quality reports on Solidaridad’s overall gender inclusivity work;
• Contribute to the internal review of reports from countries within the region on gender related work;
• Undertake documentation of best Practices and learning and organize debriefing forums to share learnings;
• Promote the development of practical tool kits to guide gender thematic work;
• Promote capacity building initiatives, strengthening synergy and exchange among gender working groups;
• Contribute towards the  organization of annual learning events on program practices and approaches in relation to the work on gender;
• Promote replication of documented best practices on gender work among partner organizations in Africa and internationally;
• Capitalize on success stories promoting gender inclusivity work to internal and external audiences.

Planning, Monitoring and Reporting  

• In collaboration with the Regional Monitoring & Evaluation Manager, organize the review of the gender thematic programmes;
• Coordinate planning and reporting processes on the gender thematic work and prepare consolidated annual and bi-annual plans and reports on Solidaridad’s work on gender inclusivity;
• Document lessons learned from review processes in order to continuously improve the quality of gender work within Solidaridad East & Central Africa.

Skills and Abilities

• Passion for and experience in gender-related capacity building for private sector and/or civil society organizations.
• Leadership skills developing strategic gender inclusivity vision and guide the regional centre in harnessing maximum impact and creating a competitive cutting edge in gender inclusivity;
• Ability to translate gender evidence (particularly as relates to gender-related social norms and intra household decision-making) into program recommendations and action for multi-sectoral programming.
• Demonstrated expertise in conducting gender analysis, gender assessments, and/or gender-focused research in the areas of agriculture, livelihoods and businesses. Knowledge of gender inclusivity approaches in mining is an added advantage.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and conducting training and capacity building.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills and demonstrated track record of producing high quality, well-written deliverables in a timely fashion.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage projects, work plans, deliverables, timelines, and budgets.
• Ability to interact and work with different teams in a professional manner.
• Fluency in English.
• Excellent communications skills including: writing, power-point and presentation capabilities.

Deliverables

The Regional Gender Inclusivity Advisor, is a member of the Solidaridad Network Gender Task Force and therefore is expected to proactively and co-actively contribute to the following network deliverables:

(a) Contribute to, internalize and constantly communicate on/explain Solidaridad gender vision, approach and strategy both within the organization, with partners and in relevant fora, and support others in doing so (ambassador role).

(b) From a thorough understanding of Solidaridad overall MASP AMBITION 2020 and, as an integral part of this, the gender vision and policy, adequately support RECs in formulating clear strategies at two levels:

• Internal organization;
• Programme / project implementation level.

In support of 4.A and B:

• Contribute to the development of the Solidaridad gender learning agenda and oversee its alignment with commodities and RECs learning.
• Offer constant expert advice to the EBoD, through the task force, on the global gender agenda and opportunities for Solidaridad in becoming a leader in this field.

In support of 4.B:

• Proactively contribute to the smart design of gender project strategies, partnerships, proposals and budgets along the lines of Solidaridad Gender ABC (equity, equality and creating togetherness), the gender business cases and the conditional/functional intervention approach,
• Proactively liaise and collaborate with members of the other innovation TFs and contribute to innovation and scaling up of gender approaches, from a for win-win perspective.

The Gender Advisor in the Regional Centre is equally expected to proactively and co-actively contribute to regional deliverables:

• Contribute to the development of the Solidaridad gender learning agenda and oversee its  alignment with commodities and RECs learning,
• Develop a solid gender capacity enhancement strategy, aimed at creating and anchoring core gender capacity within the REC and ensuring the funding of the same at the medium and long term, from a clear understanding and long term vision of what is needed to mainstream gender in Solidaridad.
• Contribute to the creation of a varied and solid Solidaridad gender track record.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of a gender inclusive HR strategy.

Qualifications and Experience Education:

• Advanced university qualifications in either of the following disciplines: social sciences, gender, international development, development economics, international relations, human rights, political science, Community Development, Public Health, or humanitarian studies;
• At least five (5) years of solid progressively responsible professional work experience in the gender field, and dealing with human rights and/or gender-based violence.
• A Proven record of excellent management, leadership, decision-making and interpersonal skills;
• Demonstrated ability to ensure gender integration in project design, implementation and Monitoring & Evaluation; Ability to navigate politically sensitive terrain and maintain constructive relationships with a diverse set of key stakeholders;
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and transmit his/her vision to partners and colleagues.
• At least six (6) years of post-graduate experience working on gender inclusivity as it relates to agriculture, livelihoods, economic development, and/or other relevant development issues;
• Experience with research, analysis, monitoring and evaluation, training, and linking research to programmatic activities are essential;
• Project management experience including facilitating partner and donor relations, report writing, budget maintenance, and work planning – is preferred.